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Aprons were made to help with sewing, knitting, crocheting, and mending tasks. From the late 1900s to almost 1930 they were most popular. Many of the early aprons tended not to be obvious other than usually being short, having 1-4 large pockets, and sometimes having smaller pockets for tools and/or notions. Occasionally, early sewing/knitting/mending (mending aprons are also called darning aprons) aprons were embroidered with tools, notions or appropriate slogans. In the 1930s, when fashions were sleeker and slimmer, aprons seemed to become less fashionable and are rarely seen in magazines, catalogs, packaged patterns, and books of the era. However, during WWII when knitting for service men became patriotic, the knitting apron, often made of bark-cloth, became a alternative to the ubiquitious knitting bag. After WWII and during the prosperous era which continued through the mid-1960s, needlework became a favorite pasttime, especially for women who did not work outside of the home. Sewing, knitting, and mending aprons enjoyed a resurgence during this era, becoming brightly colored, often garishly so, with embellishments of sewing and knitting tools and notions. In the 1960s to recent years, with most families having 2 adult wage-earners, there was less discretionary time. During this time sewing/knitting/mending aprons were forgotten, becoming almost unknown. Around 2000 a handful of packaged sewing patterns and Internet pattern for sewing aprons have been published, as well as a sewing apron featured in Stampington & Co's 2010 Volume 2 Apronology.