aprons for twins

As you must know by now, I am a nanny.  I've mentioned before how lucky I feel to have such a great job and how much I love the little ones I work with.

Well, the twins turned 2 last week!  What a great age!  I have been spending 2 or 3 days a week with A & C for almost a year and it has been an adventure every step of the way.  So of course, as their birthday neared, I was racking my brain for what to make them.  They have lots of books, toys and stuffed animals so I wanted to cross those things off the list.  I thought about a couple of ideas for dress up clothes (ballet skirt, crown, super hero cape, etc) but none seemed quite right.

Finally, it hit me!  Aprons!  What 2 year old isn't getting messy with markers, paint, food or something else all the time?  Aprons would be a great solution for keeping clothes clean but also inspiring little helpers in the kitchen.

I did a little searching online to find out sizing for the average 2 year old, looked at some pictures of kid aprons, made a couple drawings and BAM! I was on my way!  I made my own template because none of the tutorials or free patterns I had found seemed quite adjustable enough or were too big or I just didn't love the design.



A's is made from Amy Butler's Fresh Poppies in Fuschia from the Midwest Modern line and a coordinating green solid.



C's is made from MoMo's Bouncing Balls in Ivory from the Freebird collection and hte same coordinating green solid as A's.

Both aprons used a fat quarter of each fabric plus 2 selvedge to selvedge strips of the backing fabric for bias tape.  As per usual, I made my own instead of buying some.

I have to say, I am pretty darn proud of these aprons.  They are perfect.  perfect size, perfectly adjustable (I figure they will fit until 4, maybe even longer) and perfectly sewn.  Not a missed stitch or crooked seam is to be found on these babies and that's a pretty big win for me!

After the kids opened their presents, they wanted to wear them all day.  So a bit later we all donned an apron (me in their dad's Guinness apron) washed our hands and set to baking cookies!  This was their first experience baking and it was an instant hit.  It was messy and crazy and so much fun - with the hardest part being trying to keep them from eating the raw dough.

Here they are enjoying some flour and raisins on the floor while I got the cookies ready for the oven.  Aren't they SO cute??

The cookies turned out great and the kids have been asking for them non stop since then.  For those that are interested, here is the recipe (which by the way is the best oatmeal raisin recipe I've tried!)

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups butter

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 1/2 cups oats
1 cup raisins

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cream butter and sugars until smooth.  Mix in egg and vanilla.  In a separate bowl mix together dry ingredients, leaving oats and raisins aside.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.  Add in oats and raisins.  Drop by rounded spoonful approximately 2" apart.  Bake for 8-9 minutes for chewy cookies.

I've been considering writing a tutorial/patter for the apron, but I wanted to gauge interest before I went to the trouble.  Would any of you be interested in said pattern/tutorial (for free)?  If so, please let me know and I will post one in the coming weeks with a giveaway attached to it!