Hello! This week, our task was to sew a work apron using a sewing machine!

My Background:

While sewing machines and I are not close friends, we spent some time together way back in middle school. I learned sewing to get my sewing badge in Girl Scouts, and earned it by making myself a skirt. Since then, I have periodically used it to fix a shirt, hem some pants (badly), or thread it up for my dad to use. So while I started off on this project not completely a beginner, the few skills I had were definitely rusty.

Inspiration and Design

My inspiration for this was a rustic-industrial style work apron:

I really liked the double-stitching and brass bolt effects, so I wanted to capture that in my design.

For my apron, I decided that I wanted a dark green fabric with 3 green pockets for maximum storage, snap-buttons on the neck strap (hopefully a brass button with a smooth top like in the photo). I played around with the idea of using a different color or a patterned fabric for the pockets until the very end, but decided I liked the monochrome look. Before I started cutting into paper and fabric, I watched a few videos on apron patterns and apron sewing to get a better idea of the measurements I needed and how I should cut the material. Here’s a rough sketch I made of my apron design and the initial measurements needed:

I planned for a half width of about 5 inches, and an arm hole length of 10 inches. This way, the apron would be able to fit comfortably without being too loose at the top.

 

 

 

 

Sewing pt. 1

Once my design and initial measurements were decided, I started to cut out a large piece of brown paper to make my pattern. Because the paper was rolled up, when I tried smoothing it out to cut properly, it would try to roll back up. I’m sure this impacted the straightness of the lines I was able to achieve, and impacted the lines on my fabric when I cut it. Below, I’ve added some pictures of my process for cutting the pattern, drawing it on my fabric, and cutting the fabric:

In the far left picture, I folded the pattern and fabric in half so that when I cut the layers of fabric, they would be the exact same. I taped the fabric to the table so that it wouldn’t move, then aligned and taped the pattern on top (not shown) so that both layers stayed together. Using chalk, I outlined the pattern onto the fabric. This served as a guide for where I needed to sew. At this point, I realized that I forgot to include a hem allowance on the pattern. Using a ruler, I measured out 1 inch on all sides of the apron, so that when I folded it inwards to remove the raw edge, the measurements of the apron would be how I wanted it to be (I forgot to take a picture before I cut the cloth, so the far left image shows my pattern on the fabric after I added the allowance and cut it). In the far right, you can see the seam allowance I added, and where I expected the hem to be added.

Now I was ready to hem the apron! I folded the edges of the apron twice (about half an inch each time) so that on the backside of the apron, the raw material edge would not show. Then I used fabric pins to keep the hem in place before I start sewing. To the left, you can see my hem ready to get stitched. Hemming was probably the most time consuming part of this whole project. I removed seams several times and redid them because of how uneven the lines were. Especially since I was using a light beige thread against a dark fabric, any mistakes I made were easily visible. At this point in my sewing process, I also box stitched the edges of the waist straps so that they looked clean, and box-stitched them onto the apron.

 

Sewing pt.2

Now that the main part of the apron was complete, I started to cut out my pockets and plan where I would put them.

 

 

 

 

In the image on the left, I’m placing the pockets in the area that I want to ensure that they are a good size and that they fit together. Once I was satisfied with that, I measured a hem line with chalk and a ruler, and pinned the hems as shown in the middle picture. I sewed the inner edge of the hems all around the pockets (not shown), then sewed the outer edges of the hems onto the apron (far right photo) to secure it onto the apron and also to get the double seam effect I liked. I wanted to make sure that the pockets were put on evenly, so I drew a straight line in chalk, as shown in the right image, so that I could align the pockets correctly.

Sewing pt. 3

At this point, I am almost done! The last part of my vision was to add snap buttons to the neck strap so that I could just wrap it around my neck and snap it into place rather than pulling the strap over my head. Looking around the ODEK, I found some great brass smooth snap buttons that looked very similar to my inspiration! Unfortunately, some tools seemed to be missing, so I couldn’t attach them properly to the apron and neck strap (these needed to be punched into the fabric with a specific tool). I decided to use a basic snap button (these could just be sewn in) and maybe hot glue the brass button over top to get the aesthetic. I started sewing but the buttons were confusing, they seemed to be fraying the weave of the apron strap (they looked like they might rip the fabric if the button was used too much), and stitching them on by hand was extremely time-consuming. Therefore, I scrapped this part of the apron and just box-stitched the neck strap on. To get the look I wanted, I punched the smooth part of the brass button onto the fabric, so it looked like bolts holding the apron together, as you can see in the figure below. And with that my apron was complete!

Successes and Failures

I would consider this apron a success! As I mentioned earlier, the most challenging part of this assignment was getting my hemlines nice and straight. There are definitely some veering lines, but with the help of the seam ripper and some patience, I was able to fix most of the lines. Another challenge/failure was not being able to add the snap-buttons. While I probably could have achieved what I had planned, the time needed was more than I was willing to put in, and I was still able to achieve the look, though perhaps not the functionality, that I had hoped. Another challenge was threading the bobbin. It would take me about 20 minutes each sewing session to figure out how to thread the bobbin, but I found there is a small trick to getting it right – while manually moving the needle down, pull the thread from the needle away from you. This will simultaneously catch the bobbin thread and pull it out of the sewing plate so that the user can grab the bobbin and needle thread. I still managed to create a decent looking, well-fitting apron with several functional pockets, so I would say this was a success overall.

Cost of Labor

In terms of cost for this entire project, I’ve broken down the different categories:

Materials:

• Spool of thread ~ 0.33 cents
• Yard of cotton fabric ~$5
• Brass buttons ~ $1.2 for 2 buttons

Labor:

• About 4 hours x $7.25 (min wage) = $29

Machine time

• 4 hours x $7.25 (min wage) = $29

Total cost = $64.53 for 1 apron

Final apron reveal:

It’s a little blurry because I had to resize the image to place in the blog post, but here it is! I am very proud of the work I was able to do, and can’t wait to wear it for the next assignment.