UPDATED – now with photos. I should still apologize for the quality of the pictures, which I took with my phone.
First off, I’d like to apologize for the lack of visuals accompanying this post. I have misplaced my camera cord. As soon as I find it, I promise to update the post with explanatory pictures, and in the meantime I hope the instructions are clear enough without them.
As anlichan’s birthday present is still in production, this post will be about a previously-completed project of mine, an apron I made for myself. Papa S’s mother gave me a plastic apron when I moved into my first apartment, but that was a few years ago and it’s ripping. I wanted to make myself an apron, and I had lots of cute bright fabrics in my stash. I picked two cherry prints and, to mix it up, a kiwi print.
I made a reversible apron for Mama S in a sewing class in middle school, so I’d done this before, albeit many years ago. Reversible is more of a pain to make, but it’s cute and I don’t like when the seams show on the back. I didn’t bother to use a pattern because I’m lazy. I just had a vague idea of how large it should be on me and I used a measuring tape to measure myself several times. I cut out the two bodice pieces and sewed each one to a larger bottom piece. I cut strips to serve as the waist ties and neck strap. I folded each strip in half so that the wrong side of the fabric was on the outside, sewed it lengthwise, and turned it right side out, then ironed it flat. I then had three flat tubes of fabric. For each of the waist ties, I took one open end and folded the fabric in on itself so none of the rough edges were showing, and then sewed straight across that short edge to close it.
Prior to assembling the whole apron, I made myself pockets. One is small and mostly decorative. The other one is larger and I plan to actually use it. I folded down the top side of each pocket to hide the rough edges and sewed it down. Then, I folded and ironed the other three sides, pinned each pocket where I wanted it, and sewed it down. The ironing isn’t necessary but it helps the edges stay in place better prior to sewing. (Note: I attached the pockets to their respective apron sides prior to putting the two sides of the apron together.)
The final assembly: I put the two apron halves together, with the right sides of the fabric inward, and pinned them together. I pinned the neck strap and waist ties in place so that the straps themselves were inside the apron halves (between the right sides of the fabric) and the rough edges at the ends were sticking out, if that makes sense. I sewed all the way around the pinned edge, leaving a gap at the bottom large enough for me to turn the apron right side out.
When the edges were all sewn, I turned the apron right side out and hand-sewed the hole at the bottom. Voila! An adorable apron.
The proportions aren’t perfect – the torso is a bit too long, as is the neck strap – but that’s my own fault for not measuring more carefully. I’ll have to remember for next time to think about where the straps will hit me. Of course, it wouldn’t be one of my projects if I didn’t measure something incorrectly. Anyway, it looks cute and it has served me well so far, and that’s what matters.
- End of the waist strap, with the fabric folded in on itself and sewn down
- Large (useful) pocket
- Smaller (decorative) pocket
- Side of the apron with kiwi/cherry prints
- Side of the apron with cherry/cherry print