Sewing with Aprons / Upcycling Aprons

In the GDR, the pinafore aprons people wore at home were usually made of Dederon.
This material was easy to care for and dried quickly.
However, people smoked a lot back then, and the pinafore aprons often ended up with holes,
because Dederon was very sensitive to heat.

My mom would always sew shopping bags out of the old aprons.
You could also buy them made of Dederon.
If you were lucky or had the right connections, you could buy these shopping bags in stores.
Or you could sew them yourself.

Smocks worn at work were usually made of cotton.
My mom had white smocks, and my dad had dark blue ones.
When they were worn out or stained, the bad pieces were turned into cleaning rags.
The good pieces of the dark fabric—usually the backs of the smocks—
were turned into pillowcases for the garden bench.

The white pieces of fabric were embroidered or dyed.
I had a cover made from them, with trim for the decorative pillow in the stroller.
Napkins and doll bedding were also sewn from the good scraps.

We didn’t have much… 😊

Warm regards from Mona (Froschoma Mona)