Our new Workshop Waist Apron is made in the USA and built to last. I have destroyed so many aprons made of “ballistic cloth” and other high-tech fabrics. This cotton canvas one takes a real beating. Above is a quick video discussing its development and features.
— Christopher Schwarz
Shop aprons that cover your torso are great, but they can be impractical during the summer, in heated shops or for people who do a lot of physical handwork. For years, we tried using tool belts for carpentry, but those are designed for a ridiculous amount of equipment and a 50’ tape measure.
The solution that we love is a waist apron. And we have designed ours from the ground up to be ideal for woodworkers. It is compact and breathes – it won’t leave a giant sweat stain behind like some shop aprons. And it is designed for the tools that most woodworkers need constantly – but not much more. A 12’ tape measure, a 6” combination square, 6” rules, pencils and maybe a knife or a small block plane.
All these fit nicely into the waist apron without feeling too bulky.
The Lost Art Press waist apron is made from 10-ounce cotton canvas, with reinforced pockets that will withstand heavy workshop use. The two main pockets are 6” deep and about 8” wide, with a side pocket on the right for a pencil or a 6” rule. You secure the apron to your waist using two canvas ties, which can be easily tied around an apron hook if you prefer. (The total length of the apron including the two ties is 67”, and the ties have a nice amount of elasticity.)
The front of the waist apron is printed with our favorite “Never Despair: Nothing Without Labour” woodcut in blue, just like an old fashioned nail apron you could buy at the hardware store. Unlike those cheap aprons, though, ours uses much tougher materials and is sewn to last.
The aprons were designed by Tom Bonamici, screen printed in Eugene, Oregon, and expertly sewn by Terry Shuck in Springfield, Oregon. The price is $48, which we think is remarkable for a garment of this quality and complexity.
— Christopher Schwarz
We now have in stock our new Lost Art Press “Nothing without Labor” heavyweight hoodies (in sizes M through 3XL), another batch of Crucible microfiber “Super Woobies” and a whole passel of 5-packs of Lost Art Press woodworking pencils.
The full-zip hoodie features the “Never Despair: Nothing Without Labour” artwork on the back. On the front is a friendly bee – a long-time symbol of woodworkers and other trades.
Oil-impregnated “Super Woobies” (we have multiples) get used many times each day in our shop to wipe down tools before we put them away. That not only keeps rust at bay, it helps to keep pitch and dust from accumulating on tools.
The woodworking pencils are robust, leave a good dark mark and sharpen easily.
— Fitz
I have a few important restock notices today. We’ve just posted a big batch of Crucible 4” Sliding Bevels. The machine shop is cranking them out as fast as they can, and we hope to catch up with demand before February.
Also – we have Crucible Card Scrapers back in stock. I wish I could blame the supply chain crisis for these being out of stock, but that would be a lie. I plum forgot to order the steel when we ran low on the tools and then – bam – we ran out.
The other news is that we have chore coats in stock in the new cavalry twill. Tom Bonamici, our clothing designer, wrote this up about the new fabric.
“We’ve tried a few different fabrics for our chore coat. The first was a hauntingly nice heavy sateen from Japan, custom-woven for the project. It was amazing, but outrageously expensive. Like, sell-a-kidney expensive. So we switched to a nice sturdy brushed twill from a U.S. vendor for the next two production runs.
“For our latest run, which is now available, we’ve switched to a mid-weight cotton cavalry twill from Brisbane Moss, a long-running mill in West Yorkshire, England. Cavalry twill is a tightly woven hard-wearing double twill, originally developed for military riding breeches. It’s very similar in construction to wool whipcord, with a harder face that’s easy to brush clean of sawdust and plane shavings. And it’s slightly lighter weight than our last two fabrics, making a chore coat that’s really the perfect weight for a year-round layer in the shop.
“The coat’s construction is the same as ever – reinforced lower pockets, custom debossed buttons, and a fit on the trim side of regular. And we’re proud to keep working with Sew Valley here in Cincinnati for the cut and sew.”
One more note about the coats. We had them listed at $135, which was a price we were selling out some small sizes in the old material. I forgot to restore the price back to $165. So some of y’all got the bargain of the year (I know, it’s early in the year).
— Christopher Schwarz
We have just receive a 500-pound package of Lost Art Press Chore Coats in all sizes. These coats are made in Cincinnati by a small firm called Sew Valley. With this year’s batch we are using a slightly new cotton fabric from Britain. It’s a little smoother that last year’s twill.
Black chore coats are the uniform of furniture makers, joiners and carpenters in France. And I absolutely adore mine. I can wear it in the shop, dust it off and go to dinner with Lucy with no problem. The price – $165 – is a fantastic deal for a jacket that is made here in the United States by well-compensated employees.
A note on sizing: I usually recommend people order one size up from normal if they are going to have more than a T-shirt on under the coat. I usually wear a large (tall) shirt or jacket. With our chore coat I prefer an XL (shown above). I’m not swimming too much in it, and I can wear a shirt and vest under it with no problem. Complete sizing details are available in our store.
— Christopher Schwarz
