My Nan wore a "pinni" and Mum wore an Apron.....

My Grandmother wore a full bodied pinafore over her clothes. It was put on and wrapped around the front. It ties on the sides, one inside and one outside. It was floral as most aprons are. The dresses that ladies wore were then protected from the stains of daily life. All laundry was done by hand and so clothes were worn for several days before washing. A pinafore was easy to wash and saved the clothes that were not so easy replaced. People didn't shop like they do now, it was not a recreational activity. So all my memories of Nan were of her wearing a Pinni more often than not. Grandma's Apron The strings were tied, it was freshly washed, and maybe even pressed. For Grandma, it was everyday to choose one when she dressed. The simple apron that it was, you would never think about; the things she used it for, that made it look worn out. She may have used it to hold some wildflowers that she'd found. Or to hide a crying child's face when a stranger came around. Imagine all the little tears that were wiped with just that cloth. Or it became a potholder to serve some chicken broth. She probably carried kindling to stoke the kitchen fire. To hold a load of laundry, or to wipe the clothesline wire. When canning all her vegetables, it was used to wipe her brow . You never know, she might have used it to shoo flies from the cow. She might have carried eggs in from the chicken coop outside. Whatever chore she used it for, she did them all with pride. When Grandma went to heaven, God said she now could rest. I'm sure the apron that she chose, was her Sunday best. -by Tina Trivett- Some one else said it better than I could Grandma's Apron "I don't think our kids know what an apron is. The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven. It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears… From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven. When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids. And when the weather was cold grandma wrapped it around her arms. Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove. Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls. In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees. When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds. When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men-folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner. It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes." I dont know who wrote that but I could have said it myself. An apron was the very first thing we learned to sew in school. It was a perfect project. We learned to gather (all this done by hand) and to sew on the waist band. We learned to put on a pocket and to hem. Then we learned to put on rick rack and embroider over it and also to do cross stitch. The fabric was check and so it was perfect for learning the cross stitch. I found this picture of one almost like what I made. I found the picture on Little Rascal blog. Now hardly anyone wears the apron. We wash our clothes and change them several times a day if we need to. A wasteful society that misses so much of the good stuff.