Aprons make handy presents

The weeks preceding Christmas are not the easiest time of year for many of us. Our jobs seem more demanding, with lots of last-minute things to do before the holiday recess, while shopping for gifts consumes evenings and weekends.

Nevertheless, I have always tried to find a little bit of time to create meaningful gifts for those colleagues, friends and family members who have made a difference in my life in the past year. This year I decided that aprons, each designed for a specific task (gardening, cooking or crafting), would be just the thing to make.

First, I made a prototype of a gardening apron, fussing with the placement of the pockets, keeping in mind those things I always need when gardening or planting: seed packets, gloves, clippers and pens. I used oilcloth for the body of the apron, a contrasting stiff canvas for the pockets, and a thin leather for the binding of the edges. The result was excellent.

For one of the chefs at my television studio, I made a long, comfortable chef's apron from gray linen. He loves a long apron that is absorbent and soft, qualities that he has difficulty finding in a ready-made one.

Creating an apron for one of the crafts editors at Martha Stewart Living was easy. He never makes a mess, so a half-apron, which I made from a sturdy canvas, was an ideal design for his present. The deep pockets were made extra-roomy so that he can carry measuring tapes, scissors, threads and pins without fear of losing anything.

I suggest you find a little time to try one or more of these ideas this holiday season. You will feel so accomplished at having handcrafted gifts, and the recipients will certainly treasure their presents for years to come.

Gardener's apron

The other aprons mentioned above are variations of the gardener's apron. Visit www.marthastewart.com

/living for complete how-tos and templates for gardening, cooking and crafting aprons.

Use a leather needle and topstitch-weight thread for this project (you should match thread to trim). When working with the leather trim, sew a 3-mm stitch length to keep it from ripping.

1. Cut a sheet of thin leather (it shouldn't feel plush or too stretchy) into 5/8-inch-wide strips for trim. Strips' length will depend on the size of the sheet; we used a total of 145 inches of 5/8-inch-wide strips, plus a 20-inch-long strip of 1 1/2-inch-wide leather to trim the top of the pocket.