Holiday Aprons

Aprons are truly fun and easy to make. And they tend to mean something to me... One of the first aprons I ever made was in my  mom's Life Skills class. We had a really simple pattern (a lot like the ones in the pictures above) and were allowed to get creative. I chose blue fabric that I thought looked like water, cut a yellow duck out of felt and sewed it on like a pocket, and wrote "Just Ducky" on it with fabric paint. Writing that out just now, I realized how odd that really is. But it was cute and fun and I loved it. I wish I could find a picture of that apron.... I'm sure my parents have one somewhere.

Besides that apron, the fateful apron I made during the summer of 2008 was an important one. I made a pink floral apron with a ruffle on the bottom that looked more like a dress in the front than an apron. After that apron, the tides had turned on sewing for me once again. I was obsessed. I had always enjoyed sewing and did a lot of it when I was little, then less in  middle/high school, until the end of high school when I made my own graduation dress. Then very little the first few years of college. My last year of college though I sewed quite a bit. It started with that ruffle apron I was just talking about, then a couple dresses for sorority recruitment (you can see them in this post - in the very first picture of the two girls wearing red dresses), then I enrolled in Apparel Construction classes at my University and toyed with the dream of becoming a fashion designer. In the end I chose graduate school instead, which I am happy about, but sometimes I do wonder where I'd be now if I had chosen the other path. Anyway, aprons are special, and they are great for beginners just learning to sew, or a fun and easy project for seasoned sewers. Here are some Christmas-y ones I made this year.

First, because I have misplaced the apron pattern my mom always used in her class, I just folded one of my aprons in half and cut 1/2 inch around it (so I could fold it under twice to make nice hems).

Then I revved up my iron and folded down the hem 1/4 inch all the way around (on the Mrs. Claus apron I did not do this to the bottom hem because I knew I'd be adding the white trim on the bottom). Then, I folded that over once more and sewed all the way around to make a small hem.

  

To make tie straps I just measured the sample apron's straps and cut pieces about that length, but 3 times wider. I folded each strap in half, then unfolded it (using that crease as a guide) and folded each long edge in to the center. Then I folded them along the original crease (in half) and sewed down the edge. I also made sure to fold in each end of the strap so the raw edges wouldn't show. I made the neck strap the same way, but held it up around my neck to check the length.

I chose to make this green and red apron just because I had this fabric sitting around. It is glittery and matches my decorations this year, but I did not really have anywhere to use it around the house. So instead of letting it sit in the closet for another year I made it into an apron. I thought it needed something to spice it up a little so I added a red pocket. To make the pocket I just folded each edge under 1/4 inch (twice on the top edge) and sewed it into place. I also sewed a line right down the middle so it would really be two pockets, and wouldn't sag in the middle when I was wearing it.

For the Mrs. Clause apron, I just cut some extra white fabric the same width of the apron, hemmed around its edges and sewed it onto the bottom of the apron. I added ribbon around the middle to look like Santa's belt (I used solid black across the fabric, then overlaid an extra long piece of glittery organza black across the middle and off each side to serve as ties.  For the top I sewed on a piece of white lace and three big black buttons. Easy, cute, and sassy! 

These aprons really help me get into the holiday spirit while I bake. I have already tested the green one in the  kitchen this past weekend making Christmas cookies. It was a success! And now it has a nice layer of flour on it, just as every apron should.