Whenever I feel like sewing a new item without having to go to all the trouble of drafting a complicated new pattern, I always turn to sewing aprons. Aprons are easy to make and do not require much fabric. They also can look quite pretty. And if you do happen to mess something up, it is usually an easy fix!

Having made several aprons before, though, I wanted to take my apron-making to a new level. After a quick look at my fabric stash, I found the perfect material – a cool, B&W print I had picked up for free from a church sale. And best of all, I had enough to make an apron set – three, almost-matching aprons of different sizes.

So pulling my needle and thread (and fabric shears) out, I got to work…

Little Apron

The first apron was the smallest. It was made for a child about 4-6 years old. It was my first time attempting a child-sized apron, and while I made several mistakes, I managed to finish it alright.

One of my biggest mistakes was cutting the apron too short. Originally, I had not planned to add a ruffle, but since it was the easy answer to fixing my problem (while also adding some more cuteness), I pulled out my shears and cut the fabric. Then I realized that I had cut the ruffle too wide, so I folded it over to create a double ruffle. It ended up being my favorite feature. And to add a little embellishment, I sewed some lace along the ruffle edge.

For the top of the apron, I debated whether or not I should do shoulder straps which would extend to the waistband in the back. I ended up opting for a neck strap that could be tied to make it more adjustable. (I was sewing the apron for a child, anyway.)

To bind off the edge along the top of the bib, I decided to use thin, black bias tape. Unfortunately, the sewing machine didn’t catch it all on both sides, so I had to hand-sew a portion of it. Then I attached the neck strap along the side of the bib. And as a final touch, I added a small, pocket with a lace trim.

Medium Apron

The second apron I sewed was for a child about 10-12 years old. The process for this one was a little smother since I had just finished the first apron and gained some more experience in the making. Thankfully, I was able to avoid some mistakes I had made previously. (Such as cutting the fabric with the pattern going the wrong direction. Oops!)

This time, I knew I wanted to add a ruffle along the bottom edge, so I was able to figure that in when cutting out the pieces. (I drafted my own pattern for each of these aprons.) Since I didn’t want to use an enormous amount of fabric for the ruffle, I chose to go for a single ruffle with a bit of ruffled lace attached.

This apron was not without it’s problems, however, as I originally cut the ruffle too short. I’ve had the same problem before, though, so it was an easy fix. I simply sewed an extra length of fabric on to make the whole thing longer, and problem solved! Only I then preceded to hem it the wrong way. But hey, the lace basically hid that mistake, so I let it be. Overall, I am happy with how it turned out.

I ended up having to finish this apron away from home, which would not be anything worth mentioning, except that I neglected to bring black thread. So I had to use a dark blue which was the closest I had.

I was going to try the same adjustable neck-strap, but I cut the fabric too short for it to be tied. So I sewed the ends together (with the blue thread) to create a loop and called it good enough. The bib was handsewn to the bottom half of the apron (again, with blue thread), some black bias tape added along the top edge to secure it, and with the neck strap sewn on, the apron was complete. (Except for the pocket, which I ended up adding, but didn’t get a good photo of.)

Two aprons down; one more to go.

Big Apron

This apron was the third one I made and was designed to fit an adult size small. By the time I started on this apron, however, life got really crazy. So I had to set it aside for a while only sneaking in little bits of sewing once or twice each month. (Or even less at times.) But while it did take much longer to complete than the other aprons, I’m still very pleased with the finished product.

When it came to this third apron, I was excited to do another ruffle. But again, I ran into trouble. There was not enough lace to go along the length of the ruffle. Instead, I centered the lace that I had. There was only about 1 inch on each side, so I figured that was okay. I also hand-hemmed the bottom edge with a backstitch.

This time I sewed the neck-loop with one long strap of black fabric. Instead of sewing black bias tape along the sides of the lower half of the apron, I did a rolled hem and hand-stitched it in place with a backstitch. And since I wanted to the strings to be plenty long enough to tie in the back (something I’ve messed up on other aprons), I cut out two, long strips of the black fabric and sewed them to the waistband. I was ready to call the apron finished, by this point, but decided to go ahead and add a pocket since the other aprons had pockets. So I cut out a rectangle of the black fabric and doubled it over to make the pocket stronger. Then, after adding a thin piece of lace along the top, I sewed it in place completing the apron.

And viola! My first apron set completed!

Conclusion

While sewing certainly isn’t without its share of mistakes, it is very rewarding. I messed up plenty of times but still came out with three completely usable and (in my opinion) rather cute aprons.

But before I go, let’s take a look at how much the projects cost:

Fabric – free (given or collected)
Lace – free (saved scraps)
Bias tape – free (given)
Thread – free

…which means these aprons cost a grand total of nothing! (Except time and brainpower.)

So if you feel inspired to take up some sewing but don’t feel up to tackling a harder project, I suggest sewing an apron! It’s fun, rewarding, and any mistakes can easily be fixed with a bit of ingenuity!

So what do you think?

Have you ever sewn an apron before? (Or matching aprons?)

Do you enjoy reading other people’s sewing adventures (and mistakes)?

P.S. You can also follow me at my other blog, Kenmore Pines 1, here.

To learn more about this blog check out my blog launch post here.