Saturday, October 12

Day 12 - Kid's Apron

Welcome back, friends! This month we're working on 31 handmade gifts for everyone on your list. You can find links to the full series here.


Today we're wrapping up kids' week with a cute, reversible apron. (See the oven mitt pattern here)

 Get the oven mitt pattern here.

This apron is double the fun because it's reversible! It has an adjustable neck strap and a pocket on both sides.


And the ruffle along the bottom gives it a fun, girly touch! But you can totally make one for boys too if you skip the ruffle.


I saved a bunch of money on this project by purchasing flat sheets for the body and straps! Here's what you need:
  • 1 teal twin size sheet for front side
  • 1 green twin size sheet for back side and trim
  • 1/4 yard fabric for the pockets
  • 2  1" d-rings
  • thread

Start by pre-washing and drying the sheets. Then you can start cutting out your pieces. Here's what you need:

From the front fabric (blue sheet)
1 body piecs - 20 x 21"

From the back fabric (green sheet)
1 body piecs - 20 x 21"
1 ruffle piece - 4 x 50"
3 straps - 4 x 22"
1 strap tab - 4 x 4"

From pocket fabric:
2 pockets - 6 x 10"


This is one I cut out for a boy using the red and plaid sheets. I just skipped the ruffle. (and for this one I used the sheets for the pockets, too. A plaid pocket for the red side and a red pocket for the plaid side.)


Now you can cut down the body pieces to the right shape. Fold the first body piece in half (so it will be 21" tall and 10" wide, with the folded edge on the left. The pic below shows how you'll be cutting). Start by measuring in 4" from the fold on the top edge. Make a mark. Then measure up 14" from the bottom and make a mark on the right side. Draw a curved lines connecting those marks. Cut along the line. Then round the bottom right corner, too. I traced a bowl to get a nice even line. Use this as a template to cut the second body pieces so they match perfectly (when you open them up they should look like the pics above)


Now we can start putting it together. Start by prepping all the strap pieces and strap tabs. Fold them in half length-wise and press.


Open them up and fold both long edges in toward the center crease. Press.


Fold on the center crease and press again. Pin the layers together.


Starting at one end of each strap, sew right along one of the long edges. When you get a couple inches from the end, stop and fold the end in like the pic below so no raw edges are showing. Then continue stitching to the end.


Turn the corners to go around the end and back down the other long edge. Do this for all the strap pieces.


For the strap tab, just stitch right along each long edge and leave the ends alone.


Now prep the ruffle. Start by folding the ruffle piece in half length-wise and pressing. Pin it.


Use a long basting stitch to sew along the top raw edges of the ruffle with a 1/8" seam allowance. Leave a couple inches of tail at each end.


Pull the bottom thread on the ruffle to gather the fabric.


Keep gathering until the ruffle is 28" long.


Now prep the pocket. Start by making a simple rolled hem on the top edge (one of the 10" sides). Fold the edge under 1/4" and press, then 1/4" again and press.


Stitch right along the folded edge.


Now fold the three raw edges under 1/4" and press.


Now you can lay everything out on your apron body pieces. On one piece, pin one strap piece along the neckline. You want the raw end of the strap to be flush with the top edge of the apron, and the strap should be in just over 1/2" from the side of the neckline. Be sure to pin the strap down so you don't accidentally catch it in your sewing. Slip both d-rings onto the the strap tab, then fold the strap tab in half and lay it so the raw ends are flush with the top edge and it's set in just over 1/2" from the other side of the neckline. Pin it in place. (Yeah, I totally forget my ring in these pics. I had to rip it out later to put them on. Boo.)


The other two straps should be pinned on either side of the apron with the raw edges flush with the edges of the apron. They should be set down just over 1/2" from the curved edges. Again, make sure you pin the ends of the straps so they don't get in the way later. Pin the pocket on - I put mine about 1.5" below the straps and centered it across the apron. Go ahead and sew right along the edges of the pocket to attach it (I like to do two lines of stitching). Attach the pocket to the other apron panel the same way.


Pin the ruffle in place too. Line up the center of the ruffle with the center of the apron. The raw edge of the ruffle should be flush with the bottom edge of the apron. Pin it in place. Work around the bottom of the apron pinning as you go until the ruffle is all lined up.


It should look like this now:


Lay the other body piece (with the pocket already attached) down face-down on top. Pin around the edges. Stitch around the edges with a 1/2" seam allowance, leaving a 3-4" opening on one side for turning, just make sure you don't leave it on a curve!


Clip the curves.


Flip the apron right side out. Push out the corners and curves. Tuck the fabric in at the opening and pin the opening closed. Top stitch around the apron close to the edge. Then just slip the neck strap through the d-rings and you're done! (make sure you got all the pins out!)


If you want to make a fun gift set with this you could fill the pocket with dollar store utensils like wisks and spatulas. Then wrap it all up with a homemade baking mix!


The kids would especially love it if you offer to help them bake the goodies. :)


Here's what it cost for me to make an apron:

$5.00 - blue twin sheet
$5.00 - green twin sheet
$2.00 - pocket fabric
$1.00 - d-rings, on sale (and I have two sets left over!)
$0.00 - thread, already had it

Total: $13.00

But here's the real beauty part of using cheap sheets. I already cut one child and one adult apron out of the red & plaid sheets and I still have almost half of the sheets left! So I would guess you could squeeze four kid-size aprons out of each pair of sheets, which means you would be spending just over $3.00 per apron!!


**UPDATE - I skipped the ruffle and made this grill apron for B to match his daddy! You can get the "grillmaster" iron-on and make the adult-sized grill apron here.**






And here is the reverse side and daddy's matching apron:



And now for your B fix... which does not involve him wearing a red apron because I haven't finished it yet....

"Yoo hold Baby A! Yoo tummy!"

"Noooo... Yoo lay side him."

Tomorrow we're kicking off ladies week... I can't wait! :)

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the tutorial - I was able to use it as a guide to make some aprons for the craft fair at my son's preschool.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for posting. I'm making 2 aprons for my daughters in the UK to bring with us this April. I appreciate the tutorial.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is awesome, so easy to follow. I plan to make some of these for my preschool classroom kitchen. Great for dress-up imagination.

    ReplyDelete

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