The first step of creating the apron is figuring out what dimensions we need. Using a tape measure, I measure the circumference of my waist and the distance from my knees to my chest (I like to cover my knees). I measured a height of 36″ and half waist of 16″, but I like a little more coverage so I decided on the final dimensions of 38″ by 17″.

I’m not too familiar with apron shapes so I followed the basic template of subtracting 3″ (total) from the top and drawing a straight angle to the middle of the apron. The template didn’t specify a distance to connect the angled lines, so I decided to connect them to just above my waist, about 14″ from the top. This ended up being a bit of a mistake as with that distance and such a short amount cut from the top, the apron would look more like a rectangle than a trapezoid. Next time I would cut 6″ from the top width and connect it to just below my chest, about 10″ down, to get a more defined angled look. But the angled look isn’t important.

Before cutting into the fabric, I drew out the apron template for the measurements on a large piece of paper and cut it out using scissors. I would’ve loved to use one of the rotary cutters to make smoother cuts, but I couldn’t find them. The distances were measured on the paper using a long ruler, taking the same measurements on opposite sides of the paper and drawing a connecting line to minimize measurement error. Also, when drawing the lines I used the corners of the ruler as right angle indicators to add more assurance that my measurements were straight. I also used the ruler as a straight guide to help make my cuts straight (placing it with the same corner technique). Since I was placing the edge of the ruler against the edge of the paper, I had to use wooden blocks to prevent the ruler from tipping over.

 

Normally, I would draw and cut out an extra inch on all sides of the template, creating long tabs that can be folded in to make a seam. However, the paper I had was only about 17-11/16 inches wide, so I would not be able to do this for the side lengths of the apron. Instead, I cut the paper into the measured lengths and then added 1″ wide masking tape around the edges of the apron so that 0.5″ of the masking tape was sticking off the edges. The tape will guide where my extra tabs for the seams will be.

Now that my template was ready, I could attach it to my fabric and begin cutting out my apron. I lined up the bottom of the template to the uncut side of the fabric, so I would not need to cut that side. I taped all of the edges of the template to the fabric to hold it in place. I liked tape better than pins in this case, as it helps make the fabric stiffer for cutting and gives a more continuous adhesion. I realized at this point that I could’ve used this step to place the tape as a guide to make tabs and skipped the previous step. That would’ve made the process faster and used less tape. I placed a bucket of stuff on my fabric and template to help hold it in place. I then began cutting the fabric to match the template (with the tape tabs) using scissors (again, I would’ve liked to use the rolling cutter if I could find it for smoother and easier cuts).

 

While cutting, I would pull some tension on the fabric as this would help straighten it and make it easier to cut, making a straighter cut and creating less loose threads. I realized this after already cutting one side. You may notice that in the picture below, the side at the top of the picture has more loose threads than the others. If I had more time, next time I would have liked to iron the fabric before cutting it to help remove wrinkles that would distort the shape of the apron.

Before sewing directly on the apron, I use the sewing machine on a small piece of test fabric first to ensure the sewing machine is working properly and test out stitching patterns. I folded over the tabs on the edges of the apron and held them in place with a series of pins, no more than 3″ apart from each other. This holds the fold in place and as the needle gets close to the pins I can take them out one-by-one. Make sure that the pins will be facing away from you when you sew so you don’t stick yourself, and place the pins in a pincushion as you remove them to prevent loss and harm.

The only notable part about the stitching process, was that the sewing machine would occasionally stop moving the needle with the foot pedal. When this happens I would need to move the manual wheel of the machine so that the needle makes a few cycles before the foot pedal works again. I’ve tried to not let this affect the consistency of the stitches, it mainly slowed down the sewing process and caused some frustrations. A reverse stitch was used at every corner of the apron.

After all the seams have been stitched, I cleaned up the apron by cutting any frayed or excess threads off.                                                            

Next are the straps. After measuring a comfortable length for the neck strap, and cutting two straps for the waist (each strap is 1/2 waist long), I sewed a box stitch to attach the straps to the apron. I first tried using white thread for the box stitch, to blend in with the white straps, but soon realized that this made sewing difficult as it was hard to see where I was in the box pattern. For the last box stitch I switch to blue thread. I also folded the straps over itself and did an additional box stitch to reinforce the ends. I used the smallest straight stitch pattern to maintain control in the small box shape.

   

I sewed on the straps during a different day than when I sewed the seams of the apron. This time the sewing machine would constantly tangle on itself and create clumps of thread as seen below. It seemed that the sewing machine would not create a loop with the bottom thread sometimes, or simply lose the thread. I had to rethread the bobbin to try to fix this.

         

My apron with the straps had now taken shape.

Now to add a nice center pocket. I drew out the pocket shape, using a 6″ x 6″ square as the base shape and following the instructions in the video. I thought a red pocket would make a nice contrast with the green apron. I also added a triangular stitch to the top corners for extra strength.

And voila, now my apron has a pocket. I have created my own apron, and besides some troubles with the sewing machine it was overall a nice experience as the first time creating a piece of apparel from scratch (and the first time using a sewing machine in many years).

Cost Type	Cost	Price	Source	Quantity	Total
Materials	Fabric	$5.99 /yd	Joann.com Fabricmartfabrics.com Walmart.com	3.3 yds	$19.77
	Thread	$0.014 /yd	Joann.com Hobbylobby.com	5.8 yds	$0.08
	Zippers, Clips, etc…	$2.99 /yd (straps) $0.07 /yd (tape)	Joann.com Target.com	1.4 yds 7.8 yds	$4.18 $0.55
Labor	Sewing Operator	$14 /hr	Ziprecruiter.com Salary.com	5 hr	$70
	Prototyping Engineer (You!)	$38 /hr	Ziprecruiter.com Glassdoor.com Salary.com	1 hr	$38
Overhead	Facility Cost (Machine Time)	$20 /day	Bobbinandink.com Craftyolo.com Littlehandscreations.com	1 day	$20
	Quality Control	15% of total cost	Aodocs.com Projectengineer.net	$156.61	$23.49
Design	Engineering and Development		Covered in Prototyping Engineer		$0
	Iterations		No additional iterations made	1	$0
Misc.	Waste and Scrap	$5.99 /yd (fabric) $0.014 /yd (thread)		0.5 yd 3 yd	$2.99 $0.04

Total Cost: $180.10