This apron project was my first time ever sewing, either by hand or by machine, so there was a real learning curve. Due to this, I initially began by following the beginning instructions, but diverged from them a bit in both my measurements and my treatment of the fabric edges. This was also my first time making any article of clothing, so dealing with the details inherent in the measurements and sizing was an unanticipated detail. I learned a lot during this project, and my apron fits perfectly!

The first step was to measure my body and cut the pattern paper to the dimensions of the apron. I had a friend help measure the length of my body from my chest to my knees, which coincidentally measured 32″, the measurement suggested for the XS size in the documentation. I then measured my waist using a piece of fabric and drew out the measurements on paper. I decided to begin tapering the apron 2/3 of the way up to provide the best look.

I then pinned the paper to my selected red fabric and cut it out using fabric scissors.

My next step was picking a strap material. I found the provided beige fabric to be too thin and flimsy for the look I was aiming for, so I searched the OEDK fabric and scrap drawers until I found something that I liked. I eventually found a bungee cord with a long, thick black strap still attached, which I decided was perfect for what I wanted. I cut off the clip using fabric scissors and found that there was just enough fabric for both straps and the neckpiece.

I was now ready to sew. I was unsure up to this point whether I was going to fold in the edges of my fabric and hem them, but the jagged cuts made by the fabric scissors in my sheet of fabric decided for me. I carefully pinned an edge and sat down to sew it.

As a beginner sewer, I knew I wanted to use two different colored threads for the top and bottom thread, to aid me in differentiating between them. My initial thought was to use black for the top thread, but the massive spool of black thread was too large to sit in the sewing machine. Due to this, I used black for my bottom thread and settled on gold for the top, which I thought went nicely with the red.

For the most part, aside from having to rethread the top thread ~5 times, sewing the edges went smoothly, with the exception of one of the diagonal sides. I was unaware of how to use the sewing machine to align the fabric, and so the apron did not feed through the machine at the angle I wanted. As a result, I needed to stop, lift the needle, and restart the machine multiple times, resulting in an ugly, jagged seam which can be seen below: 

I managed to remove 90% of the stitches with the seam ripper, and redid the seam so that it was straight.

I was also informed by Professor Bisesti halfway through my sewing that I was applying too much tension to the end of the fabric, and not allowing the machine to sew along it smoothly. Due to this, some of my stitches are clumped together closer than others. However, I was overall happy with the body of the apron:

Finally, the last step was sewing on my straps with 4 box stitches. Interestingly, I found this part easier than expected, likely due to all the adjusting I had gotten used to doing while hemming the sides. 3 out of the 4 box stitches came out very cleanly. Below, you can see an image of me wearing the final product!

At the end of this, I would estimate the cost of this apron would be the cost of the fabric + the cost of labor. I will estimate that this roll of fabric cost about $25. An experienced sewer could probably sew all of the seams I did in about an hour. If I approximate the cost of labor as $15/hr, unfortunately lower than it should be, then that puts the overall price of the apron at $40.