Sweet lil' half apron

Sunday, February 21, 2010

There are about a million kajillion tutorials on aprons---let's add one more to the stack!

Here's what you'll need:

-20" x 43" fabric #1, for the bulk of the apron (I used cotton, Elvis faces--why not?)
-6" x 43" fabric #1, for strap
-6" x 21" fabric #2, for strap
-2 pieces 10 1/2 " x 7 1/2 " fabric #2, for pockets

Here's how I did it:

1. Cut that one long strip of fab #1 into two, equal pieces. Put fab #2 strip in the middle. Sew them up, right side to right side. Like this:

2. Fold the strap right sides in, and starting at the folded corner, sew a 45 degree angle and then straight down the rest of the way. Note---I had started with the navy blue thread, then ran out and then realized that I didn't have anymore and that maybe gree would look better anyway. That's why there are two sewn lines, and then one abruptly ends...
3. Turn it right side out, use a point turner to make the points pointy and iron.
4. Now the open end. Cut the open corner off at a 45 degree angle and then fold it in--iron. Topstitch that end and the other end so they'll match.
5. Meanwhile, hem all four sides of the large, 20" x 43" piece. Double fold it in, I do about a finger's width.
6. Pinning the apron the the strap:
Pin the ends about 3 inches beyond the contrasting section of the strap. Then find the middle and put a pin there. (The scissors and point turner are just in the pic to show you where the pins are) This will be the inside of the apron.
7. Pleat the sections between the pins, as evenly as possible. I personally dislike pleats that all go in the same direction. On this one I made both sides "face" toward the middle. Does that make sense? Like they are all looking to the middle...like the pleats have faces...
8. Sew the strap to the pleated apron, I used a good ole straight stitch.
9. Pockets: Double fold the top edge of the pockets, iron and sew. Then double fold and iron the other edges. Lately, I have been making the pockets on stuff by folding the bottom triangles straight in, like a 45 degree angle. It seems to come out much smoother for me than trying the make a curve at the bottom of the pocket. Pin them wherever you like them, and sewing the sides and bottom only, ofcourse.


I really like the wide strap bc it looked good whether you wanted to wear it high waisted, retro style...or low, slung modern mommy-style. The pockets are deep so they could actually be functional. I thought of it as an all-day sort of apron...to cook in, pick up polly pocket shoes in, keep chapstick in, etc. Anyway, I know there are lots of these out there, this is just a very simple jumping off point for you---have fun tweaking it and mixing it up!

1 comments:

Kaysi said...

That is so cute!

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