This past week has focused on sewing an apron for EDES 210–an apron we will use for the rest of the semester! I have had minimal experience with the sewing machine. In the past, I have mostly only tailored my clothes, like making shirts and pants tighter or hemming shirts and sweaters so they are not as long. With this, I have only had practice with the sewing machine’s most “basic” skills. Going into this project, I was extremely excited to learn more about sewing to make or alter my thrift finds in the future (I am a big thrifter).
I picked a red Texas fabric, not because I am from Texas, but because I thought it was an interesting print.
Then, I measured out the different pieces that were going to be in the apron. At first, I measured out straps that went around the body and neck, because I had taken inspiration from this design on Pinterest. But I decided in the end that that was not as practical since my print was more intricate. As for the rest of the design, however, I took heavy inspiration from this design. I liked the pockets and compositions of the apron in particular. Since I wanted the pockets, I decided to take on the intermediate level for this project.
The measurements I used for my design were as follows (using my own measurements and including 1/2 in seam allowance):
Top (chest area) — 16 in
Waist — 25 in
Length — 36 in
Top to the waist — 16 in
Pocket- 15 in x 7 in (including the amount I was going to fold in for a seamless look)
As shown above, I also decided to follow the design and make the neck area slope into the waist area. For that part, I decided to fold my 36 in x 25 in a rectangle in half and cut a slope like the above photo so that both sides would be identical.
I chose a denim fabric for the pocket so that there would be a contrast between the Texas pattern and the pocket. Also, since the denim was blue, it nicely complimented the details of the main fabric pattern.
I then folded the seam 2 times so that even when you look at the inside of the garment, you would not be able to see any raw edges. After folding the edges, I pinned them using the pins with a ball on one side. After pinning the edges, I stitched it slowly to look even so that no folded-in parts would come undone. In this process, I unpinned the garment while running it through the machine to do a little area at a time and not rush. Starting the machine was really difficult as my fabric kept getting stuck, and I had to troubleshoot twice on two different machines. However, because of this, I learned how to fix the bobbin, rewind the bobbin, and rewire the thread through the machine.
After stitching the edges of the main piece, I moved on to the pocket. I used the same process as the main garment to stitch the edges of the pocket. The only difference was that I stitched the edge of the top part of the rectangle before the rest. That part would be open and challenging to alter if I had done it in a different order–like stitching the pocket before the top seam. After stitching the top of the pocket, I got to work on the three other sides. With this, I pinned the other three sides (folded in like the leading garment edges) and used the same technique of unpinning as I stitched.
Also, like the Pinterest inspiration, I wanted to have a stitch down the middle so that the apron could have two functional pockets in one. However, I messed up the first time and used a seam ripper to rip my messed-up stitch. I tried again after, and I am pleased with the final result, as it was straight down the middle, and there was no bunching at the bottom, unlike my first try.
After that step, I completed my final step: adding on the neck and waist straps using box stitches. I eyeballed the straps according to my measurements and cut them out of the vinyl wrap.
I stitched one side of the strap closed using the same two-fold technique as the garment, so there would be no raw edges (susceptible to unraveling). I left the other side with one fold in so that the box stitch would conceal the raw edge.
Box stitching was definitely a learning curve. It looked seamless on the side I was stitching on, but it was slightly messy when you flipped it around. I did 4 box stitches in total — two for the neck strap on either side and one for each strap that goes around the waist. The box stitches improved as I continued because I got more practice as it progressed.
Overall, this project was so much fun! It taught me the fundamentals of sewing and is a gateway for me to explore it further. Now that I have dipped my hands into the sewing world, I want to explore it further. I like how I pushed myself when adding the pockets, as I am not mainly used to pinning and meticulous measuring skills. Also, I am happy to have had issues with the machine, because it taught me how to trouble shoot the mechanical aspects of the machine, and in the future I will know what to look for (hopefully) if the machine is getting caught. I am pleased with how my final apron turned out, even though the neck strap could be a bit shorter. The seams look pretty good (for a beginner) for the most part, and honestly, the print seems friendly with the denim pocket.
Price breakdown:
1 yd of fabric: $5
Labor: $8/hr x 4 hrs = $24
Ribbon: $5 per roll – 1/25 of roll = $0.20
Thread: minuscule enough to not make a significant difference in price
Total: $29.20
