When I first observed my grandma and mother using a sewing machine at home, I did not realize this machine had such a transforming history related to it. During the industrial revolution the sewing machine was the first machine that allowed customers to engineer products at home at factory quality and speed. This is similar to how a 3D printer allows us to create and test a model before building it for real. 

I am excited that sewing is one more practical skill that I can add to the list! Besides observing my mom and grandma sew occasionally, I had no real experience sewing prior to this class. But, let’s learn how to sew a successful apron!

STEP 1: Get the pieces together

We will need fabric (approximately 1 yard, but will add more as needed). Of the fabrics provided, the green one caught my eye the most! After putting it together, we realized that the color looked similar to a Starbucks employee’s apron. Guess that’s one way to get free coffee.

Next, collect the scissors, tape, pins, fabric chalk, measuring tape, yarn, sewing machine, and some patience.

step 2: measure & cut

I started early last Sunday last week because I knew I needed quite a bit of time to set up the sewing machine and set aside time for troubleshooting. I started by looking up standard measurements and decided upon the measurements below. A length of 32 inches, a width of 27 inches, and a neck length of 9 inches. Similar to a youtube video I saw, I traced and cut out half of the apron on butcher paper after making careful measurements. Luckily, before I started cutting out the apron, I realized that I did not leave any room for hemming, the most important part! Using fabric chalk, I measured out half an inch from the outline of the butcher paper and traced the lines with chalk on the fabric. I then cut along the chalk while the fabric was folded. To make my life easier, I taped the butcher paper to the fabric and the table.

step 3: battle the sewing machine

I finally had my cut-out apron! Time to battle the machine. When I took out the bobbin, I accidentally took out the other 2 parts as well. After messing with it for a while, watching many videos, and using picture references, the bobbin was finally threaded and ready. I decided to go with golden thread because I wanted my stitching to show (Was it the best idea? Let’s find out). It is very important to pin down the folds to ensure the edges are straight. On Sunday, I hemmed two sides which took longer than expected because I was fighting with the sewing machine, but it was a pretty productive day and I decided to take a break.. for 4 days.

On Thursday, I finally came back and hemmed the other sides, but the corners which require reverse stitching weren’t that straight every time I attempted it (picture below). For some reason, when I reversed stitched, it would not stitch on the same line. So, I kept rolling the sides in and trying again until it looked a bit better. Therefore, I ended up hemming the sides more than once which took a bit of time.  It turned out to look much better.

step 4: realize the machine will only work if you treat it with love

Now, the straps! The straps that were provided were a little too thin and since I wasn’t very experienced with box stitches, I did not want to risk it. Therefore, I made my own straps. I went with black&white checkered pattern which contradicted the Starbucks green very well. Honestly, I did not have any measurements for the straps so I cut out a long piece of fabric, folded one end over, and sewed it all the way along. I did the same with the other side so it looked neat on both ends. There was still some white showing so I had to fold it over one more time before the strap was finally ready. I made the strap for the neck the same way. By this time, I got a better hang of the sewing machine, and making the second strap was a much easier process with less errors. After getting past the frustrating part, sewing actually felt more enjoyable and relaxing.

Now the part that I’d been dreading, learning how to make the box X stitch. To connect the edges of the strap, we had to learn how to stitch a box X such as the one below.

Honestly, it was not as bad as it seemed. Well, one side of the neck strap did not result in a perfect X shape and it took multiple tries on the other sides to get a decent looking box X. The thread remover was my best friend in this case.

step 5: ADD ADDITIONAL FEATURES BECAUSE YOU ARE NOW A PRO

Okay, I wouldn’t exactly call myself a pro, but I was enjoying myself! So, I decided to add a pocket. I made a rough estimate of the measurement of the pocket. I initially planned on making a horizontal pocket in the middle of the apron but then switched it to a mini pocket on the side of the apron. I sewed all four of the sides in, and put my square shape sewing practice in place to sew the pocket on.

Failure # ??:  The pocket is not sewed on straight. I realized this when I was taking the picture. But, you can’t really tell right?

step 6: admire the apron and thank the sewing machine

Well, the final product is ready. Functional for sure. I liked how the colors turned out and I am glad I decided to make my own straps. The thread jams and random unthreading definitely tested my patience, but every time I needed to open the machine to correct the bobbin or rethread the string, I grew much more confident in handling the machine and troubleshooting. Youtube videos, pictures, other people are your best resources and can make learning anything much simpler!

step 7: Evalulate the costs

It is important to reflect back on how much making this apron costs. Below is a breakdown of the cost of estimate of this apron.

Material Cost: 
2.6 yards of fabric (olive green + black& white) @ $5 per yard = $13
20 yards of thread (black + golden) @ $2.69 for 2735 yards = $0.02
Labor Cost: 
6 hours of labor @ 7.25 per hour = $43.5
Sewing machine rental @ $5 an hour = $30
Total Cost = $13 + 0.02 + $43.5 + $30 = $86.52

References for prices: 
Joann fabric prices
Joann thread prices
Rental prices
Houston Minimum Wage

That’s it. Pretty simple right?