Overview

The first EDES 210 project was sewing, and with my minimal level of sewing capabilities, I tackled creating a apron. Although I knew it was going to be challenging, I was excited to learn the different techniques of sewing so I have the skills in the future to fix my own clothes.

Setup

Like I mentioned before, I have had little prior experience to sewing and never used different stitching techniques so I opted for the beginner level apron. I first used the measurements given on the homework assignment to measure out a paper model for the body of my apron. I opted for the large size, 36 by 26 inches, and in doing so I needed to tape two pieces of paper.

After also cutting 3 inches from both shoulders, I realize that the body would still be too broad for my liking. So I made some additional adjusts from measuring the model on my own body. I pinned my paper model against the black fabric that we were given from the class to give the fabric more structure and also making it easier to cut with the scissors. Even though it was pinned, I still had difficult cutting the fabric especially due to its flexible structure and fraying after each snip. The final design for the body did not turn out as well as I would have liked as it was not the exact measurements that I made on paper.

Sewing Process

I intended to double fold the edges of my stitches so none of the fray would be visible. I would pre-pin a double layer 1/2 inch fold so that when the machine is stitching I can just remove the bobbin pins. This took much longer than expected especially because my cloth was not ironed out so a lot of the edges wanted to move due to its pliable nature. I had the most trouble incorporating the double layer with diagonal transitions which could be a reason to why the shoulder transitions are not as even with one another. In attempts to fix this, I used chalk to mark one end to another in hopes to pin the bend a little better.

Setting up the sewing machine was relatively simple after doing it in class. I took pieces of scrap fabric at first to practice my stitch techniques, but also to see if the stitch is tight. I then took on stitching the body, and this is where I ran into my first of many issues. Because the measurements of the fabric was not as exact, there were some pieces of the edges that were not double layered and frayed outwards. I had to remove the stitches and refold certain parts of the fabric.

Straps

After sewing the body, I realize that the straps would not look as well with the double layered stitch so I opted to lay one edge of the strap over the other to create a half inch width. The ends of the straps were then folded inward and stitched to reduce fraying. I used a white scrap fabric because I realize that the ribbons provided would not be very comfortable. I intentionally made my neck strap thicker as I knew that it would cause discomfort if it was thin. The straps were then box stitched onto the inner side of the apron. I had difficulty stitching the straps onto the apron due to a couple of factors the main being that the foot of the sewing machine that I was using became very loose and never went back up fully. There were also many times where the thread would snap or not stitch after threading it through the needle. It also did not help when my straps were very thick and the body was also think so box stitching through both provided lots of difficulty.

Takeaways

After the completion of the apron, I made sure to put the pins back into the cushion and return scissors and rulers to its rightful place. I also did a quick sweep of strands and threads lying around and threw them away.

               

This apron project gave me new appreciation of sewing and I never though it would be as difficult and time consuming as it was. I had some minor inconveniences with the machine and sewing, but overall I see this as a positive experience.

Something that I could have done better next time is to iron the cloth and give the fabric more tension when cutting it so it can be close to intended dimensions. My stitches could have also been straighter if I didn’t need to accomodate for loss of fabric in some areas.

Cost calculation

The fabric we were given  costed around $5 including the little taken from scrap fabric

The 3.5 yards of thread that I used cost around $1.5

The average pay of a sewing job in Houston is around $18.43 and after working 4.5 hours, it would cost $82.94

The total amount would have amounted to $89.44.