Hi guys!

So the apron, I’ve never sewn that intensely ever, so this was an experience. My grandma, however, is a seamstress and I have so much more respect for her after this project. I hope she isn’t too disappointed with the result.

The first part was to make the template. I had chosen this pretty maroon color to be the base. I love the color red, and maroon was pretty close. I also wanted to put a pocket on, so I chose a denim fabric to be the complement to the maroon. First I drew up a sketch of measurements. Most of them ended up changing once I started cutting out the paper template, so a lot of what was drawn did not stay. I also calculated an estimate of how much fabric I was going to need for the project.

When I drew and cut out the paper template, I ended up making the top width smaller, the neck strap shorter, and the length of the indents larger. Most of this I eyeballed, so I don’t have exact measurements on that. I will use these measurements during the cost analysis. After that I cut out the main piece of fabric from the maroon square yard we had.

After that I measured out and pinned how much I wanted to hem on the sides. It was about 2 cm and I double folded it to make it as neat as possible. You will come to find out that I am a perfectionist in every way and want almost everything to be as such. I was very careful to make sure the sides were even. I followed the double stitch diagram that we were given.

The edges and sides got a little messed up and don’t look great, which frustrated me a lot. Eventually I want to redo a project like this or make something else and redeem myself. I also used white thread for all the sewing, and against the dark colors, all the mistakes showed themselves quite clearly. I think hemming just takes practice to nail down, so it was a good experience to do.

After this I practiced a few box stitches before commiting, but at this point it was all going to be a learning experience. I accepted that it wasn’t going to be perfect. I think all the box stitches turned out pretty good in the end, but again the white thread is very unforgiving. I also need to learn how to make it look neater when you go over a stitch multiple times. I just eyeballed where to but the two side straps to make sure it was around where my waist was.

Look how cute it is! I am actually so proud of this, my dad also said my grandma would be happy to see me learning. I think if I were to do it again, I would definitely practice the corners and turns a lot more. I also want to learn how to sew in non-straight lines because that would be so cool. Maybe soon I can learn how to upcycle clothes I find thrifting. I love thrifting and it is always so annoying when they don’t fit. In hindsight I should not have chosen white thread as my sewing thread of choice because of how apparent it is, but I think it was also good to see my mistakes and areas I could improve on. I definitely had some spots that are a little uneven or when my hemming starting going sideways. For this I didn’t iron before hemming, mainly because I didn’t know where the iron was, but it is definitely something I should think about trying next time. I think it would make my lines sharper and avoid any folds that may arise.