Notes From the Parsonage

Untriumphantly: Embracing the Ordinariness of the Season

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Welcome to Advent.

This Advent devotional is written for you, for me. It is a personal devotional for the season of Advent. Advent includes the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. Once Christmas arrives, we’re on to the 12 Days of Christmas—like the song. While I usually write family devotions, this one is intended to be personal; although, you can use it however you like. I’ve intentionally chosen a translation of Scripture that I think you’ll be a little unfamiliar with; I wanted it to read like something new. Sometimes our familiarity with Scripture makes us deaf to what it is saying. If you don’t enjoy the translation I’m using, feel free to look the verses up and read them in your own Bible. I’ve also included a song for each day. I’ve carefully chosen them specifically for each devotional, so I do hope you’ll choose to take the time to listen to them. It is my prayer that in embracing the ordinariness of the season, we’ll find ourselves looking down into the manger and seeing something new in the face of the Baby who came to save us. I pray we’ll not jump ahead to the cross but, instead, sit with our infant King for this season. I pray that this ordinary start to the cycle of the liturgical calendar will be a grounding experience as we move into a new year as His people. Instead of trying to be simple as an apology, I want to embrace it. This is an ordinary December. I’m an ordinary mom. And Jesus still came to save me, and He will meet me here.

A Gentle Feast- Full Review

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Is A Gentle Feast the right curriculum choice for your family? I used it for a year with kids from preschool to middle school. Here is what I thought about the curriculum.

A Gentle Feast Teacher's Manual on wooden table

This year, I deviated from my usual homeschool planning. Being in school full-time and trying to homeschool 5 kids, I didn’t have the time to put into planning my own curriculum out like I usually do. So, I turned to A Gentle Feast.

Charlotte Mason quote from the inside of A Gentle Feast Teacher's Manual

Why I Chose A Gentle Feast

I initally chose A Gentle Feast because it has four cycles, where each child is working at their grade level within each cycle. That is a very familiar form for me, as I have always done a four-year history cycle with everyone on the same page. I opted to implement A Gentle Feast fully, using it for Morning Time, Core Subjects, and Langauage Arts. This program is one where you can just add math.

If you’re new to Charlotte Mason, A Gentle Feast offers a lot of guidance along the way to help you implement the philosophies. There are scheduling helps, including how to schedule for a 4 or 5 day school week. For the Children’s Sake is a good book to help you understand the philosophy of a Charlotte Mason education, as well.

Forms Instead of Grade Level

A Gentle Feast uses forms instead of grades. Grades 1-3 are in form 1. The grades 4-6 are in form 2. While grades 7-9 are in form 3. And grades 10-12 are in form 4. With A Gentle Feast, you get all forms in your purchase of the main curriculum.

So, if you look at your 5th grader’s history book and think, “This is way too difficult.” You have the option to look at the form under the one they are currently in and swap in that book instead. If you look and think, “This is way too easy.” You can easily move up a form.

Additionally, buying 4 cycles is buying an entire 12 years of education. So, let’s say Little Jimmy is starting in 1st grade. In 1st grade, you buy Cycle 1. LJ does Cyle 1 Form 1. The next year, LJ is in 2nd grade. You buy Cyle 2 and do form 1. The next year, LJ moves to Cycle 3, form 1. The following year, LJ moves on to Cycle 4, form 2. The next year, you don’t buy curriculum. LJ goes back to Cycle 1 and does form 2. Each cycle has plans for grades 1-12, so once you’ve purchased all 4 cycles, you don’t have to buy more.

A Gentle Feast Morning Bible Time

Ephesians 6:10-20 memory verse for term one printed in the teacher's manual

I really love the Bible memory portion of Morning Time. It isn’t something we’d added to our Morning Time, and I certainly didn’t think to add big chunks of passages to learn over a term instead of a single verse here and there. I wasn’t sure my kids could handle it, but it turns out they are masters of memory, especially the younger ones.

We have also really enjoyed poetry memorization. I was surprised at how well they memorized poems and how much they seem to enjoy it. Even Daisy, who is 2, memorized a poem in the first term.

Real Book Based Curriculum

Charlotte Mason quote in A Gentle Feast teacher's manual

I also really like that the program in literature based. I’ve been utilizing literature to build up our education in the home for years, so it is something I’ve grown to love incorporating into our learning.

When you buy A Gentle Feast, you can choose to get a printed teacher’s manual (which is what the pictures are from) in addition to the online resources or you can opt for the online resources only. The printed manual is pretty and makes organization easy, but it isn’t as all encompassing as I would like and you still have to utilize the online resources.

The online resources aren’t organized in the best way, often using Google Documents instead of PDFs, which I find to be more time consuming and less user friendly. As a whole, it could be much more user friendly and better organized. You’ll get all the information you need by purchasing the print or digital option, but you’ll need to spend some time navigating and putting it all together.

A Gentle Feast schedule for Week One

Now, I have several complaints about A Gentle Feast, which I will outline in detail so that you can see if it’d be an issue for you. A Gentle Feast has many users and it works beautifully for many families. It is working for my family for this particular season. My complaints are not that it isn’t functional. It is. I just have some issues that will likely be the reason I choose to go back to compiling my own curriculum next school year.

Morning Time Dislikes

My issues with Morning Time are really a matter of preference. I like to have all my kids together for Morning Time. While I love the addition of Bible Memory and poetry memorization, I’ve disliked some of the other portions.

Each form has different recommendations for Morning Time. To keep everyone together, we’ve been utilizing the books from all the forms. For example, in term 1 of cycle 1, younger students are reading one of Aesop’s fables each week. Form 2 students are reading a Norse myth once a week. While form 3 students are reading Shakespeare once a week. And form 4 are reading a different book once a week. To keep everyone together for Morning Time, we read one form’s suggested reading each day. The result is that we’re never really making much progress in any of them, but we are hitting all of them each week.

I also really liked the balance we had going in our Morning Time and feel like we’ve lost balance with A Gentle Feast. Morning Time just isn’t flowing as well as it has before, and I can’t quite put my finger on anything other than we’ve spread very thin and there is little cohesion day-to-day.

Language Arts Dislikes

The Language Arts portion of A Gentle Feast goes along with the readings from other portions of the feast. If you’re skipping Morning Time, History, or Literature, the Language Arts packet will have content that is foreign for your child. I really liked this aspect of the Language Arts program and chose it for that reason. However, the excerpts aren’t always aligned with their reading. So, they may have an excerpt from a book they’ll be reading in a couple months or one they finished weeks ago. I don’t know why it doesn’t all align with their weekly reading.

Additionally, I don’t think there is enough grammar instruction in the Language Arts packets. Charlotte Mason is typically light on grammar, but I tend to find myself somewhere between Charlotte Mason and classical education (even though many will say Charlotte Mason is classical, there are clear differences), so this falls a bit short for me.

There also isn’t a lot of writing. That might be wonderful to hear for some people. My older kids do all their narrations for each subject in writing, so they are getting writing practice in somewhere.

I would say this program is grammar and writing light. There is a little of each, probably enough for most people’s taste, but it was a definite step back in difficulty and comprehensiveness for my kids. My kids have had more comprehensive grammar instruction, so the light review has been fine for them for this year, but I wouldn’t want that every year.

100 Gentle Lessons with A Gentle Feast

For the youngest kids, there is 100 Gentle Lessons for both reading and handwriting. I find both to be significantly lacking. The handwriting moves so slowly and offers no variety or interest. The reading is just a disjointed mess. My kids have had such a hard time following along and staying engaged. I ended up switching them back to An Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading, as it just does a better job at teaching the basics.

The handwriting isn’t really necessary if you’re using the Language Arts pack. There is weekly copywork included there, so they get plenty of writing practice. Also, if you’re using the student pages for Exploring Nature with Children (which is part of the receommended curriculum for A Gentle Feast), there is copywork available there, as well.

History Dislikes

This is my main issue with A Gentle Feast. In classical education, history rotates through a chornological cycle. Charlotte Mason taught an individual out history model. Instead of starting history at the beginning, you start with the child. So, A Gentle Feast has American history (or Canadian history) as the four-year history cyle. Form 1, which is grades 1-3, only has American history. The in form 2, grades 4-6, add in British history alongside American history. Finally in form 3 and 4, grades 7-12, also have Ancient history along with British and American history. This has been so confusing and scattered. So, even though my kids are all on the same cycle, they are not on the same history schedule.

Additionally, there is no history spine. You just skip from book to book, but there is nothing really tying it all together or keeping the path clear. Keeping a Book of Centuries is a necessary component because without it, the kids would have no clue where everything fits together. I just find that I prefer a classical chronological history rotation over the haphazardness of this history method. That is a completely personal preference.

Geography isn’t tied into history at all in this program. It stands on its own and kids work through their geography work as a completely seperate subject. My kids have been doing fine with geography. There is nothing wrong with how it is done, I just prefer more tie-ins between subjects and tying history to geography is so easy.

Literature Dislikes

The literature readings have been very hit or miss for my kids. I like to tie history into literature, and while there is some of that in this program, it isn’t as merged as I usually make it. There is nothing wrong with the book selections in A Gentle Feast, I think I’d just prefer to choose my own. And while you can do that with this program, just input what you want where you want, you’ll disjoint Language Arts even further by doing that. And why buy a comprehensive curriculum if you’re going to tweak it in the big areas anyway?

Science Dislikes

This program is really weak in science. Using living books is very hard to create a science program that is deep and interesting. Form 1 has no science other than nature study. That is fine with me as our nature study tends to be pretty deep, especially for the younger kids who have lots of questions. It isn’t that I love textbooks, but using living books for science with no spine is quite difficult to get a decent depth. I also like to keep everyone moving together through science, which isn’t possible with this program. The upper level science plans utilize Sabbath Mood curriculum, so this isn’t included in your purchase of A Gentle Feast.

Nature Study Dislikes

Forms 1 and 2 utilize Exploring Nature with Children curriculum in their Nature Study. I was already utilizing this resource before beginning A Gentle Feast and I really like it. I do not like the alternative plan A Gentle Feast uses for Exploring Nature with Children and stick to the original plan from Exploring Nature with Children.

Another complaint of mine falls in the nature category. Instead of reading one book, form 1 are splitting between two unrelated books each week, making it difficult for the little guys to really keep track. They learn about small mammals one day and birds on another. I would prefer to read each book quicker, rather than adding more unrelated content onto the table each week. I’d rather stick to small mammals for half the term and then move onto birds for the other half of the term.

This curriculum just spreads the net too wide and too shallow, especially for the younger kids. I constantly feel the need to supplement for the younger ones because I don’t think the curriculum provides as adequate coverage of anything. I feel like it is just spread thin in an attempt to be gentle. I’m all for young kids being exposed to nature, science, and history and not forced into the world of facts. I just felt that with so much jumping around, a lot of the interest and wonder was lost.

Older forms have a single book for Nature Study, but only read it once a week since they are also involved in other science learning. I have been pleased with the book choices for the older forms.

Citizenship Dislikes

I have always called this “character” and have typically included it in Morning Time. Form 1 have no lessons in this subject. I did swap out the Form 3 Charlotte Mason reading for something that they would find more interesting. We had a hard time slogging through Charlotte Mason’s writings and my 8th graders were having a hard time with it, as well. I usually make them keep at hard books, but I really couldn’t blame them on this one. We swapped it out for The Great Divorce, which they both loved and got a lot more out of. My form 2 student has loved the reading option for his citizenship and says it is his favorite book of the program so far.

Extra Subjects with A Gentle Feast

There is no math included in A Gentle Feast. They so offer suggestions, but it is ultimately up to you what you do for math.

There are languages and singing lessons for A Gentle Feast. There are Spanish, French, Latin, and German options for languages. I opted for Rosetta Stone instead. My form 1 kids have been using the book suggestions for learning French, but my older kids have been using Rosetta Stone and really enjoying it.

There are drawing and art lessons, as well. We haven’t utilized those since I include watercolor painting in our Nature Study. My older kids also like to use Skillshare to learn art skills that interest them. We’ve been really happy with that, so we have stuck to Skillshare and Nature Study instead of utilizing the art lessons from A Gentle Feast.

Prep Time for A Gentle Feast

I have been able to make A Gentle Feast largely independent for my older kids. I do Morning Time and Tea Time at the same time to keep my afternoons open for working on my own school work. My younger kids are finished very quickly, as there isn’t much to do for them in this program. My older kids do all their work outside of Morning Time independently and keep a narration notebook where they write their narrations for each subject down instead of telling me orally. Even if I had the time to listen to their oral narrations, this program is so light on writing that I think I’d still prefer written narrations.

Overall Impressions of A Gentle Feast

Overall, this curriculum has been a big step back from our usual education. I’m not sure I’d call it gentle, I think light and spread thin describes it more accurately. For some people, this would be absolutely ideal. I just happen to lean a bit more toward the classical side and need a little bit more than this curriculum offers.

Additionally, this program was pretty expensive for me to implement. Now, there are ways to make it more afforable. Many of the books can be found on Scribd or in your local library. You absolutely don’t have to buy every single book. Some of the books are hard to find. Like most Charlotte Mason programs, there aren’t a lot of new books suggested.

Picture off some of the helps for parents in the Gentle Feast Teacher's Manual.

Do I recommend A Gentle Feast?

Overall, this is a good program, despite my plethora of complaints. It is a usable program that we’ve been successfully using during a very busy time in our lives with minimal modifications. The curriculum does work. I’m glad we have it for this year, even if I do plan to go back to creating my own curriculum next year. A Gentle Feast allowed me to take a step back and still have the kids’ education pretty well handled. It is similar enough to what they are used to that there was no big transition. There are aspects of A Gentle Feast that I will be adding to our own currilum next year, including written narrations, Bible memory, and poetry memorization.

The only part of A Gentle Feast I’d flat out not recommend is their 100 Gentle Lessons reading and handwriting programs. That has been the only complete flop of the program for us. Everything else is worth getting if you’re looking for things to be done for you. If you’re used to a box curriculum but want to switch to a Charlotte Mason method, this is a great option.

Young boy in a tree with sun glowing behind him.

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Four images from A Gentle Feast Teacher's Manual with title in center and website on bottom.

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ESV Prayer Bible Review

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Is the ESV Prayer Bible the right Bible for you? Let’s take a look at this Bible and see.

Pinterest image collage of ESV Prayer Bible on wooden table with title "ESV Prayer Bible Review" in the center of image.

Right off the bat, let me say, the Pastor has worn this Bible slap out since I originally reviewed this Bible. It became his absolute favorite Bible for his personal devotional time. He has told quite a few people about this Bible. He LOVES it.

Side view of blue clothbound cover of the ESV Prayer Bible from Crossway

First Look

Crossway sent me this unique Bible to review. I have to say, this Bible is very aesthetically pleasing to me. It is a cloth cover with a look and feel like a church hymnal. It only has one bookmark ribbon which is pretty standard for a Bible. But it looks and feels very pleasant.

font view of blue clothbound cover of ESV Prayer Bible from Crossway with the packaging sleeve on bottom third

As far as I have seen, it only comes in this almost navy blue cloth hardcover, ebook, and brown imitation leather. It also does not come in a box, but with this half sleeve. So, while it is giftable– you don’t get a nice box.

Close image of the half sleeve packaging on the ESV Prayer Bible that says "Prayers from the past, hope for our present" with images of various figures throughout Christian history.

Look Inside the ESV Prayer Bible

I really enjoy the artwork on the half sleeve and inside this Bible. The sketched portraits are a nice touch.

Presentation page in front of ESV Prayer Bible with lines for "presented to", "by", and date.

It does have a dedication page in the front should you choose to gift this Bible.

Cover page for ESV Prayer Bible with black and white stamped image of two hands together in prayer pose.
Introduction page of ESV Prayer Bible.

In the front of the ESV Prayer Bible, you have this introduction about the Bible and prayers. It includes information about praying through Scripture, which I think is a helpful addition.

Image of the cover page of Genesis.

Each book of the Bible begins with a small introduction. The format is single-column and very easy to read. It also has footnotes throughout. The reading experience is very pleasant and unencumbered.

Open Bible on wooden table

Within the text, there are small prayers tucked among the Scripture. This is very much a devotional Bible and not a study Bible. If your daily Bible reading time looks more meditative and less “pull out the commentary and see what this word in Hebrew means”, this would be an excellent Bible for you.

Bible open to Isaiah 2 with close-up on prayer written by William Wilberforce.

Features at the End of the Prayer Bible

In the back of the Bible, you’ll find an author index where prayers are listed by author. This is an especially nice feature, especially if you’re looking for something specific. (What was that prayer I read week ago by Wilberforce?)

Image of open Bible with authors of prayers listed with small cartoon sketch drawing of each author.

There is also a list of prayers by when they are placed through the Bible. As a Wesleyan, I did notice there were far more Calvin prayers than Wesley prayers. But John Wesley is at least represented. And I will say this is not as Reformed-centric as many of the Crossway Bibles I’ve reviewed.

Reading plan in back of Bible by month of the year.

There is also a reading plan in the back with an Old Testament, New Testament, and Psalm reading for each day of the year. (Except you get a day off on Leap Day every fourth year.)

Thoughts on the ESV Prayer Bible

Close up of the cover of the ESV Prayer Bible with blue clothbound and gold lettering

Overall, this is a really unique Bible and very good resource. I’m not sure how much I would like this as my only Bible. As I said before, the Pastor does use it primarily in his personal devotional time. (His personal devotional time looks a lot different from mine.)

It does have footnotes and a concordance for study purposes, so it could be a study Bible. However, I do think it is primarily meditative and reflective in nature.

For homeschoolers, it would also make a lovely Morning Time Bible, since you could read Scripture and prayers from it to start off your day. Really, it’d be unique for anyone for that purpose.

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** This Bible was sent to me for free to review. I am in no way obligated to give it a positive review.**

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ESV Journaling Study Bible Review

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The ESV Journaling Study Bible combines the popular journaling Bible with a study Bible. Is this the right Bible for you? Let’s look closer and find out!

Pinterest Image of ESV Journaling Bible

Crossway was kind enough to send me this Bible to review. I was happy to be able to get my hands on it, because it is exactly what I’ve been looking for! While there could be a few improvements, this is an excellent Bible!

Journaling Study Bible Features

Outer box of ESV Journaling Study Bible on a wooden table.

I was sent the Natural Brown Leather cover with the wrap around flap. The pictures looked much darker than the leather I was sent. The picture on the website has a dark brown, but in real life, this is more of a natural tan/camel type brown. It also comes in a couple TruTone covers, a floral cloth hardback, and a black hardcover. You can see, it comes in this nice box for gifting.

Journaling Study Bible with leather wrap around style cover on a wooden table with pen and marker marks.

It only has one ribbon bookmark, which we all know I find woefully insufficient. It also has a nice little pen loop inside the flap of the cover, which is a fun feature on all the Crossway wraparound covers.

Interior Pen Loop on Bible

The Journaling Study Bible is very square shaped. The Journaling Bibles do tend to be more square shaped, but this one seemed a little more square.

Introduction to Genesis notes page in Journaling Study Bible

This Bible combines the large, lined side margins of a Journaling Bible with some of the study notes of a Study Bible. These Study Notes looked to me to be to be most similar to the ESV Student Study Bible notes. It didn’t contain the colored maps and things like the regular ESV Study Bible. (It does have full color glossy maps in the back, just not in the notes section.)

Text of Journaling Study Bible

The text is in two columns with notes at the bottom. You can see the lined margins go the whole length of the page, even into the not section. The back has a glossary, concordance, reading plan, and glossy colored maps.

Comparing With Other ESV Bibles

ESV Journaling Bible on top compared to the ESV Journaling Study Bible on bottom.

The top Bible is the ESV Single Column Journaling Bible. You can see, it isn’t as wide as this Bible.

ESV Personal Size Study Bible compared to the ESV Journaling Study Bible

On top here, we have the ESV Personal Size Study Bible (which is what I currently use for my personal Bible study) compared to the ESV Journaling Study Bible on the bottom. You can see the difference in the notes here with the Personal Size Study Bible having a map here at the end of Daniel and the Journaling Study Bible does not.

ESV Single Column Legacy Bible compared to the ESV Journaling Study Bible

This is the ESV Single Column Legacy Bible compared with the ESV Journaling Study Bible. The Legacy Bible clearly has much larger font, but you can see the notes aren’t present.

ESV Study Bible on top compared to the ESV Journaling Study Bible on bottom

Here, we have the ESV Heirloom Bible, Heritage Edition, on the top (in a larger size than the personal size) and the ESV Journaling Bible on the bottom. The width was similar on these, but the Journaling Bible is significantly shorter. You can also see the notes are different between these two Bibles.

ESV Interleaved Journaling Bible on top compared to the ESV Journaling Study Bible on bottom.
Spines of the ESV Journaling Study Bible and the ESV Interleaved Journaling Bible

I was surprised to find the size between the ESV Interleaved Journaling Bible and the ESV Journaling Study Bible to be so similar. The Interleaved version is slightly larger. But this ESV Journaling Study Bible is one of the largest Bibles in our house!

ESV Student Study Bible compared to the ESV Journaling Study Bible

The ESV Student Study Bible was the closest comparison I could find to the study notes, fonts, and format of the Journaling Study Bible. They are not identical, but they are pretty close to the same.

Is This the Bible for Me?

Spine of the ESV Journaling Study Bible on a paint marked wooden table.

I have always struggled to find a Bible that checks all the boxes for me. I’ve been writing notes in the measly margins of my Personal Size ESV Study Bible, sometimes even taping in post-it notes to hold all my notes! This Bible solves that problem for me. Plenty of room for notes. But not completely plain.

If you are looking for a Bible to really STUDY– this would be a perfect Bible for you! There is room to write all your notes, plus there are study notes and helps as you go. (So you don’t have to look up the basic things elsewhere.)

I do prefer the notes in the ESV Study Bible. Not that these are bad, they’re just more aesthetic and less all the maps and all the things. However, I still think this is an excellent study Bible!

If you’re looking for more of an art journaling Bible, I think the interleaved or standard Journaling Bible is the way to go.

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Plastic Bag Holder Tutorial

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This plastic bag holder tutorial is a simple, beginner sewing project! This is one bag to hold all your other bags. It’ll help you organize your space and add a bit of color while doing so. They also make really fun gifts!

A friend of mine asked if I could make her a plastic bag holder. Of course, I accepted! I looked online for a plastic bag holder tutorial or something. But none of them fit what I wanted it to look like. Most of them were just tubes with elastic at the top and bottom. Very basic. I usually like basic, but I thought it needed a little extra oomph!

So, I did what I do. I sat down with my graph paper and sketched out a plan. This plastic bag holder sewing tutorial is another fat quarter project! Yay! (Fat quarters are 18″ x 22″ pieces of fabric, sold at fabric stores that sell quilting fabric.)

Fabric Plastic bag holder with plastic bag coming out of the bottom

I use reusable bags, but always end up with plastic grocery bags anyway! (You know how you forget sometimes– or Instacart brings you round a whole fresh crop of plastic bags!)

You could also use this bag to store other things. (I stuffed one with fabric scraps!)

Cutting the Fabric for Your Plastic Bag Holder

Fabric pieces cut for sewing a plastic bag holder using this tutorial

To make a plastic bag holder, you’ll need one fat quarter, a 4″ strip of a contrasting fabric, 2 small (4″ or so) pieces of elastic, and one small piece of ribbon (6″ or so). (You can also make a fabric “loop” to hang the bag by. It is up to you!)

Measure your fat quarter. It should be about 18″ x 22″, but sometimes they are slightly larger. You’ll want to cut your 4″ strip of contrast fabric so you have two 4″ strips to go across each 18″ side. If your fat quarter is 19″, then cut your strips 19″ to fit.

Sewing contrast fabric to main fabric.

With the right sides together, sew the contrast strip to the main fabric along the 18″ edge. Repeat for the other side.

Close up of sewn edge of plastic bag holder

I serge all my edges, since I am usually selling what I make. If you’ve got a serger, go ahead and finish those edges. If you don’t have a serger, you can omit the finishing if you want, or you can pink or zig-zag the edge. Since this is not a wearable object, or an object that will get much washing (if any) it isn’t necessary to finish the edges at all. So, don’t feel bad if you choose to skip that step!

Ribbon or Fabric Loop to Hang Your Plastic Bag Holder

Adding the ribbon to hand the plastic bag holder

Pin your ribbon loop (or fabric loop) a couple inches from the top of the main fabric along the 22″ side. (Which is not a 30″ side, since you just attached two 4″ strips to the ends!) If you put your loop too high, you’ll be fighting it while you sew the elastic casing or it will end up on the ruffle. So, try to put it low enough it will be out of the way, but still at the top of the bag. (You can turn the top ruffle down and see where it will hit if that helps you. I just eyeball it and hope for the best!)

Fabric folded in half right sides together following plastic bag holder sewing tutorial

Fold your fabric in half long ways (with your contrast fabric on the top and bottom) and sew with right sides together. Serge or finish the edge as you did with the other seam!

Finishing the Top and Bottom of the Plastic Bag Holder

Pressing the plastic bag holder

Serge the top and bottom edge of your contrast fabric (you can see above that the edge of the pink fabric is serged). If you want to skip that step, go right ahead!

Now, press the contrast edge in. (See above!) You want to leave about 1/2″ or so of your contrast fabric showing on the front.

Folding the contrast fabric to the interior of the bag to make a ruffle and casing.

(In the photo above, I am showing you the contrast fabric showing on the front.) Repeat for the opposite end. Press it down, leaving about 1/2″ (maybe a little more) showing on the front.

Plastic Bag Holder Sewing Tutorial work in progress.

At this point, you’re bag is looking something like this. It reminds me of the cat tunnel project in In Stitches by Amy Butler. (Don’t know what project I’m referring to? It is a tube, much like this, lined with faux fur for your cat to play in.)

Sewing an elastic casing on plastic bag holder.

Now, we make our elastic casing! Yay! Sew along about 1/2″ from the edge of the contrast fabric. Then sew all the way around, sewing back over your first stitches.

Making an elastic channel to feed the elastic through on the plastic bag holder.

Sew all the way around again, this time sewing as close to the edge as you can. Also, you’ll need to backstitch the ends and leave a small opening (preferably near the back center seam) to guide your elastic through.

Repeat for the other side! Now, you are almost done!

Adding Elastic to Plastic Bag Holder

Elastic pieces in front of a serger

Grab your two pieces of elastic!

Ends of elastic pinned

Here is how I thread my elastic. I put a large safety pin along the back end. It keeps the elastic from slipping all the way through. (Believe me, that is a pain!) I attach a small safety pin to the front end (the end I’ll be pushing through the casing).  Make sure your safety pins are firmly attached. It really sucks when a pin slips off because you put it too close to the edge.

Feeding the elastic through the channel sewed onto the plastic bag holder

Thread your elastic through the casing.

Over exposed picture of elastic sewn with an elastic stitch.

Sew your elastic together by overlapping it and sewing it with an “elastic” stitch. (The awkward looking zig-zag stitch on your machine that is more “lighting bolty” than “zig-zaggy.” If you don’t have that stitch, a small zig-zag will work. (You may have to reset the width of the zig-zag so it fits on the elastic.)

Repeat for the other side!

Flip and Fill Time

Empty Plastic Bag Holder using this sewing tutorial

Flip it right side out an you’re done! I know, you’re wondering why I didn’t finish closing off those elastic casings! Well, to be honest, it is a pain in the butt and it serves no real purpose. You can fight through it and close them up if you’d like, but I see no reason to. I backstitched the ends, so I made sure it was nice and secure. The elastic is so tight, You’ll find great difficulty stretching it out to sew that little bitty hole closed. And I see no point in closing it. You can if you’d like, I don’t.

Loop on plastic bag holder to hang on wall or from kitchen cabinet or drawer pull

See the lovely loop on the back! You can hang it in your pantry or, if you’re like me, you can hang it on your kitchen wall! (Use some snazzy fabrics and you’ll liven your kitchen up!)

Top of plastic bag holder looking in.

This is my favorite aspect of the design! The top and bottom “mouth” of your bag holder have a nice little flirty splash of contrast! I love it!

Plastic bag holder filled and hanging

Go! Make some as gifts, for yourself, or sell some! (Yep. You can feel free to sell anything you make from any of my free designs.) As always, I just ask that you not take credit for the design and that you’d share the free tutorial with others! (No hoarding freeness!) Have fun!

Image collage of finished plastic bag holders with "plastic bag holder sewing tutorial" written in the middle.

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Brown Sugar Peach Cobbler

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Living in Georgia, there is one thing we have plenty of- peaches! Well, to be fair– we have quite a lot of a few things- peanuts, pecans, Vidalia onions, apples… but yes, we’re known for peaches. Peach season comes and you end up with more peaches that you know what to do with. Mostly because you cannot possibly pass up fresh peaches and partially because they’re everywhere The smell alone just makes a basket pop into your possession every time you pass them!

Pinterest Infographic with picture of peach cobbler with the title "Brown Sugar Peach Cobbler Recipe".

Of course, when they are firm and pretty, you eat them like an apple. You just slice them and eat them plain. No joke, the kids and I saw a video not long ago and this grown man said he’d never eaten a peach in his life! Like– what? And how?

When they get ripe toward over-ripe, you can’t just let them go bad! So, you can jar them (I make spiced peach jam every year at the request of one of my sons), jelly them, or bake them. Here is my (fairly famous) brown sugar peach cobbler using fresh peaches instead of the traditional canned version. 

Ingredients for Peach Cobbler:

  • 1 stick of butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 t baking powder
  • 0.5 t salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 3 T brown sugar
  • 1 t vanilla extract (or Fiori di Sicilia)(or bourbon)
  • 3 ripe peaches (You can really cook them anywhere from off the tree to overly ripe. It’ll come out fine either way.)

A Note About Vanilla

Vanilla extract is one of the most over-hyped things in the world. You can make your own by soaking vanilla beans in any type of alcohol (personally, bourbon or rum makes the best vanilla extract). You can also just use bourbon or rum sans vanilla. It is cheaper, easier, and available in vast quantities. Once you commit to ditching that tiny vanilla extract bottle– you won’t go back. (And for those who don’t “cook with alcohol”– what exactly do you think an extract is?)

Prepping the Peach Cobbler

Stick of butter in a glass baking dish ready to be put into the oven to melt.

You’ll need an 9 x 9 (or 8″) baking dish. Place the whole stick of butter in your dish and put in the oven at 350. While you are whipping everything up, the butter will be melting in the oven. Don’t just melt the butter! The dish needs to be hot. The butter needs to be melted. Two birds– one stone.

Chopped peaches mixed with vanilla and brown sugar.

Cut up your peaches. Remove the pits. I leave the skin on, but you can remove it if you’re feeling fussy. In a bowl, mix 3 T brown sugar with the peaches. Add 1 t of vanilla extract. Set this bowl to the side.

Batter for peach cobbler mixed with a whisk.

Now, grab another bowl. Add 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of granulated sugar, 1 t baking powder, and half a t of salt and whisk that up. Add 1 cup of milk and whisk it up, too. Your batter will be on the thin side. If it seems thick, add a bit more milk.

Do Not Mix a Peach Cobbler!

Unbaked peach cobbler crust without peaches added yet.

By now, your butter is all nice and melted. Carefully remove it from the oven. Now, you’ll need to carefully add to the butter because it’ll burn like a devil if you happen to splash. Add the batter to the center of the butter first. Don’t mix it. (See the picture above.) Just pour the batter into the center of the melted butter. Resist the urge to mix!

Peaches in the center of the unbaked peach cobbler.

Pour the peaches into the very center of the batter. Do not mix it up. Resist the urge! The batter will bake up around the peaches and the butter will brown up on the outside all nice and pretty. You mix it, you’ll mess it all up. Please don’t mix.

Baking a Peach Cobbler

On the the baking! Finally, we will bake the peach cobbler at 350 (Fahrenheit- I’m American) for what seems like far too long (about 45 minutes) until it is pretty and golden on the top and doesn’t slosh around when you move it. Believe me, everyone in your house will be begging you to just let them at it, make them all wait. You may have to stand guard at the oven door.

Beautiful brown and bubbly peach cobbler fresh out of the oven.

Once it is pretty and brown (or you can fend the hoards off no longer), remove it from the oven. Let it cool! You don’t have to let it cool ALL the way down, you just don’t want to be eating molten lava peach cobbler. You won’t be able to appreciate it with your mouth burned to heck and back.

Serve the Peach Cobbler

To serve, serve warm. You can add a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream if you’re feeling super fancy or just happen to like your cobbler a’ la mode. If you prefer, you can add homemade whipped cream. Most people do expect vanilla ice cream with their peach cobbler.

I’d say this serves 6, but more realistically, it serves 4. If 4 of the 6 are kids, yes, it serves 6. Typically, expect to only feed four adults. (Unless they are the bougie type who aren’t going to gorge themselves on peach cobbler in the presence of others.)

Don’t double the recipe. If you need more, you’ll need to bake 2. When doubled, it just doesn’t come out so nice and pretty if you try to put it in a bigger pan. I’ve tried. Once, I baked 6 cobblers in one night because you really can’t double the recipe and do it justice. The peaches don’t spread as evenly when you double and the middle stays a little more runny.

Adapting to Canned Peaches

Now, if you aren’t in peach country and have tons of fresh peaches around for you to use, you can use canned peaches. I grew up on canned peach cobbler. I make canned peach cobbler in the off season. It isn’t quite as good, but still more delicious than anything your mother-in-law ever cooked. Instead of mixing the peaches and brown sugar and vanilla, you just make sure you buy a can of peaches in heavy syrup and pour the whole can into the center of the cobbler.

You can also use other fruit. Blackberries make a lovely cobbler, too! Blueberries are great, as well. Blueberry lemon is super fancy and delicious. But the peaches are the traditional, for me, way to go.

brown peach cobbler with peaches bubbling in butter

Brown Sugar Peach Cobbler

A southern peach cobbler recipe for using those ripe peaches in the summer.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 6 people

Equipment

  • 1 Oven
  • 1 Baking Dish 9 x 9

Ingredients
  

  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup milk
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract or rum or bourbon
  • 3 peaches

Instructions
 

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Place stick of butter in baking dish and place in over to melt.
  • Meanwhile, cut peaches and remove pits. Mix with brown sugar and vanilla.
  • Mix flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and milk.
  • Remove baking dish and pour batter into baking dish. Do not stir into the butter!
  • Pour peaches and brown sugar mixture into the middle of the batter. Do not stir!
  • Bake for about 45 minutes until golden brown.
  • Serve with ice cream if you want people to love you.
Keyword cobbler, peach, peach cobbler, southern

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Homeschool Resources

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There are so many great homeschool resources out there! There are also many that are a waste of time. As a veteran homeschool mom, I tend to know pretty quickly which homeschool resources are right for us and which won’t work at all.

Collage of pictures of kids, books, and Bible with the title "Homeschool Resources".

I realized that I haven’t shared my favorite homeschool resources lately. I have been finding some really awesome things for the kids that we have all really enjoyed. I’ve also found a few things I thought would be awesome that were complete duds.

Two kids looking at a sticker book.

Firefly Nature School

I happened to get a resource from Firefly Nature School in a bundle pack I purchased. It was so beautiful and so well done. I immediately went and did a full year subscription. If you sign up for emails, they do send out coupon codes, so keep your eyes open for that. The lessons are really beautiful and fun. They can be used for a wide range of ages. You can incorporate them in as science or nature study curriculum or you can just use them as a fun, planned outdoor activity.

Kid with freckles and homemade necklace smiling.

Twig and Moth

I have been loving the Twig and Moth resources. I print the cards onto cardstock and my kids absolutely love them. They are so beautiful with lots of information. They go well with our Nature Anatomy books and Exploring Nature with Children.

Exploring Nature with Children

This guide is such a good resource for science or nature study. It would also make an excellent and fun co-op, for anyone inclined toward that sort of thing. I have the guide, the print guided journal, and the cursive guided journal. The guide contains a year round curriculum for nature study. It includes book recommendations and activities. The guided journal has a poem for the child to copy each week and papers to go along with activities. We’re using it again this year because one year wasn’t enough.

Kid with freckles and an ice cream cone smiling.

Brave Grown Home

We have been loving the nature guides from Brave Grown Home. I highly recommend the Full Nature Guide sets. For weeks when we have some more time for nature study or science, I love pulling and printing these lovely cards and posters for the kids to enjoy.

Messy toddler

A Gentle Feast

I know I’ve already talked about it on the Facebook page, but we are going full in with A Gentle Feast this year. Being in school full time, I didn’t have the time to plan every detail of our curriculum myself, which is what I usually do. A Gentle Feast has all the planning done for me. I’ll give a full review in the future, but I am really happy with the choice and it fits our family really well. This is a Charlotte Mason curriculum that is meant to work well for people who have kids in multiple grades at the same time. The main curriculum has all the plans for history, science, literature, grammer, French, Spanish, and more. Just add math. The Language Arts add on pack gives all the copywork and dictation right there on the page so you aren’t pulling it for them each day. The Morning Time packets are for poetry, Bible, fables, art, and music. If you’ve never started your days with Morning Time, I highly recommend it. A Gentle Feast also has a reading program and handwriting program.

You can read my full review of the program here.

Teen girl with hat smiling

Our Handcrafted Life

This website has several beautiful free printables you can use for science or nature study. They are really lovely when printed onto cardstock. (My kids adore cards, can you tell?)

The Peaceful Preschool

This site only has resources for up to age 12, but they are beautiful. They have full curriculum, but also several unit study type packs. They also have some really nice free resources, including the book lists for their full curriculum!

Intentional Homeschooling

This one is actually in the dud category for me. I really thought I would enjoy several of her paid resources, and I was really disappointed in what I got. I bought the Guide to Annotating Books, thinking it would be great for my 8th grader. It was a 17 page document that was really just a glorified blog post. It should have been a free blog post. There was no technical information, just pictures and rambling about how she highlights and writes in her books. It was not helpful at all and I felt pretty ripped off. I also bought her mini planner, which I think I actually bought in a bundle pack with other brands and things. It was okay. Nothing spectacular. Most of the things in it were things I already have bullet journal spread for. It was just very basic. I just feel the content of her work isn’t necessarily worth the price.

Dirty kid smiling

As usual, this post may contain affiliate links. These links help me and they don’t cost you more to use.

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She Reads Truth Review

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If you’re curious about the She Reads Truth Bible Studies, App, or Bible– you’ve come to the right place! This She Reads Truth Review is a full look at what She Reads Truth has to offer and what this mom and pastor’s wife thinks of it.

She Reads Truth Bible Study Books

If you follow the Notes From The Parsonage Facebook page, you may have already heard about She Reads Truth. I had signed up for their Auto-Ship program for their Devotion books. They release a new one each month, and most of the book is just Scripture. It makes devotional reading very easy to do on a daily basis because it is all right there. You can also scribble notes and prayers right there on the pages on not feel bad about “messing up” your Bible. (Not that I am at all averse to writing in my Bible.) The books are beautifully done. They contain beautiful art, scripture memorization cards, some have recipes, reflection questions, and charts. It is a very Bible centered devotion.

She Reads Truth Bible study book interior page with Scripture.
She Reads Truth Bible verse cards that come with She Reads Truth Bible study books.
Cover of She Reads Truth Bible Study book called "The Miracles of Jesus".

She Reads Truth App

Now, they also have an app. You can download the memory verses each week to use as a screen saver on your phone or tablet. I have found this particularly helpful in keeping the memory verse in front of me throughout the week. You can also purchase the devotions in digital form for significantly cheaper through the app. (The AutoShip program of the books is $29 a month with shipping. Each book on the app is $1.99 to $2.99 each. They even have some shorter books for free.) The app also has a Bible on it, if you don’t already have a Bible app you like.


I have really enjoyed the books. They have Scripture reading from the Old and New Testament each day, which I really enjoy. They connect the Scriptures very well. I have been very blessed in my personal devotion time with this resource and I absolutely highly recommend it.

He Reads Truth

They also offer a He Reads Truth version for men. I purchased the He Reads Truth Bible for the Pastor, but he didn’t like the size, font choices, or layout. It was too modern and too topical for his taste. It is also a THICK Bible with a hardcover front, which made it a little more difficult to cart around, since he doesn’t do his daily reading in one specific space. (The Pastor uses the Ancient Christian Devotional books for his daily reading.) All Scripture used for She Reads Truth is Holman Christian Standard translation. 


She Reads Truth Bible

When She Reads Truth announced they were releasing a Bible, I preordered it immediately. I had a hard time choosing my cover and options, because they all looked so beautiful. Finally, I settled on the Gray Linen Indexed version. And since I have never owned an indexed Bible, so I thought I would give that a try. Now that it has come in, I can give you an overview!


It comes in a very sturdy box to match. The linen cover is very nice, like an old book. The indexed tabs have 3 books per tab.


The first thing you come to in the Bible is a “How To Read The Bible” article. It is extremely helpful. I often have people ask me just this question. This lays it our very succinctly. There are also study guides in the front of each book. They have a reading plan for that book that includes references to other places in the Bible for a deeper, fuller understanding.



Next, you come to an article called “This Is The Gospel”. As a Wesley-Armenian, I often have a difficult time finding theologically appropriate study materials. So, I was a little hesitant to read this article. I was sure they would disappoint me theologically and then I might not enjoy it as much. However, that was not the case. She Reads Truth is very based on Scripture, so theologically, they were right on track. It is sad when you are delightfully surprised to not find borderline heresy in your Bible. But I was.


Each book of the Bible has the key verse of the book illustrated beautifully to begin the book. There is an intro page for each book, giving you the background and setting of the book to give you some context for the writing. Each book also contains a timeline, map, or chart that is helpful in reading that book. Genesis has a timeline. Exodus has a map. Leviticus has a diagram of the tabernacle. You get the picture. And as I said before, each book has a reading plan, complete with additional verses from other books. It is broken down into 5 days per week. The number of weeks depends on the book.



I love the formatting. Single column with a slight margin. This margin might be wide enough to do Bible journaling in, but I will reserve it for notes. There are also very clear footnotes at the bottom of each page. They aren’t tiny and hard to read. The paper is really thin. Thinner than most Bible paper. I’m sure you can tell from the photos that the paper is thin, since you can see through the page to what is printed on the other side. I found that gel highlighters work best for this paper, since they don’t show through at all. However, for margin notes, you’re going to have to deal with being able to see through it. You could use a pencil, but I am not a pencil person. 


There are also various devotions found throughout the Bible. They are a single page, two columns, and easy to find.


Back of Bible Features

In the back of the Bible, there is a list of the key verses for each book. There is also a genre guide, telling you how the Scripture is broken up. Each genre is color coded and you’ll find that those colors are also on the title page for each book. Then you’ll find the apostle’s creed. (It includes that Jesus descended into hell, but excludes the word Catholic.) Next there is a Bible in a year reading plan check list. It also lists a memory verse for each month. A topical index is next, followed by some maps they didn’t put in earlier, and a chart with weights and measures. (Ever wonder how much is a shekel or a cubit? Chart!)


Another awesome feature is that this Bible has TWO satin bookmarks! So you can hold your place in two places at once! 


All in all, I am loving this Bible! I cannot wait to dive into it and use it on a daily basis. I think it is a wonderful resource and could be very helpful if you’re looking for something to help you get into God’s Word more regularly and with passion. They clearly put a lot of thought and attention to detail in their devotional plans and their new Bible. 


**This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon affiliate, I make a small commission on products you purchase through my links. I am not endorsed or sponsored by She Reads Truth, just a customer. **

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Double Ruffle Pants Tutorial

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Make your own double ruffle pants with this easy tutorial! They can be made in any size and with almost any fabric!

Hot pink and blue damask double ruffle pants on little girl.

You know my daughter loves ruffles, right? You didn’t know that? Well, she does. When I said I was making her ruffled pants, she thought I was putting ruffles on her jeans to make them more wearable. She was only slightly disappointed to discover I was starting from scratch and making new ruffle pants. Her jeans can wait.

Getting Started

You need one yard of fabric. The pants I made are a size 6. I had a little leftover. If I were making an 8 or above, I’d opt for buying a bit more fabric. But for the little girls (Shh! Don’t tell them I called them “little”!) a yard is plenty for this double ruffle pants tutorial.

You can really use any fabric with this double ruffle pants tutorial. Quilting cotton offers ease of sewing for beginners and a wide array of colors, patterns, and designs. However, if you want to go for a different fabric– do it! Make them with jersey, flannel, corduroy, satin– the sky is the limit! I’d stick to thicker fabrics, since they are pants. Thinner fabrics tend to rip when made into bottoms.

Jeans laid out on top of hot pink and blue damask fabric.

The first step is to grab a pair of pants that currently fit your girl. No need to reinvent the wheel. Just trace the pants onto the double fold of your fabric, getting it as close to the top as you can. When tracing your pants, add a little room. You’ll want a little extra for seam allowances and woven cotton just doesn’t move like denim or cotton knit. Make sure you trace it a couple inches higher on top. I swear I somehow always make Imo low rise pants purely on accident.

Cut the Double Ruffle Pants Pieces

hot pink an blue damask fabric cut into pattern pieces for ruffle pants.

So, you cut two legs out (cutting on the double fold should have given you 2 legs for your pants). Now, cut 4 strips that are 4″ long and the entire width of the fabric. You can make these single ruffled if you’d like. Imo loves double (or triple) ruffles. You could add a bit of fancy to this and make the ruffles in contrasting fabric.

Sewing the Main Pants

Interior sewn seams on fabric pants

Sew your pants together. I know, I know. That seems like I’m skipping a bunch of stuff. Go here if you need help on that.

Go ahead and finish the interior edges. (Double fold, french seam, serge, pink, whatever it is you do.)

Go ahead and serge or pink the bottom of each leg and the top of the pants.

Elastic casing close up on top of hot pink and blue damask pants

Fold over the top of the pants and make a little channel to run the elastic and ribbon through. You’ll probably want the ribbon drawstring. The double ruffles make these a bit heavier than the usual cotton pants. Go ahead and finish the top with elastic and drawstring. You can save it for later if you want. It doesn’t matter much when you do it.

Making and Adding Ruffles

Edges of ruffle shown before sewing the right sides together.

Moving on to the ruffles. You’ll do this with each ruffle. Match the short sides of a ruffle strip together. (right sides together) Sew the short sides together. (You’ll have one big loop for each ruffle.)

Both sides of the ruffle are sewn and ready to be attached to double ruffle pants

Finish the top and bottom of the ruffle. For the top (on the right side of the above photo) I just serged it. For the bottom, I serged, flipped, and sewed.

Repeat for each ruffle. This takes the most time on this project.

Bottom of pants are pinned to ruffles

Now, pin the ruffle to the bottom of the pants right sides together. You want the ruffle to ruffle, so just messy pleat and pin all the way around.

Sew all the way around. Repeat on the other leg. You now have one ruffle on each leg. You can stop here if you want the single ruffle pants.

Ruffle Pants Tutorial- Single ruffle applies

In this picture (above) you can see the line I sew above the ruffle. What I do after I attach the ruffle is flip the seam inside up and then sew it around the top of the ruffle. It keeps the ruffle from flipping up.

Double ruffle attached to leg of pants

Now, to attach the next ruffles. I don’t have a picture of this step. You’re just going to pin the next ruffle the same way you did the first, but pin it slightly above the first ruffle. If you want it to look like two very distinct ruffles, you’ll need to pin it about 2″ – 3″ above the first ruffle. I like mine stacked so the look super ruffly, but not necessarily like rows of ruffles. Pin the ruffle right sides together, sew it. Flip the ruffle down (covering the seam) and sew around the top edge of the ruffle so it stays down and doesn’t flip up on you.

Double Ruffle Pants Are Done

Double ruffle pants tutorial pants complete.

That’s it! You’ve got your girl some double ruffle pants!

Pinterst Image of double ruffle pants sewing tutorial

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Half Yard Apron Sewing Tutorial

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Half yard aprons are super easy to make! And they’re great to make as gifts because they’re pretty much one-size-fits all. This half apron sewing tutorial is beginner friendly and only uses a half yard of fabric!

Half yard half apron

My mother asked me to design her an apron not so long ago. Of course, I agreed. She needed it to be easy. “Straight lines only!” she said. I can do that. After all, most sewing involves straight lines.

She needed it to use as little material as possible, while still looking like a nice “vintage” half apron. Okay. Now is where it gets tricky. I knew I had made aprons using a yard of fabric. But could I use just half a yard? Yes. I most certainly could (and did). Here is my half yard apron design! (And thank you, Mother for the fabric!)

Cut Your Fabric

Fabric pieces of half yard apron

First, you are going to cut up your half yard of fabric, just a bit. You’ll need to cut 4 strips off the side of your half yard that are 18″ long and 3″ wide. You just cut off 12″ from the side of your half yard. The big piece is your apron body. Now, take one of those 18″ x 3″ strips and cut it in half. Now you have your apron body, three 18″ x 3″ strips, and two 9″ x 3″ strips. The strips will become your waist band.

Sewing The Waistband of the Half Yard Apron

Long strip of fabric wrong side up on a bench

Sew the three long strips together- end to end. (Right sides together, sew across the 3″ end) Now, you have a long strip. Sew a 9″ x 3″ strip to the ends. (If we kept it all together, the front waistband of your apron would have a seam in the middle. I like my front waistband to be nice and solid- thus the two smaller strips are the end. If you only use the 3 strips, without the extra 18″, you’ll be able to tie your apron only if you’re skinny. I made the first one with three 4″ strips, and I cold tie it, but couldn’t get it into a bow.)

Press your seams however you want. I do mine toward the ends. You can open them if you want. It is your apron.

Sew the Edges of the Main Body of the Half Yard Apron

Edges of half apron sewn

Finish the sides and bottom of your apron body. You can do a double folded hem. Or you can do what I do and serge all the edges, then fold the serged part to the inside and hem. Either way, finish the sides first, then the bottom. (If you serge it, you can serge it all, then hem it sides first, then bottom.

Sew a basting stitch across the top of the apron body. (You’ll use it to gather the top of the apron body.) Don’t know how to do this? Sew a long straight stitch 1/4″ from the top of the apron body, leaving long tails of thread. Pull gently on one of the threads on one side at a time, gently working gathers into the top of the apron body.

Attaching the Waistband to the Half Yard Apron Body

Waistband of apron folded and pressed into thirds

Now, with the long strip you’ve got, press it with the raw edges tucked inside. (Think- double fold bias tape.) To do this, fold in half and press. Then tuck the outer raw edges to the inside seam and press again!

Body of half yard apron ruffled using a basting stitch

Turn your attention back to this gathered edge. You’re going to encase the raw edge of the gather into the double folded strip you just pressed.

Pinning the apron waistband to the gathered top of the apron body

Pin the edges of the apron body to the edges of the center section of the long strip/tie. You can stretch out your gathers or gather them more as needed to fit the section. Pin as needed. Try to eyeball and see that your gathers are evenly gathered and you don’t have a bare spot.

Sewing the waistband onto the body

Sew along the edge of the double folded strip, catching the apron body, encasing the raw gathered edge. Start at the seam where the apron body is attaching. You’ll go back and finish the rest of that side later.

Sewing down the length of the waistband to make a tie

When you get to the end of the apron body, keep sewing. Sew all the way to the end of the tie.

Sewing the other side to make another tie

Flip the apron over and finish the tie on the other side.

Finishing the Half Yard Apron

Knot tied in the end of the waistband

Tie a knot at the end of each tie.

Mom with crazy eyes and a pink floral t-shirt in bad lighting in a half yard half apron made with half a yard of fabric

And you’re done! And yes, my friends, that is me.

Top is picture of half yard apron half apron on woman with text on bottom saying "Half yard Apron Sewing Tutorial"

Enjoy your new apron. Or give it as a gift. Or sell it for some cash. Whatever.

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