Introduction/Project Planning

The goal of this project is to create an apron for OEDK use with common sewing techniques.  I started this project with no technical proficiency with sewing machines, but now I am comfortable enough to sew basic patterns.

The first step in my design process was to document my design decisions, which I split into dimensions, material selection, and extra frills to add if I felt comfortable enough prototyping.

Cutting Material

After my plan was in place I had to double check for dimensional accuracy.  Multiple dimensions ended up changing throughout this process due to not initially accounting for the amount of fabric that would be used for each seam.

Once I was comfortable with my dimensions I marked to scale on a sheet of paper and confirmed that the apron was approximately the size I wanted.  At this point I had to change the width of the narrow part of the apron because the previous width was uncomfortable with extreme shoulder rotation.  Next I taped fabric to the paper and cut to size.  I chose to use tape instead of pins as it still kept the fabric affixed to the paper when left flat on a table.

I then repeated this process for each square in my apron pattern until I had 4 approximately rectangular patches in the image below.  I then taped the corners and cut the top patches to form the narrow end of the apron.  In this step of the process cutting straight lines through the fabric was difficult.  When cutting fabric in the future I would like to use a large paper cutter or another fixture to help cut straight lines.  To make my patches approximately rectangular I ended up folding the fabric in half and using a 90 degree angle to make each side of the fabric straight relative to each other and approximate perpendicularity.

Sewing Straight lines

The next step in the process was to actually start sewing my fabric patches together.  I started by affixing each patch to each other then going around the edge of the entire apron.  I believe this step was instrumental in familiarizing myself with the sewing machine, as the long lengths of simply straight lines gave me enough practice to feel confident sewing again in the future.  It was hard to keep the edges of the apron parallel while sewing, especially given that I had not sewed the patches together exactly enough to match up the edges of the patches.

On each corner I tried to reverse the sewing machine so the fabric has three rows of stiches at the beginning and end of each edge of the apron.  Pictured below is my starting corner, where the vertical is my first attempt at sewing sides together.  The other stick was my last, and at this point in the process I was able to control the machine enough to keep the triple stitch limited to one side of my first attempt at stitching.

sewing box stitches

At this point in the process the basic shape of my apron was put together but I still needed to add straps and extra frills.  Each strap was sewn on with a box stitch and the ends of each strap were secured with a box stitch.  Box stitches were the most time-consuming part of the process, but I was able to control the length of each side pretty easily after my practice controlling distance triple stitching the apron edges.

adding frills

After my next and waist straps were added and checked to see that the apron actually fit me I moved on to the extra ‘frills’ I wanted to add to the apron.  What I actually added is very different that what I initially thought of doing as I moved from a double deep pocket design to a tool strap and pencil pocket design.  The tool strap was difficult to write dimensions for as I wanted slack in each loop to easily fit common tools like wrenches, screwdrivers, and pliers on it, but still tight enough to hold the tools comfortably in place.

I sewed on the pocket next.  On this step I found a limitation of the sewing machine, as it struggled to punch through multiple layers of fabric.  I changed from my original choice of a third pattern of fabric for the pocket to the thinner blue used for the rest of the apron.

future changes and final project

I would like to add more pockets to my apron, converting each patch of blue fabric into its own pocket.  This would require re-sewing the tool strap, but I feel like my sewing technique there could have been improved.

I messed up sewing the strap on as I sewed it on from one end to another, which left me trying to sew a box stitch on the last loop with a lot of fabric in the way.  Instead I should have sewed the ends first, then focused on forming the loops.  This mistake is shown my looking closely at the box stich on the right side of the loop, clearly misshapen and at an angle.

cost estimate

Invested in this project were:

Two types of fabric: ~$5/yard

Strap material: ~$1.50/yard

Sewing machine: ~$130

Thread:

Time: 4 hours (~$20 an hour)

Total Cost: ~$90

The largest investment by far was my time, followed closely by the cost of the sewing machine.  While the sewing machine is technically a higher initial cost, the actual value I assign this in my finial cost estimates is minimal as the machine can used in multiple projects with minimal upkeep.  The final $90 cost could be greatly reduced in the future as a large amount of time was spent learning the machine and creating patterns.  I estimate that I could re-create this apron in half the time if done again.