Apron cuteness

Hi, Kel here with fabric that I bought about a year ago. I bought it with an apron in mind, but got all bogged down in trying to design the perfect apron that I pictured. Does that happen to you? A project grows in your mind until you feel completely inadequate for the task. Or you won't start until you have the perfect plan. I hate when it happens to me, but I'm learning that the only remedy is to begin.

I bought a half metre in 3 different fabrics that worked together for me. I didn't have a pattern to work from, but I did have a pretty good idea of what I wanted. As it turned out, I barely had enough fabric to do what I wanted, and some design choices were made based on how much fabric I had available.

Note: seam allowances are 1/2" throughout and I am probably not doing the right thing grainwise, but for something like this, I don't mind that.

I trimmed off the selvedges, and straightened the cut edges. I made sure the front (blue) and back (yellow) fabric rectangles were exactly the same size. I cut a 3 inch strip (whole width of fabric) from the blue and the yellow to use as pocket trim. Then I cut up the accent (pink) fabric into three 4" strips (again, whole width of fabric), which left me with a 8" band which I folded selvedge to selvedge and cut along the fold to make two pockets.

I folded the accent strips in half length-wise and stitched each one to the top of a pocket block, then pressed it in place before folding and pressing a half inch seam allowance on the three raw sides. I carefully centred the pocket in the same place on the front and back apron sides and topstitched them in place separately. The next step was a little odd, as I sewed one of the 4" pink bands to the bottom of the front apron piece, and then stitched the back side of the apron to the other side of that pink band. Make sure that they are joined bottom to bottom or one of your pockets will be upside down!

Next I folded it right sides together, as neatly as possible before stitching up both sides - but not the top. The next step was to turn it the right-side out, and poke out the corners before pressing it flat again. I pinned the pockets so that they stayed centred over each other and stitched through all layers where I wanted my pockets divided (I have a 4"wide pocket, 2 six"wide pockets and another 4"wide). Now if you want pleats or gathering you can do it at this stage. Finally, I attached the waist band, by joining the last two pink 4" bands and sewing 1 edge to the yellow side. I folded down the seam allowance on the unsewn edge of the pink band and top-stitched on the front side.

That's just the way I did it, more or less making it up as I went along, but it was pretty smooth going. There are more than 50 free apron patterns here and another 50 here. That should sort you out if you fancy a different style, and they probably have clearer tutorials. These are a growing trend amongst crafty types, and some are even making it out of the house! Do show us pics of aprons you've made, inherited or collected. And, for the record, this one is not going to do ANY housework...

Comments

[joy aitman]

Wow! who Knew there were so many different types of aprons. Off to look at my fabric stash. I am going to dust down my sewing machine at half term.
Joy

[Sarah]

Very nice indeed. When I get a spare minute I shall make one, once I've spent a fortune on gorgeous fabrics!

[Eleanor]

I love that you wing it sometimes and don't mind admitting it, and with fetching results. Loving the colourway.
E
xx