Over the weekend, I learned and practiced a new skill I can add to my prototyping experience: sewing. As I love thrifting, I have always wanted to up-scale thrifted clothes but never possessed the resources or ability to sew. So, this weekend, I have finally been able to dip my toes into the world of fabric fabrication. Here is how this process went.
The Preparation:
I started off by choosing what size of Apron I wanted to create. I decided to go ahead and create a medium sized apron with a full length of 38″ and width of 24″. I first cut out a piece of pattern paper to use as a stencil.
I then measured the tracing against my body to see if I was satisfied with the fit. After making a few cuts to the upper corners, I decided to move forward and cut the fabric. The fabric I had available was one with a sparkly checkered Christmas theme.
I pinned the tracing paper onto the fabric stretched out as seen below.
Using fabric scissors, I recreated the cut from the stencil onto the fabric. I put the cut fabric to the side. I then went ahead and measured out some white straps that would be used to tie and hold the apron onto my body. I measured cut out one strap to go around my shoulders and two that would be tied around my waist as seen below.
And with that, my preparations were ready. Time to sew!
Sewing Experience
Before beginning to sew, I decided I wanted to create some seams on my apron to practice using the sewing machine (shown below) to create straight lines. This would also help to keep the edges of my apron tidy as I noticed that this particular fabric had a tendency to fray.
I loaded pink and orange spools into the sewing machine and replaced a broken needle before turning the machine on. Then, I began to create my seams throughout the entire perimeter of the apron. I attempted to keep a consistent 1 inch seam. As the fabric had a grid pattern, I tried following this pattern to give the apron an outward appearance of being more neat. I have included a picture of my seams below.
After creating the seams, I went ahead and began attaching the shoulder and waist straps to the apron. I attempted to utilize the box-stitch method to practice angled corners using the machine. However, it seemed to be that the apron straps were far too thin and did not have enough real estate to properly create a box stitch. Regardless, these attempts at creating a box stitch, did prove to create a secure enough attachment of the straps onto the apron despite their aesthetic appeal.
After securing the straps onto the fabric, I had a complete apron! I lied the apron down on a table to holistically visualize the accomplishment.
I then tried the apron on in the mirror to evaluate it’s fit.
Fits like a charm!
Reflection
Overall, I was able to successfully create a functional apron, with a few added designs to assure the apron’s longevity. The added seams will prevent the fabric from fraying away and the box stitches are ensuring a more than secure attachment of the straps onto the fabric. However, I do think there is more room for improvement on the aesthetic aspect of the final result. The stitching used to create the seams was not very straight, and there are visible areas on the apron where you can see I had to start the machine again. With practice, these simple errors can be avoided. I also would have considered using thicker straps in order to properly implement the use of box stitches onto apron.
Cost Estimate
Below I have calculated and estimate Raw Material and Labor cost of this final, artisan product. These values were derived from online research.
Materials
- Checkered Fabric (1 yard) = $7.00
- Straps (1 yard) = $1.00
- Thread = 0.80
Labor
- 3 hours at the OEDK = $36
Energy
- $0.013/hour for 2 hours of sewing = $0.04 (rounded)
TOTAL: $44.84
