Smocked Aprons – Prizes for Cooking Competitions

The Sacred Stone Cooks Guild uses colored aprons to indicate rank within the guild. I host an annual cooking competition at Flight of the Falcon. The competition is split into two parts, one for the general public and one aimed at the cook’s guild. The winner of the cook’s guild part of the competition gets a colored apron in their rank.

To have enough prizes, this means I need to have four aprons available: Black (apprentice), Red (Journeyman), Green (Prefect) and White (Chef). I started making them in 2016 when I taught the smocking class at Runestone Collegium in November.

I have found brown, cream and white smocked aprons in paintings. Also examples exists of utility aprons, without smocking, in blue (light and medium), pink, red, teal, green, and black (a favorite of painters).

If you are really, really into aprons a great place to find images with the appropriate attribution is: Medieval & Renaissance Material Culture: The Linspages at Larsdatter.com – Apron (http://www.larsdatter.com/aprons.htm).

This is an on-going project as I will need to replace aprons when one has been passed on.

Black Apron (Completed 7/8/2017)

Made from linen cloth, hemmed and embroidered with black linen thread (Londonderry 50/3) after the thread was run through beeswax. The sides of the apron are raw edges, and the belt is 10 feet long. The final measurements 31 inches belt to hem, 57 inches wide along the drawn thread area and 21 inches where smocked. Eight rows of honeycombed are gathered and the hemwork was done with Hound’s Tooth. Started November 2016 and completed at the Cook’s Guild meeting on 7/8/2017.

White Apron (Completed August 2017)

Linen, hemmed and embroidered with linen (Londberry). Eight rows of honeycomb and hemwork is just the Hound’s Tooth. I decided to make the White Apron as close period styling, and therefore just a single row of hewwork) as possible in case someone outside the Sacred Stone guild won the competition. More elabroate cut and pulled work aprons exist but they were not smocked. Smocked aprons pretty much were smocked on top and one line of hemwork. Completed at Pennsic in 2017.

Note: The belt attachment to the smocking is not happy and beautiful. I may be taking it apart and reworking it later this year.

Red Apron (Completed August 2017)

Again linen, line, honeycomb and hemwork. The red is the second level within the guild so I did two rows of drawn work. One the hound’s tooth because I just love the look of the stitch. The other an interlace with two twists. Completed at Pennsic 2017.

Green Apron (Completed 9/14/2017)

So I ran out of time before Flight 2017 and only had about half the green apron finished, but no worries. The Sacred Stone guild only had one Prefect (green level), what are the chances … guess who won? Third level got three rows of drawn work. The first row is Hounds Tooth. The second is a single interlace row – the bars were gathered in groups of 8. The third row from the bottom is three interlace – the bars were gathered in groups of 6. Completed at an A&S meeting after major attacking at DragonCon at the beginning of September so I could give the prize to Mistress Lorelei Greenleafe at the next Sacred Stone event. Done in September, only half a month late.

Now that the green has been won, I will need to make another green apron.

Green Apron 2 (Started 9/14/2017 – Completed 4/20/2020)

As soon as the final stitch was in the green apron for the 2017 prize, I put the dots on the fabric for another green apron so I have a complete set for 2018.

So life happened, and it took a while, but I finally got the second green apron done to replace the one I have given out as a prize. Honeycomb smocking with a hemwork bottom. Five rows of embroidery.