Need an apron for summer barbecues... or an inexpensive gift?
Or to protect your clothes while you hurriedly cook splattering spaghetti sauce as your hungry kids cling to your legs? C'mon, I know I can't be the only one whose pre-dinner scene looks something like this (smile added for photo):
This apron is very simple to make, don't let those pockets fool you ... and avoids all of the most tedious parts of sewing. No hemming. No cutting out a pattern.
All you need is two dishtowels (*note added* these towels were 15" x 26") and a few strips of fabric:
2 strips 5" x 45" for waist ties
2 strips 4" x 22" for neck ties
I used coordinating, but not matching strips that I had left over from a quilt.
Optional: 8 inches of thin elastic
To begin, lay on of your dishtowels face down. Fold the bottom edge (if there is a specific pattern you want to keep at the top) up 5 inches.
Turn the towel face up, holding the folded edge in place. Fold bottom edge again, another 5 inches:
Take the second dish towel and, with the long edge perpendicular to the short, folded side of the first towel, tuck it under the fold... making sure it is centered:
Another view to show the second towel layered under the top fold of the first towel:
You now have something that looks like this:
Now, make the ties by folding each strip lengthwise, right sides together and stitching across the end and down the side. Leave one short end open to turn. Turn and press. Top stitch if you desire:
Now, tuck the unfinished edge of each tie, under the edges of the top fold, lining up the tie with the top edge of the bottom half of the apron. Pin in place and secure by stitching as the red lines show in the picture below. This joins the two towels, attaches the ties and creates two pockets:
For the apron top, there are two variations. One uses a small pleat (blue). The other uses a little elastic (lime green). Choose which option you like best then follow the corresponding instructions below.
If you like the pleated top, fold the top corners over 1.5" (point to fold) keeping short sides of the triangle perpendicular to the top and side edge. Pin and stitch around edge of triangle.
For the top with the gathered sides, fold the corners over 2.5 inches (from fold to point) keeping the short sides of the triangle (blue lines) perpendicular to the top and side edges of the apron top. Pin. Take your elastic and cut it in half, leaving 4 inches for each side. Tuck the elastic under the fold (red line), pinning in place at each end. Using a long, zigzag stitch, stitch over the edge with elastic sandwiched in the fold line (red line), stretching the elastic to fit the length of the folded edge. Using a straight stitch, sew the corner (blue lines) of the triangle in place.
For either apron, attach the neck ties by pinning the tie (unfinished edge) right next to the edge of the corner triangle. Sew a small rectangle to hold the tie in place.
If you are making the apron with the pleats, now is the time to fold a small pleat just inside of each neck strap. The size of the plead depends on the size of the person (probably unnecessary if the apron is for a man) but 1/2 inch worked for me. Stitch along top edge to secure pleat.
Enjoy your apron, or the compliments from your friends when you give them a handmade gift.
A special thanks to my sister
Meredith for her help with the photos. She got these shots in just a few minutes, with three little ones underfoot. Love her!
Just in time for two swimming-themed birthday parties this weekend, Dana from MADE posted this cute idea for turning a beach towel into a swimsuit cover-up dress. Dana made it for herself, but it was easy to adapt it for my daughters.
I had these towels I'd purchased on clearance to make hooded towels for my girls, but I hadn't used them all yet. Can you go wrong with pink towels when you have three girls? Right. So I bought a bunch. They are kind of thin and measure 27" by 52" wide.
I cut about 14" off the 52" length and set it aside to be used for a hooded towel later.
Then I did the shirring as Dana describes. She said she used about 5 bobbins of the elastic thread for hers. I used about 2 1/2 for this size. Shirring is so satisfying! Craft therapy indeed. I love to watch the fabric pucker as I go.
Before sewing the sides together I attached this ribbon along the bottom edge.
I used the same ribbon for the straps. I measured the length of elastic I would need, then cut ribbon 1 1/2 times as long. Then I stretched the elastic to the length of the ribbon as I sewed to get a ruffled look, and to make sure it could stretch along with the elastic. You have to hold on tight on both ends as you sew so this step was a little bit tricky.
Attach the straps and ta-da! Baby girl loves it. I left the towel width at 27" which made this a maxi dress length on my daughter. I might have to shorten it a bit for daughter number two.
