It can be hard to find just the thing you're looking for when shopping, especially if you have a budget. I needed an apron as I don't have one and am always slopping sauce on my clothes when I'm cooking. So I had a look in my fabric box and came up with some lovely pieces large enough to make into an (essentially free) apron. The pink flowered fabric came from a trip to Thailand and is a beautiful example of their batik printed fabrics. I had originally made it into a wrap skirt which I never wore, so here it is, remade once again!
MATERIALS:
-1 m of fabric (approx)
-30 cm of contrasting fabric
-Sewing machine and threads
CONSTRUCTION:
- Cut out fabric to the measurements you require. I measured the fabric on my body to determine how long and wide I wanted various parts. My measurements (includes seam allowances) were: apron skirt panel 70 cm x 55 cm, apron bodice 32 cm x 26 cm, neck strap 60 cm x 8 cm and apron waist tie 140 cm x 8 cm.
- Turn over the edges on the apron skirt sides and bottom twice to finish them neatly. Turn over the sides of the apron bodice twice to finish them neatly. Turn the top of the apron bodice over once and stitch in place.
- Sew down the length of the apron neck strap and turn right side out. Press flat. Pin it behind the apron bodice facing down and stitch in place. Turn the apron bodice top down one more time to enclose the raw edges and the ends of the neck strap. The neck strap will still be facing downwards, so fold it up to face upwards and stitch the two straps in place. I chose to do this using a decorative stitch across the top of my apron.
- Create pleats/gathers in the apron skirt to desired width and style. I used 6 small pleats facing away from the centre. Stitch these in place and iron.
- Measure the width of the skirt top. Mine came to 46 cm. Create the waist band now, sewing across the end and down towards the centre. Stop when you get to 23 cm from the centre and end off. Do the same from the other end of the waistband. You should now have a centred gap of 46 cm, large enough to insert your apron skirt into the waistband. Turn the waistband through and iron flat, make sure to iron the section that is not stitched shut, turning under the seam allowance.
- Fit the apron skirt into the waistband, pushing in as far as it will go. Pin in place. Take the apron bodice and pin it in on the other side (wrong sides together), making sure to centre in on the apron skirt. Pin all layers carefully in place and stitch from one side of the apron skirt across to the other, catching all layers together and closing the open seam in the waistband in one go. Again I used a decorative stitch as I didn't have any thread in the correct colour!
- Your apron is almost complete, but the apron bodice will me hanging down towards the ground instead of facing upwards. Pin the bodice up against the waist band and sew across the top once more, securing it in place!
- You could finish here, but I decided that I wanted the apron to sit nicely across my chest, so I created little darts to give the bodice shaping over the bust and improve the fit!
- Enjoy clean clothes after cooking!!
See images below for clarification on certain points. Sorry I didn't take photos during construction!
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| Waistband with decoration and pleats |
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| Completed apron |
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| Small darts at bust to help with fitting |
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| Inside view. Note how the neck strap and bodice have been turned upwards and stitched in place. |
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| Detail inside the waistband with bodice turned upwards |
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| back view of the darts at the bust and turned up neck strap |
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| A lovely fit! |
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