Yes, you read that title correctly. It is indeed a splendid dark blue trunk-down elephant bandana that someone turned into an slightly gathered waist apron. Who knows when they did the deed… I’d guess it was Pre-owned, used; in good condition with no noted flaws.1950 but can’t be sure. The stitching on the waistband is that tiny ‘gazillion stitch per inch’ machine stitch typical of antique sewing machines. And it’s the devil to pick out without damaging the fabric surrounding the stitches. I once deconstructed an entire tablecloth or quilt top sewn from antique/vintage bandanas. It took me days to complete that project!
So how do I know it’s an elephant bandana with the trunk up? I gotta confess- I peeked. Me and my trusty super-sharp seam ripper spent 20 minutes removing about 2″ of stitching at the waistband where I guessed the corner brand marking would be. I got lucky… there was the FAST COLOR and the lovely delicate elephant brand mark with its trunk down. And as a bonus the selvedge was still intact; it hadn’t been cut off. Yay!
So now my dilemma is this- do I remove the rest of the waistband, restoring the bandana to its original bandana-ness or do I restitch the waistband keeping the intent of the original apron sewist? And I almost forgot to mention the small pocket sewn onto the right side.
Do I risk damaging the bandana by remove removing that pocket or do I leave it in place? I haven’t decided… any opinions? It’s not currently for sale but it will be available to purchase sometime this Fall; I’m serious about wanting a few opinions before I decide whether to resew the waist or not.
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