Wednesday Sewing: One Yard Apron

I'm not extremely domestic - anyone who comes to my house knows that by the clutter - but I do love to cook and hate to keep getting grease stains out of my shirts.  I'm a messy cook!  So ... I've been looking for an apron pattern for awhile.  Something short, ties in the back but not at the neck, has a big pocket but not so big it flops over, and pretty but not ruffly or lacy.  I tried an apron like my Nana wore (she always had one on!), but didn't like the zipper.  After looking at countless patterns, I realized I could make my own with all the features I liked.  So here it is - my perfect apron.  Feel free to change anything that doesn't make it your perfect apron!

Materials List:
*1 yard 42 - 45 inch cotton/cotton blend fabric, washed and dried
*approximately 3 3/4 yards of double fold bias tape
*machine thread - matching or contrasting
*pattern (click here)

Oh boy, did I ever learn a lot about printer registration figuring out how to make a PDF of this pattern!  You will get 14 sheets of paper - cut them out on the dotted lines and tape them together in the order shown on the first page.  You don't have to tape the first page with the rest!

When you have all the papers taped together, cut the two pattern pieces out - the apron and the pocket.

Fold your fabric along the bias as shown below.  Because your fabric is not a yard square, you will have a single layer strip that will be used for the apron ties.

Lay out your pattern pieces on the fabric, following the diagram on the first page.

Cut out the apron body and pocket pieces, being sure to leave the single layer strip (where my pins are sitting) for the ties.  Cut this piece into two rectangles of 25 x 3 inches each.  If for some reason you don't end up with a strip that's 6 inches wide, just make your ties as wide as you can.  They'll turn out a little narrower, but will work just fine.  This happened with me with the bat fabric.

The apron body has dots to help with positioning the pocket.  When we had dots on a previous pattern, we just clipped the seam to mark them.  That won't work with positioning dots - we need to mark them with either thread or chalk/disappearing fabric ink.  To mark with thread, use a thread color that will show up well against the fabric.  Put the needle down through the dot and the fabric and then bring it back up again close to where you went down, leaving a tail.

Put the needle down again, leaving a large loop and bring the needle up one final time.

Cut the loop at the top and pull the pattern off.

Pull the top layer of fabric up, making sure to not pull it free of the threads.  Cut the thread so that each layer of fabric has thread markers.

You'll use these marks later to help you place the pocket.

Next, pin the bias tape to the apron edges, beginning at the top of the neck.  Put the shorter edge in front and the longer in back - this makes it easier to make sure you catch the back when you sew it on.  Bias tape is cut on the bias so it is stretchy - use this stretchiness to pull the bias tape smoothly around the corners.

When you get back to where you started pinning the bias tape on, you can either turn the ends under or make a more elegant joining.  Overlap the two ends of the bias tape two inches (we are using two inch bias tape - if using a different size, overlap it by the size of the tape).

Open up both sides of bias tape.

Overlap the two ends at a right angle, right sides together and sew diagonally.  Trim the seam to about 1/4 inch.

Refold and pin in place.

Pin bias tape around the neckhole.

 Pin bias tape around curved edge of the pocket.

Pin bias tape across the top of the pocket, overlapping on each end by about 1/2 inch.

Turn ends under and pin.

Sew top of pocket binding close to bottom edge.

Lay apron body flat.  Place pocket by matching edges and corners of pockets to dots.  Pin in place.  Okay - here's a disclaimer/warning!  These dots keep migrating every time I adjust the pattern - so, come close!  It may not fit exactly.  Sew pocket close to inside edge of bias tape. 

To attach the pocket on more securely, I make a figure like this at each corner

If you want a pocket that does not flop open, sew down the middle.  To do this, fold pocket in half and mark top and bottom. 

Draw a line between the marks.  Sew on both sides of the line.

Fold apron tie in half.  Sew across one short end and along the long side.  Trim corner as shown.

Turn right side out and press.  I find a long, thin object (like a pencil) makes turning easier.  Turn edges of opening under about 1/2 inch.

Pin open edge of apron tie up to side of apron as shown, overlapping about 1/2 inch.  Sew in place.

Iron and you're ready to cook!  Tonight's menu is artichoke heart/red pepper pizza ... Yumm!

Happy Creating!  Deborah