Introduction
Before ENGI 210, the extent of my sewing knowledge was hand stitching using a suture technique I learned at a pre-med event back in high school—before I decided to pursue engineering of course! I actually still have some sweatpants that I sewed, and you can see from the pattern that it’s more akin to the over and over suture technique. I really enjoyed the opportunity to learn how to use a sewing machine, and after some time spent overcoming the learning curve, I felt confident using the machine to fit my needs. Despite the fact that this was my first project using a sewing machine, I decided to go for the intermediate level design with hems and a pocket because I thought the experience and extra practice would be valuable.
Apron Design
Using my own dimensions as a guide and making sure to leave about an inch of extra room on each side for twice-folded hems, I cut out the apron shape into some pattern paper and held it up to myself to ensure my measurements were correct and would produce a good fit. I pinned the pattern paper to my fabric and used the cutting wheel to cut out the fabric to match the pattern paper.
I applied a double fold to the hems along the perimeter of the apron to help eliminate the risk of frayed edges. I used an excess of pins to secure the apron—to the point that it could be handled without fear of losing its shape so that I could transfer it to the sewing machine easily. The pinning was also a nice check because it was the first time I got to hold the fabric up to myself to make sure it fit after the hems were folded. My math did not fail me, and the apron fit just as intended.
To prepare the straps, I cut out the appropriate lengths and pinned them into trifolds at each end, and for the pocket, I used the discarded apron pattern paper to repeat the process: cutting out the desired shape, pinning it, and cutting out the desired fabric. For the pocket, I was careful to ensure some extra length, about a half inch on both sides, at the entrance so that it had room for a hand to reach into the pocket.
Sewing
I first sewed the hems of the apron, removing the pins as I sewed. I did the entire perimeter in one continuous stitch for a clean final appearance.
For the straps, I created a neck strap and two waist straps, sewing them to the apron using box stitches, which came out quite nicely.
After some preliminary stitches on the pocket to help it maintain its shape, I pinned it to the apron and sewed it on. To my delight, the extra length at the top worked just as intended, and the opening of the pocket had a comfortable amount of extra room for objects to be placed inside. 
Final Assessment
Overall, I was very pleased with the finished product. I spend a decent amount of time practicing my sewing technique before creating the apron, and I spoke with a few students who had done the project before or had sewing experience to learn about common obstacles or things they wished they had known or done differently; for example, the reason I did a twice-folded hem instead of a single-fold is because a student advised me that any exposed fabric would fray—one fold protects it from view from the outside, but two folds hides the cut fabric edge entirely. In addition to speaking to students, I spent some time on YouTube learning sewing machine troubleshooting and some introductory techniques. The preparation absolutely paid off because there was almost nothing that did not go according to plan.
The main flaws of my design are:
The waist straps are not perfectly aligned; there is about a half inch gap in their vertical placement on the apron. Next time, I will be very careful to ensure critical elements of a design are measured more exactly.
There is a small portion (about 3 inches) of the twice-folded hem where the stitch did not catch the innermost fold. The result is a fold that is slightly exposed and more similar to a once-folded hem
Cost
To make cost estimates I looked at a few different vendors selling similar materials to the ones I used and made a price approximation close to the average/most reasonable price. As for my time, I decided that $15/hr is a reasonable value, considering I am still a student.
- Fabric: ~ 1 yard $10
- Strap Material: ~ 1 yard $5
- Thread: negligible cost
- Labor: ($15/hr for 5hr) $75
- Total Cost: $90
