Stephanie’s Apron | ENGI 210: Prototyping and Fabrication

Sewing An Apron

Pre-work: Practicing

Before I began anything, I wanted to practice sewing 30 minutes before my MECH 340 lab which helped greatly reduce the amount of time I took actually sewing(thankfully). I think you can see below how I improved in tension and keeping stitching straight, both of which I was not confident about having no sewing experience.

Designing the apron

Sewing practice done, I began by outlining what I’d need: waist, overall length, bottom width, top to chest length, and top width. After taking these measurements, I wanted to add an apple with a worm peaking out. However, since the fabric pieces I ordered weren’t exactly the right shade of greens for the worm, I decided to add something else.

cutting the fabric

Once I had the needed dimensions and an idea of my design, I began cutting. I cut the fabric to be a 21in. x13in. rectangle which I then measured 2in. of cutoff at the top and a 7.5in. length from the top to the bottom of my chest. Throughout this process, I tried the fabric on to see the fit and added ~1/2in. – 1in of extra fabric so the raw edges would be absolutely hidden during sewing. Once this was done, I was ready to start sewing the hem for my apron!

Sewing the hem

Now, I set up my station and did a 1/4in. inseam for the hem. I folded the edges and ironed them to ensure the fabric would lay flat while sewing so that I would only have to worry about aligning it with the guide and doing the backward/forward stitch at the beginning and end. I did run into some trouble at the end when I was sewing the left side as I had run out of thread in the bobbin, although it did not ruin the integrity of the stitching. So, I left and resolved to come back the next day to finish sewing the pocket and practice the box stitch.

sewing the pocket and design

I went back a day later and began to fold and iron the pocket. I only did the hem for the top doing a little less than 1/4 in. inseam (as seen in the picture to the right) and then practiced the box stitch on scrap fabric. After I was confident, I attached the waist straps to the apron. The next day, I folded and attempted to steam the edges of the pocket(this failed, I had to use a blowdryer for the hot water that splashed on the fabric) and then, once it was steamed and blow-dried, began to sew it onto the apron. Since I was not on campus, I decided to use my roommate’s sewing machine, a Brother JX2517, so the stitching nor thread color is exactly the same. Nonetheless, I also attached the straps on the top of the apron with the machine. Then I reached into my button collection and created an apple out of scrap fabric/fabric I had bought and began to hand sew it onto the apron using the same thread on the brother.