Awesome Aprons

Crafting an Apron

Aprons have been traditionally used by many cultures as they keep mess from clothing that would otherwise have to be washed frequently. They are so common that many cultures have a heritage of wearing decorative aprons as part of traditional dress. 

The simplest of aprons, of course is the basic towel tucked into a waistband, but this doesn’t protect the bodice of clothing from stains and risks falling out of the waistband at inopportune moments. A slightly more complex version of this type of apron will have strings or ties to attach a rectangle of fabric around the waist. However, while a tied version is less likely to fall off, it still fails to protect a shirt or bodice from stains or splashes.

The version of the apron I am illustrating here is a very basic apron with a bib to protect the bodice of a dress or a shirt. I made this particular apron as part of a costume, so there are a few changes I will recommend as I illustrate the creation process.

This project is a good beginner project, but it does require a basic understanding of seam allowances and how they are used in garment construction. A video of this project will be up on YouTube eventually, but it is still in production at the moment.

Materials

Fabric enough for the bib, the skirt, and the straps.Please see Step 2 in the instructions for a better idea of how much fabric you will need.

Thread

Instructions

1.      Pre-wash and iron all fabrics especially cottons. If this is a working apron rather than a decorative apron, pre-wash and dry the fabric at hot temperatures to shrink it before you cut out the apron.

2.      Take measurements as illustrated the picture. B1 would be the desired width of the bib. B2 would be the desired height of the bib plus about an inch for finishing the raw top edge. H1 is the circumference of the hips, but you can just measure S1 directly from the person to wear the apron. If you calculate S1 (aka the width of the apron) use about 2/3 of the hip circumference. S2 is the length of the apron skirt. This is largely a design choice, though many aprons will end at about knee level. Historical costume aprons will frequently be the approximate length of a skirt or dress worn under the apron. For all skirts, the bottom and sides of the skirt will need to be finished. You can use strapping to finish them. In this case, follow the instructions below to calculate the material needed for straps. I chose to finish the edges by turning them under and topstitching them. If you use this method add 1 ¼ inch to your S2 (length) measurement and 2 ½ inches to your S1 (width) measurement.

Measurements needed for the apron skirt and bib

In addition to the basic measurements listed and lettered above, you will also need fabric for straps. Straps, again will vary according to the apron design. A basic looped strap as illustrated below will be measured by lopping a tape measure from the waist, up around the neck, back down to the waist. Just be sure that with the bib included, the loop will still fit over the head. This is especially important for children’s aprons. A second style choice might be to have the neck strap tie behind the neck. In this case, measure from the waist, up around to the middle of the neck, and add 8-10 inches. Wider straps will need longer amounts added to be able to tie them easily. A third apron style is what I call a pinafore style apron. The straps for this style will extend up from the waist, loop over the shoulder and attach to the waistband at the back. This is the same distance that should be measured for this style of strap.

Regardless of the style of strap chosen, all straps need to be cut wide enough to be folded double with the raw edges turned under. I like to see apron straps finish about one inch wide, but they may vary from ¾ inch to 1 ¼ inches. This again is a style choice. To calculate the cutting size of the strap, take your desired finished strap width, multiply it by 2 and add a seam allowance (usually either ¼ inch or 5/8 inch).

A waistband strap is also needed. The length of this will be the circumference of the waist plus about 20 inches for ties. (10 inches of ties on either end of the waistband). The waistband strap should be cut as an inside and an outside piece, which is not what is illustrated in the picture below. To calculate the waistband width measure, take your desired finished waistband measure (usually 1-2 inches, though this is also a styling choice) and add your seam allowance twice. As stated earlier, you will need two pieces for the waistband strap. Some people may choose to use a sturdier, but less pretty piece for the inside piece of the waistband, but this is not essential.

3.      Cut out or tear the fabric according to the measurements in the last step. Tearing may be useful in this case as it ensures that the fabric is cut perfectly with the grain so the apron won’t start sagging later as it is used. In the illustration, I have also folded the straps and pressed under the seam allowances. The fabric pieces in the picture for the bib and skirt have been folded to fit into the picture. Just a quick note: on this apron I cut the waistband as one piece, which is fine is you’re not adding a bib. However, as I did add a bib, this wasn’t really the way to go.

4.      Attach the neck strap or straps to the bib piece. 

The first thing you actually have to do is to finish the top edge of the bib. You can use strapping in the same manner as described below or you can fold over the edge and top stitch it, which is what I did. When I cut the bib, I added 1 ¼ inches to the top of the bib. To finish the bib, I folded over the top edge 1 ¼ inches and pressed it. Then, I folded under ¼ inch to tuck the raw edges in and pressed it again. Many instruction will tell you to fold and press the ¼ inch first, but I find it is easier to accurately measure the 1 ¼ followed by 1 inch as the ¼ inch tucked under isn’t going to be seen if it is a bit wonky. Finally, I top stitched across the top of the bib to hold everything in place. On a fancy apron, this is a good place to add decorative details.

To do this, unfold the neck strap pieces and align the raw edge of the strap to the raw edge of the bib, right sides together. The bottom of the strap and the bottom of the bib should also be aligned. Stitch the strap to the bib, making sure to stop stitching at the end of the bib. Also, make sure your stitching line is between your strap fold and the raw edge so it won’t show later.

When the first line of stitching is completed, refold all of the strap folds. When this is done correctly, the raw edge of the bib should be encased in the strap. Topstitch along the edges of the strap. Strictly speaking only the open edge of the straps needs to be stitched, but it is a nice finishing touch to stitch the folded edge of the strap, too, as it adds a bit of strength to the strap. The top stitching should extend along the entire length of the strap.

If you are making a fancy apron, this is a good time to add decorative stitches to the apron straps.

If you are still confused by this process find instructions online for finishing edges with bias binding as this is the same process, or leave a comment below and I’ll add a quick video on the process.

When the straps are attached to the bib, they will look like the illustration. My bib was a pinafore style, so there are two straps left loose rather than one strap wrapped around and attached to the other side of the bib.

Neck straps added to the sides of the bib

5.      Finish the side and bottom edges of the skirt. 

If you are adding straps to finish the edges of your skirt, follow the directions given above for adding straps to the bib. In my case I finished edges by folding them over 1 ¼ inches on each side and the bottom. I folded the raw edge under ¼ inch and topstitched everything to hold it in place. At the corners you can either make mitered corners (many instructions already on the web for this) or you can simply make neatly turned squared corners.

If you wish to add pockets, this is a good time to do it. Patch pockets are a popular option on many working aprons. If you'd like to see a post on patch pockets, please leave me a comment below.
 

Skirt bottom and sides hemmed

6.      Attach the waistband and the skirt to the bib. 

In my case, because I cut the waistband strap as one piece instead of two, the edges of my bib and skirt were exposed on the inside. While this is find for a costume, it is not fine for and apron that will be regularly used. In my case, I chose to finish bottom edge of the bib and the top edge of the skirt with zigzag stitches to prevent them raveling. Finishing the top edge of the skirt may be useful to prevent the edge from raveling when it is gathered.

Take the bib and fold it in half to find the center of the bottom edge. Fold again to find the ¼ length marks for the bottom of the bib. Place pins in the bib’s bottom edge marking the ¼, ½, and ¾ measurements. Take a ruler and measure how far the ¼ length pins are from the middle pin. If all went well, both measurements will be the same. If not, redo it so they are the same and make note of this ¼ bib bottom length. The picture shows how this is done attaching the skirt to the waistband as I attached the skirt first for the apron I made, but you can still see the general idea of how to match the middle and the quarter marks.

Note the two pins marking the middle of the skirt and the waistband. The quarter point and the end of the skirt are also pin marked

 Fold one waistband in half (inside or outside doesn’t matter) to find the middle. Mark the middle with a pin. Use pins to mark the ¼ bib bottom length measurements, too.

At this point you will attach the bib to the waistband. Align the raw edge of the waistband (right side of the fabric to the bib) to the raw edge of the bib bottom. Use the pin markers to make sure the bib is in the center of the waistband. If you have used different fabrics for the inside and outside waistbands, make sure you have pinned the waistband to the correct side of the bib.

Stitch the waistband to the bib, but stop stitching at the edge of the bib, as you did with the side straps on the bib. Remove the marker pins from the bib, but leave them in the waistband.

The next step is to gather the top edge of the skirt. This isn’t absolutely necessary if your waist and hip measurements are fairly close. For most of us, though, gathering the skirt allows it to better conform to our body’s natural shape. To gather the top edge of the skirt, run 2-3 rows of long straight stitches parallel to the top edge of the skirt. These rows should be about ¼ inch, 3/8 inch, and ½ inch away from the top edge of the skirt and should not overlap. Small wiggles are ok, but just be sue the rows don’t overlap. Leave long tails on the threads as you will be pulling on them. When all the rows have been stitched, find the middle of the top of the skirt and place a pin there. Fold each half section of the skirt in half again to form quarters and place pins at the ¼ length spots. These pins are to help line everything up properly after the skirt is gathered. Then, choose either the top thread or bottom thread from each of the long stitched rows and pull gently on the thread while pushing gently on the fabric. Small puckers will form, gathering the material. As the gathers form, you will need to ease the ones from the edge towards the middle before regathering the edges. Be very gentle doing this so you don’t snap your gathering threads. You have 1-2 backup threads, but you will get better gathers if you don’t have to use them. Continue gathering until you can’t gather any more. See the picture below for an example.

Next you will attach the skirt to the waistband. This process is similar to what you did with the bib, but you will also have to even out the skirt gathers as you pin. 

Lay the skirt against the right side of the waistband and match the center of the skirt to the center of the waistband. Make sure that the folded seam allowance is outside of your rows of gathering stitches. Again, if you have used different fabrics for the inside and the outside of the waistband, check to make sure you are pinning your waistband to the correct side of the skirt. With the center pinned, ease the gathers in the skirt so that the ¼ length pin markers line up with the ¼ length pin markers in the waistband. Ease the gathers again so that the edges of the apron line up with the edges of the bib on the waistband. The skirt edges may extend beyond the bib a bit if desired for design purposed, but I don’t recommend extending them very far.

The gathered skirt. Note the middle and quarter points marked by pins on both the skirt and the waistband

At this point, lay out the apron on a flat surface and see if you like how it looks. If you like it, finish pinning the skirt to the waistband. Use many, many pins for this so your gathers stay put until they are sewn. Stitch the skirt to the waistband. If you like to live dangerously proceed to the next step. If not, run another line or two of stitches attaching the skirt to the waistband within the seam allowance. Remove all the pins except the one marking the middle of the waistband.

On this apron I added the skirt before the bib, but you can see how it looks with just one side of the waistband attached

7.      Finishing the apron

At this point you should have all the basic pieces of the apron sewn together with one piece of the waistband left out. It will look something like the illustration below. When I did mine, I attached the skirt before the bib, but you can see what the apron will look like with the waistband attached to the bib and the skirt.

For this next step, make sure the seam allowances on the last waistband piece have been pressed under. Find the middle of the waistband and mark it with a pin as before.

Pin the second side of the waistband to the first side, sandwiching the raw edges of the bib and skirt between the two halves of the waistband. Pin everything in place so that the folded edges of both waistband pieces match up. If you are making a pinafore style apron, pin the strap ends from the bib in place in their proper spots on the waistband so the raw edges of the straps are also sandwiched between the two layers of the waistband. Finally, turn the raw edges at the ends of the ties to the inside and pin them in place, too. Top stitch everything carefully.  If desired, the waistband can be decorated.

Completed apron

8.      Enjoy your apron and wear it with pride. The apron I made is shown above with the skirt folded under so it fits into the picture. 

As always if you have enjoyed this tutorial, please share it with friends. 

If you have questions about it, please leave me a comment below or email me for clarification.