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I think I’ve told the story before, but I’ll repeat it. The girls see me a couple of times a year, but I’m the (’great’ - we leave that out for simplicity) Aunt who made them their egg aprons .... it’s actually become something “special” between us.

So, I have always tried to give presents to ‘the kids’ that were not junk, something they wouldn’t necessarily outgrow, and that was useful, educational, etc. You get the point.

The girls are now 5-1/2 & 3. When the oldest had her 2nd birthday, I was trying to figure out what to give her .... she LOVED the chickens that her mom had & was going with her to collect eggs. I saw the adult crocheted egg apron & then noticed there was a child size & I knew that is what I’d do for her 2nd birthday. I used the pastel variegated cotton - very Spring-y (birthday in April). The apron was a huge hit - it came down to her knees, maybe even below, but she was wearing it every day to collect those eggs!

Last spring, I got a request from mama - the little one was feeling very left out, since she had no egg apron & mama wanted to know if I could make her one as well. I found out the most favored color was purple, bought yarn the same day & got busy that night. Within 3 days, I had the egg apron in the mail. I wish I could have seen the little one open the package - evidently, she was running for the hen house as soon as she could get it out of the package & tie it on! Their mama sent me a pic of them side by side in their aprons - big smiles. The oldest one has grown into her apron, the little one’s is down around her knees - so cute.

The pattern is “easy”, sewing on the pockets is a pain. Also, in the pattern, the waistband is just a strip of single crochets - too stretchy, not very sturdy. I came up with my own waistband design that is not stretchy so it doesn’t sag - I made it plenty long so the girls can grow & the apron will still have long enough ‘strings’ to be tied on.

The egg aprons are one of my favorite & most satisfying projects. The girls live about 3 hours away - when they were visiting their grandmother (who lives next door to me) the first time after I sent the last egg apron, the little one (who was a bit shy at the time) came and told me “thank you”! It was SO sweet, worth every stitch. Now that she’s got that “connection” with me via the apron, she bounces right up with “HI Aunt Q!!” and a big smile.

If you ever decide to make an egg apron, I can send you how I did the waistband - it’s not only sturdy, but it’s really attractive, too - a definite upgrade on the pattern, IMO.