Planning 

I decided to make my apron with custom dimensions, so I started by measuring my waist, shoulders, and the distance from where I wanted the top of my apron to sit down to my waist. I drew out a quick sketch with the dimensions shown in the image below to ensure that my apron would be proportional before moving on to drawing it out to scale. I decided to add two inches to all of my dimensions in order to accommodate a generous seam allowance. After cutting out my pattern, I taped it to my fabric (the paper was too thin to pin) and cut my apron out with scissors.

 

Pinning the Apron

Next, I pinned the edges of my apron. I did not want any raw edges to my fabric, so I folded the edges over twice. I first folded them up a half inch, and then folded that over again another half inch, making an effective seam allowance of one inch. I decided to miter my corners rather than just fold one side over the other, which took a little extra time to pin, but I think it gave the corners a nice, finished look.

Sewing

To sew, I lined up the inner fold of the seam with the left side of the presser foot. I sewed the entire perimeter of my apron in one go, pivoting at each corner.

 

The Pocket

For my pocket, I cut out a rectangle about double the size I wanted the final pocket to be. Then I folded this in half right-sides together and sewed around the perimeter, leaving a 2-inch hole so that I could turn it right-side out. After turning the pocket out, I sewed a decorated seam about an inch from the top of the pocket. Then, I laid out my apron and pinned the pocket to the front. In addition to trying to place my pocket centered on the apron, I attempted to pattern match. I was somewhat successful in doing so, but due to the various sizes of the arrows on the fabric, it was difficult to get a perfect match. I then sewed along the sides and bottom of the pocket and added a seam down the middle to divide it into two pockets.

The Straps

For my neck strap, I wanted it to be adjustable, so I used Fusion 360 to CAD a slide adjuster and 3D printed it. Then, I cut a short piece of strap material and looped it around the center post of the slide adjuster, then box stitched the end onto my apron. I proceeded to box stitch the three straps onto the apron.

Cost Estimate 

Fabric: 1 yard – approximately $8.99 (compared to canvas prices on Joann.com)

Straps: 4 yards – approximately $6.00 (estimated $1.50 a yard)

Thread: negligible

Slide Adjuster: approximately $0.03 (based on 3Dprinteros.com cost estimate)

Labor: 3 hours at $20/hr – $60

Sewing Machine: shared equipment, assume no cost

Total: approximately $75

The majority of the cost went to labor, which could be reduced now that the pattern has been created and with utilizing higher quality equipment so time isn’t lost repairing the sewing machines.

Final Take-Aways

Overall, I enjoyed making an apron. Despite being an avid sewer my entire life, I actually have never made an apron! I also got to practice troubleshooting sewing machines and was able to assist many of my classmates throughout this project. I am very happy with how my apron turned out, but if I was improve upon two things, I would have liked to have been more successful with pattern matching when adding my pocket and I wish I had been able to get my box stitches a little neater.