On January 15, 2023, I began the tumultuous journey of my first ENGI 120 project: sewing an apron.

The first step was creating a template for the apron. I measured my neckline, waist, and the length I wanted the apron to go down. Then, I drew up this detailed diagram on my iPad with the general shape and dimensions I wanted the apron to be made out of.

Next, I cut a template out of paper based on the drawing and used it to cut my fabric to the correct shapes. I taped the template to the fabric so that it wouldn’t move while I was cutting. To ensure that the apron was symmetrical, I folded the fabric in half so the angles and curves would be exactly the same. This is how the body of the apron turned out.

I then ironed down the hem of the apron body so it would keep it’s fold and I could ensure the hem was the same width all along. Not shown in the picture below are the pins I used to keep the corners folded.

While I was sewing the hems, I tested out a technique to keep the hem from moving by taping the hem and sewing over the tape. I thought it would keep the material in place and I could just rip the tape off afterwards. However, when I tested it, the tape was very difficult to peel off as you can see below. I decided not to use this technique and just using my hands to line it up worked just as well.

One big ordeal we had to overcome was when the bobbin ran out of thread. I had never rewinded and replace the bobbin before, so when we took it out we had no idea how to put it back in, as shown below.

The classmates I was working with and I struggled to replace the bobbin, and we had to refer to a YouTube video in order to rewind and replace it.

It was very useful, and after 15 minutes of trials and tribulations, we were finally able to replace the bobbin and continue sewing.

For the neck strap and back ties, I found an edgy leathery material to use. I cut the straps according to the planned size from the diagram.

One issue that I came across was that the material was much thicker than the cloth material and it would not sew through sometimes. I searched online that increasing the tension setting would fix this issue. I fiddled with the settings until they worked, and finally was able to box X stitch the straps on. Then I was done! Below is a picture of the final product (modeled by myself)!

If I have time later, I would like to add pockets onto the apron and perhaps fortify the straps with another layer of fabric and another box stitch.

Cost analysis:

1 yard of fabric = $9.99 (found a similar fabric at Walmart for this price)

A few strips of faux leather fabric = $2 (estimated from material from Hobby Lobby)

5 hours of labor * $16.78 (average salary per hour of a seamstress) = $83.90

If we don’t count the cost of the machine since it is free for me in the OEDK and the few cents that thread costs, the total cost would be around $95.89. Personally, this is far too much for me to pay for an apron, and I would rather buy a high quality, leather work apron for like $85.