Using the sewing machine for the first time made me realize how hard it is. I never thought sewing would be more complicated than how it looks like. However, with practice, it gets better. 

After taking my measurements, I start to design my apron. I chose the color to be blue and white as symbol colors for Rice, and blue is my favorite color.

The materials used in this project :

• Sewing machine
• Bobbin
• Thread
• Fabrics
• Strap material 
• Tape measure
• Pattern paper
• Patches

The steps for this project were

1. Taking my measurement.
2. Connect two pattern papers.
3. Put the measurement on the apron pattern.

1. Cutting out the apron pattern
2. Put the pattern on top of the fabric and connect them using pins. 
3. Cut the fabric
4.  Cut out the neck strap and side tie straps.
5.  There are steps for sewing since my apron can use on both sides.
   1. First, I sewed pocket, neck, and side tie straps on the blue fabric (for the strip, I did the box stitch)

 

 

1. 1. 1. Then I flipped the blue fabric and white fabric. I connected fabrics from the back using a pin and started using the machine to stitch the sides.
   2. 
      1. The next step was the hardest because putting the straps before connecting the two fabrics made a significant problem. However, I devised a solution to sewing the sides(right and left)only and without sewing one inch near the straps.
      2. I flipped the fabric since I still had the top and bottom open and only had a stitch on the side. I took out the straps outside and started sewing everything.

1. 1. 1. After I connected the two sides, I changed my mind and wanted to add a small pocket on the white side. I started by taking two small squares and connected them using the sewing machine, then connected them to the fabric by hand since I did not want the stitch to appear on the other side.
   2.   
      1. Finally, I added the patches.

 

Improvements: 

• The main lesson is that the more I practice, the better result I get, especially for the box.
• From this pic, you can see the thread is mixed up, and the appearance is terrible. I learned to check up while sewing and hold the fabric to ensure the final result looked good and have time to re-do it if possible. 

•  While working on the sewing machine, I was focused on getting a straight line and did not notice my hand was near the needle, which caused the needle to come inside me. In the future, I will be more careful where I put my hand while using the swing machine, never press fast, and use finger protection.

• I should sew straps at the end, not at the beginning. Swing the straps at the beginning caused me to stitch one line of the box to connect the two fabrics.

 

 

Cost: 

1. Materials: $20.07
   1. Fabric (Walmart) = $3.97 +$2.97
   2. Patches (Walmart and Amazon)= $3.97+$2.47 +$ 6.69
2. Machine time: 5 hours 
3. Labor: 7 hours and 30 min and each hour is $12
   1. learn how to use a sewing machine
   2. practice
   3. designed

The total cost is $110