For my first assignment I set out to make an apron that would help me develop my sewing skills! The first step for me was to find inspiration for a design for my apron, which lead me to watch a few sewing videos and apron designs. I decided to combine the designs and techniques from two different aprons videos, found below:
For my apron design: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2LFsZmOkAM&t=985s
For my pocket design: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKTjtzJpa48
Once I had the inspiration for my design, I decided to create a low fidelity apron design with parchment paper because I wanted to zero in on the measurements I would need my final apron to be when I move to the actual fabric. Shown below is my prototype of the apron which I used to get the desired length and width of my apron to a size that I felt would be comfortable to me. I also used string to approximate the length of strap I would need, as my apron design would feature adjustable straps, which I was able to estimate it to be about 8.5 feet of string. I also created the design in my notebook, along with measurements and the amount of fabric I folded in when stitching to arrive at the final design.
Finally I began sewing the apron, and the first mistake I encountered was that when cutting the fabric, I accidently cut the width of it to be 24 inches, instead of 26. I could have fixed this problem by reducing the seam allowance on the sides of the apron from 0.5 to 0.25 to reduce the mistake, however I was not comfortable with being able to sew for such a large section at a small seam allowance, so I decided to proceed as usual with a skinnier final product. The sewing went very well, and the only problem I ran into is when doing the bottom hem, the hem was very thick and so it scrunched up mid-sewing and so the edge of the hem is not aligned well with the side, and so it is sticking out very slightly. Finally when sewing the diagonal parts of my apron to allow the straps to slide through, I felt that I made the hole too large, and so there was little friction between the straps and the apron, simply because the gap was too large. To fix this, I attempted to sew the opening closed a little tighter while the straps where in the apron to attempt to get a tighter fit, which worked for the most part. To finish I added a box stitch on the end of my straps after folding them in an inch twice, to give it a nice finished look and to hinder the straps from sliding through the opening in the apron.
Finally I decided to work on adding a pocket to my hoodie! I wanted it to have functionality but also comfort, so I decided I wanted to try and design a hoodie pocket for my apron. I took a similar design approach when creating my pocket by creating a pocket with butcher paper and pinning it on my apron to approximate the position and the size to allow my hands to go in. The first design I created was too small for my hands, and so I decided to increase the size by an inch which you can see in the middle picture, as the one on the left is the original pocket and the right is the larger improved one. The design sketches are also featured on the right.
With the design finalized I decided to cut out the fabric and fold the seams in to create a nice finish on my pocket. One problem I had with this pocket was that the edges where getting very thick from the multiple folds that I was putting on these edges, and so sewing got increasingly difficult was I went on. Finally I attached the pocket onto the apron for the finished design seen below:
Cost of the Project:
Labor Cost at $12/hr, $96:
- 3 Hours sizing and designing the apron
- 5 hours sewing the apron and pocket
Materials Cost $160.5
- Singer Sewing Machine: $135
- Thread: 4 pack of thread for $7
- Yard of plaid fabric: $6
- Half yard of blue fabric: $2.5
- Cotton Strap: $10
Total cost comes out to $256.50 if we assume all the things stated above. In an ideal scenario, the singer machine is already purchased and so we can cut that cost out of the equation, along with being able to cut the 3 hours of designing time, bringing the cost down to $85.50.
