I had a great time getting back into sewing for this project! I first learned to sew in 5th grade when I had to sew my pointe shoes for dance, and my grandma taught me to sew in middle school. I hadn’t tried sewing again until high school when I broke my mom’s sewing machine…
Thankfully this project went better than that!
I started by taking measurements and making a pattern for the main fabric piece on butcher paper. I made sure to add in a couple inches for seam allowances. After cutting my fabric along this pattern, I pinned the edges down to sew the edges. I then threaded the machine and sewed the seams. While doing this, the bobbin ran out, so I wound it with more thread and continued.
I then decided to work on the pockets. I found some cool faux leather fabric scraps to use for the pockets and measured the size of my phone and a group of pens- things I imagine I will put in pockets often. Following the patch pocket video, I made a pattern including a flair so the pockets can hold things that aren’t completely flat. As I was folding and sewing seams on the pocket, I realized the fabric was far too thick and not very flexible, so rather than sewing this pocket onto my apron, I decided just to sew the edges and place the pocket on in a more simple manner where the material would not have to be folded. I also decided this because the faux leather couldn’t really be ironed to flatten the seams. Since I wasn’t sewing seams for the pocket, I decided to make the pockets a bit more interesting and add diagonal corners.
The next time I went to the OEDK to sew the straps, I held up the apron and decided the top was too wide for my body, so I decided to take in the sides by folding them over and sewing a new seam, then cutting off the extra fabric.
I sewed the straps on the top with just 2 straight lines, since I wanted to hide the connection at the top of the apron, and used the box stitch technique to attach the ties on the sides of the apron since these will likely experience more tugging and need a stronger connection. I also folded over the ends of the straps and did a box stitch to prevent fraying.
A failure I had while sewing the straps is that another part of the strap got sewed underneath the part I was intending to sew. However this was a simple fix! I just seam ripped it to free the strap and continued with the box stitch. Another tip I use is to always pin things and to test the machine and thread on a scrap piece of fabric.
And here is the final apron!
I estimate the cost for this project to be $80.50. This assumes a fabric cost of $8/yd for 1 yard, scrap fabric for the pockets, $3 for a couple feet of strap material, and 4.5 hours of labor at $15/hr, and a spool of thread for $2.
