Lady in a blue dress on a brick wall.

I can't begin to explain how excited I was to win this on eBay last week! Words alone won't describe the beauty of the work in this apron. I've taken three photos - one of the apron as a whole, a closeup of the design, and a section of the reverse, so you can see the meticulous hand stitching - just in case you thought it was applique or machine stitched!

Phar Lap apron

Phar Lap was arguably Australia's greatest racehorse, and I'm not going to enter discussions about any aspect of Phar Lap's ancestry or history! There is a large space devoted to him in the Melbourne Museum, which includes various memorabilia, one of which is an embroidered apron which I have long coveted. So you can imagine my delight when this turned up on eBay! It is not the same standard of stitching as the one in the Museum, but I'm happy to have it in my collection, as it is obviously quite old.

Apron with lady smoking.

Gosh, how politically incorrect is that these days! This apron is stitched on some kind of homespun fabric, with hand crocheted edges, but no ties, which makes me think it was done for an embroidery show or contest.