What makes our Original apron so special?
Read about why we believe our aprons to be the highest quality aprons available.
The Design
Before these aprons, nothing existed to fulfil the requirements of a superior choice of apron.
Our aim has always been to produce something that has style and practicality, delivered with the finest materials. They are unique in their features and are built to last.
The durability and design of our aprons makes them an outstanding item.
It is for these reasons that we offer Free Repairs for Life on our aprons.
The Leather
The fine quality leather straps are essential components in our aprons.
Every neck strap on our Original Aprons is finished by
hand. The edges are bevelled and then rubbed smooth using a traditional wooden burnishing tool.
The leather is chosen for its strength, but it also feels comfortable to wear, it feels good sitting on the neck, it is soft enough to easily be adjustable and the colour sits well with the fabrics. It has a beautiful smooth finish with a wonderful depth of colour. It fulfils all its demands.
Our leather comes from Italy where generations of specialist tanners take great pride in producing the best leather. Full grain vegetable tanned leather is the highest quality leather, it is produced slowly using natural tannins and will age beautifully.
The Cork
We searched for a long time to find the perfect vegan alternative for our straps. This cork is very strong, supple and has a beautiful finish.
It comes from centuries old forests in Portugal where cork harvesting is a skill passed down through families and supports a village community. Cork is extremely sustainable - the bark is peeled away and then the cork is carefully extracted by highly skilled harvesters. The trees are in no way damaged, the cork is naturally renewable and grows back after nine years. Read here why it's so important to support the cork industry.
The Fabric
The choice of fabric is crucial in making an apron that protects the wearer but is also extremely comfortable to wear.
We have carefully selected a canvas with a robust cotton texture and a strong weave. Known as a half panama, it has 2 weft threads in parallel, this gives the material a linen look. It makes it light weight but heavy duty, exactly right for our needs - we then transform it into heirloom piece aprons in our Shropshire workshop.
The Wash
After it arrives in our workshop the canvas fabric is cut from the roll into panels. The panels need individually edging to ensure they cope with the rigorous washing process - this pre-shrinks the canvas, desizes it and gives it a unique rich, worn-in feel and appearance. The panels are then pressed ready to be made up into aprons.
We believe this extra attention to detail is important so that from the first day it is worn it feels perfect.
The Cutting and Patterning
Each apron is cut out by hand. We don't just make one size of apron, we understand that people come in many different shapes and sizes. Our short aprons are also shorter in the body so that they have a better fit at the waist, likewise our longer length is adjusted for the taller wearer. The lap pockets are designed to be deep enough to keep all those bit and pieces to hand, whilst also being comfortable enough to use just as pockets. We know that sometimes it's best to keep different things in different places that's why we added a very useful bib pocket with two different sections. Plus....our hidden bib pocket...a little pocket which sits on the inside of the apron.
At the points where the leather straps are attached we sew in an extra piece of fabric to reinforce the corner - these areas are where the apron takes the stresses of movement. To enable free and easy wear, whilst keeping the straps securing attached, it is vital that there aren't any weak areas.
The Stitching
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
An item of workwear that is going to be as much of your tool kit as your tools, that is going to have to cope with the demands of the job, needs to be strong. The sewing thread we use is corespun - a strong internal single polyester thread, with outer dual cotton threads wrapped round it.
This type of thread is up to 50% stronger than conventional threads.
We sew two rows of this stitching around each pocket to make sure they are equipped to take many years of repeated use.
The Riveting
We hand rivet each of the corners of the front pockets with our branded antique finish brass rivets.
In 1873 Levi's were the first company to rivet their jeans' pockets to make them the strongest available - riveted pockets are far superior in strength.
The Metalware
Our buckles, clip hooks and studs are all made from nickel-plated brass, made in a small foundry in the heart of England. This foundry has been producing castings since 1832 and holds a Royal Warrant of Appointment.
So that the apron can easily be washed, the straps are held in place by our unique metal snap fasteners making them removable in seconds. We designed them ourselves, giving them the appearance of a beautiful screw head.
The Finished Apron
Our name is on these aprons...twice! We have made them with pride and spent hours in their production.
We want the person who will eventually come to wear one to be as proud of it as we are.
