Pinner Apron???

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

My fiancee is looking at sewing some things to wear to our next event. She had some questions about a pinner apron??? Is this a period term for a period item? If so what is used to pin it? Types of materials to be used??

Thanks,

Paul B. Boulden Jr.

RAH VA MIL '04

[BHoover]

My fiancee is looking at sewing some things to wear to our next event. She had some questions about a pinner apron??? Is this a period term for a period item? If so what is used to pin it? Types of materials to be used??

Thanks,

Paul B. Boulden Jr.

RAH VA MIL '04

I'm sure others can comment better on the history of the term/item etc. but the basic idea is an apron whose bib pins to the bodice. Straight pins would have been used, perhaps bent over to keep them in place. I think we often ignore the amount of pins that a lady might go through when dressing. Pin manufacturing was a big business as the pins were often bent, lost, etc. and would have to be replaced.

[Virginia Mescher]

My fiancee is looking at sewing some things to wear to our next event. She had some questions about a pinner apron??? Is this a period term for a period item? If so what is used to pin it? Types of materials to be used??

Thanks,

Paul B. Boulden Jr.

RAH VA MIL '04

Below are some posts I did elsewhere on aprons and pinner aprons.

From _The Ladies' Self Instructor_ (1853).
"Aprons, These are made of a variety of materials, and are applied to various uses. The aprons for common purposes, are made of white, blue, brown, checked, and sometimes black linen; nakeen stuff, and print are also employed.... Aprons of all kinds are straight, and either plaited [pleated] or gathered on to the band or stock at the top.... In some kinds of aprons bibs are introduced, which are useful to cover the upper part of the dress...."

Pinner apron instructions:
It is made up of two fabric panels (45" each) of the desired length. One
panel is cut down the middle lengthwise and each half panel is sewn on
either side of the whole panel. I felled each panel seam (so I didn't have
to worry about raw edges raveling but you could always overcast the raw
edges to prevent fraying) and used the selvage edge for the outer
edges. I gauged the top edge for the waist and pulled it to the desired
width for the apron skirt. A patch pocket is optional, but a nice to have.
The hem was just folded over and hemmed with a running stitch. The bib
is one panel of fabric cut to the correct length for the wearer. (I'm short
waisted, so my bib is fairly short.) The bottom edge of the bib is gauged
and the top edge was gathered and the raw edge enclosed in a self-fabric
band. The botton gauged edge of the bib is pulled up so that it is
narrower than the top gathered edge, almost forming an inverted triangle
shape. The waistband is a long piece of fabric (pieced to obtain the
length), folded over, sewn and turned. The apron skirt and bib are then
attached to the waistband by catching each pleat of the gauging to the
waistband. If you don't want to make a long waistband, you could make a
shorter band and have it button instead of tying it.

Pinner aprons are pinned with straight pins at the top corners of the bib. The pins are left straight and pushed in and out of the fabric several time embedding the point of the pin inside the fabric band.

[Drygoods]

Greetings,
If I might add my two cents worth to the pins/pinner aprons thread.....

One thing I've noticed in researching these aprons is that the pin is started from the back of the apron. In other words, the head and point of the pin begin and end on the back edge of the apron. This will prevent you from having anything catch on your pin. (Please don't use big fat ugly modern safety pins on your pinners.... it's just not right IMHO adding 2 more cents there)

I have quite a collection of different styles of pins. One set (card) is a looped pin with a pretty pattern engraved into them. They are made of gold and about a half an inch long. My trouble is that I have had difficulty dating them. Does anyone here know how early they could be? The type and art on the card could be 1870-80s, but I am only using that as a guess against other font styles of that time. Last, they are not diaper pins.

Mfr,
Judith Peebles