Sassy Aprons and the drought in Australia

The apron I'm making for the Sassy apron swap is coming along very nicely. The theme is spring, so I thought I'd use some ideas from close to home and encorporate it into the apron.

To give you some background, most of Australia has been experiencing drought, some places more severe than others. Much of the fresh produce I buy comes from central Victoria, which has been hit particularly hard, so this year Spring meant water restrictions, fresh fruit and vegetable shortages, livestock being sold off and many farmers leaving their land. Importantly, the Murray-Darling river system, a ~3400km river that helps supply 40% of Australia's agriculture, is finally drying up and can no longer support the agricultural demands placed upon it. This river system receives 5% of Australia's total rainfall but supplies 70% of Australia's irrigation. Half of Victoria's agricultural water supply comes from here. So a combination of extended periods of low rainfall, unsustainable farming practices and state/government arguments over who should take action over this (this river covers 3 states) meant it's had serious implications for everyone.

So... the apron. Haha, don't worry, it's not depressing like the picture I painted above is (is it even possible to create a "sad apron?"), but basically I've used it as inspiration for an "Australian drought colour scheme". It features a lamb (when I think 'Spring' I think 'cute little lambies') and a pocket, of course. I'm having a go at some hand applique and so far I'm quite pleased with the results. I have used various machine applique techniques in the past but I've never been fully pleased with the look, so even though it takes longer I'm going with the hand sewn way.

The pattern I'm using for the apron is the reversible aprong from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing book. I love the pattern for it because it seems to fit so well on whoever wears it. It is a little flared at the bottom and is fitted a bit at the waist, and if you make a mess of yourself (as I am prone to doing) you can turn it over and look clean again.

So I'd say I'm about half way through making the apron, and given that today is my last day of work for a whole month, it really wont take me very long to finish. The camera that I placed on order is due in next week, but the guy from the camera store said there is a world wide shortage so it might be two weeks before I get it. I'm hoping to borrow one of Gib's parents cameras to take some action shots then.

As for my soup recipe that I have to include, well, it's a bit of a tough choice - I have so many favourites. But regardless I will include a recipe for damper, which is a good traditional Aussie bread/scone that goes with all soups.