Duncan preserves legacy of farm woman's apron

By Jean Caspers-Simmet
simmet@agrinews.com

Date Modified: 08/09/2010 3:31 PM

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VEEDERSBURG, Ind. —Aprons are dear to Esther Duncan's heart. The youngest of 13 children and still called "the baby," her Farm Woman's Apron Project is a way of bringing her closer to her late mother.

"My mother always wore an apron," said Duncan, who lives on her family's grain and livestock farm near Veedersburg. "I always remember her aprons."

She and her siblings holds a reunion every two years where they commemorate a significant event in the lives of their parents. It was at a family reunion in 1996, that the apron project got its start.

"It was my turn to make a presentation," she said. "I prepared a little article about Mother and included some of her memorable recipes. Then I made a replica of her apron to go along with the cookbook for each of my seven sisters. Other women started asking for them. Soon, I found myself making more and more aprons."

Duncan has sewn more than 800 aprons on her Singer Featherweight. She doesn't use a pattern. Her aprons are patterned after aprons that belonged to mothers and aunts, aprons that were liked and cherished.

"My aprons are a full-cut, hard-working woman's apron," Duncan said. "They cover well, have a yoke that goes over the head and they tie in the back. An apron followed the style of the house dress worn underneath. Perhaps farm women's aprons were cut from a pattern handed down from generation to generation or shared by one farm woman to another. Today's aprons have to look good over jeans and the knit fabrics we wear."

As Duncan sews aprons, she collects stories and she accumulates old aprons.

Duncan will speak at noon on Aug. 3-4 at the Farmfest Craft/Toy/Home & Garden Pavilion. She invites Farmfest visitors to bring their personal aprons and share their stories. She will have a booth there with aprons for sale.

Duncan is also the featured speaker at the Women's Breakfast at 9 a.m. Aug. 5 at the Tauer Pavilion on the Gilfillan Estate, adjacent to the Farmfest show grounds. Breakfast tickets are $15 and include a complimentary ticket to Farmfest. To purchase tickets visit www.farmshows.com or telephone Melissa Voight 1- 800-827-8007.

By researching styles and fabrics, Duncan, who has a degree in history, can begin to tell the story of an apron.

"I tell people not to throw away an apron because it has holes or spots," Duncan said. "The wear patterns give that apron a voice. These threadbare places might speak to me of all the pie crusts and cookies she rolled out. When I see an apron I can almost hear the woman laughing and standing in front of the stove."

Duncan's mother had three aprons —every day, next best and Sunday. Her aprons were ironed, folded and stored in the drawer of her buffet.

"They didn't have a lot of frills and flounces," Duncan said. "The aprons were hard working, but looked nice."

Duncan makes 12 styles of aprons for women, girls, men and boys. All are 100 percent cotton. Yesteryear's styles are adapted to today's fabrics.

"A little of my own heart goes into each apron," she said.

Her signature is a combination of fabrics. She makes her own bias binding.

"The farm woman's apron was unique," Duncan said. "It identified her position as wife, mother, and working farm partner."

Aprons vanished as a result of the 1960s women's movement.

"When women burned their bras, they burned their aprons with them," Duncan quipped. "It is not my endeavor to bring back the apron. My only hope is to preserve its legacy and memories."