Hey guys, our first project of the year for Prototyping and Fabrication was to make an apron that we would use throughout the semester for all work at the OEDK. I came into this experience like a fish out of water, as I had never touched a sewing machine before in my life. It was definitely going to be a new experience for me, but I was excited to see what I could do.
To begin with, after doing some training, I realized what I was and wasn’t good at in terms of sewing. I had a good idea of how to align the material and stitch material together, but I struggled at working around corners and pacing the sewing machine at an effective rate. Many times while practicing, I would notice the thread would no longer be sewing in the fabric and would instead be lying on top of the fabric as I had not applied enough pressure to the far side of the fabric. However, after some more practice, I began to get better at these concepts.
For measurements, I wear Large-sized shirts and T-shirts, so I decided to use those measurements for my apron. After cutting the necessary shape from the fabric, I started to create a hem for my apron around all of its edges. I ran into some difficulty getting the sewing machine aligned with the edge of the fabric every time I would turn, but this ended up being not that difficult, especially with the help of the pins. I then measured how long my neck strap and tying straps would need to be by measuring out fabric against my body and marking those spots to know how long I should make fabric strips to use.
While sewing on my straps using the box sewing technique, I definitely ran into some difficulty on the neck straps initially on how to align my diagonal stitches so that they would go from one corner of the box to the other without stopping short on the sides. While some of the box stitches that I made did not form a perfect X, they did go from one side of the rectangle to the other in order to create an effective stitch that was strong and able to hold up the entire apron from my neck.
For one of my tying straps on the apron, I accidentally sewed the apron twice to the tying straps because my fabric got folded twice in the sewing machine. Other than that, it was fairly straightforward to make box stitches on the straps and ensure that the apron was fitting me appropriately and tying properly in the back.
Overall, I had a great time making this apron, and it will always be extra special to me compared to some aprons that I could’ve bought because I made it. I’ve learned a lot through this experience, and I hope to encounter more sewing-related projects in the future where I can use these skills. Thanks for reading!
Cost Analysis
2 yards x $7.99/yard = $15.98
2 yards x $2.72/yard = $5.44
$4.26 * (40 yards/150 yards) = $1.14
$0.47/foot * (2.41667 feet) = $1.14
$18/hour * 3.5 hours = $63
$38/hour * 1.5 hours = $57
$4.98 * (50 pins/600 pins) = $0.42
Total = $144.12
