Plaid Cook's Apron, c.1850s

A straight-forward pinner apron, for our favorite cook. Guess I wasn't quite done with the Christmas presents, after all.

Pinner apron.

The Workwoman's Guide (fig 14, plate 11) calls this a cooking apron, saying:

This is a neat pattern for a housekeeper, cook, or kitchen-maid. The bib is quite plain, and pins to the gown at the corners. The size given in the Plate is suitable for a girl, but the bib should be cut to suit the wearer at once, and not made by guess. The apron is made of check or strong linen. 

For the check, I used a 56" wide medium-weight plaid shirting cotton from Family Heirloom Weavers. As given in the book, it's a very simple apron design: one width of fabric, gathered to a self-fabric band, with a rectangular bib stitched along the top. To move it more into the fifties, the bib is larger and the skirt of the apron adjusted in proportion (waistlines were still a bit high when the Workwoman's Guide was first published in 1838). I also knew that the recipient likes her aprons to properly cover the bodice of her dress.

A slightly better view of the color.

The apron's skirt is narrowly hemmed along the sides (the selvedges weren't suitable to be left as-in), with a deeper 2.5" hem at the bottom edge. The top is gathered into the waistband, and the bib (narrowly hemmed on all four sides) is whip-stitched along the top of the band. Instead of adding tape ties to the back of the apron, I opted to cut the waistband and ties as one. There was plenty of fabric, and it makes a nice bow when tied.