I was super tired of constantly ruining shirts while cooking so I wanted an apron that would cover a lot of myself. I also really wanted to use a vintage pattern because well . . . that's me. I had the avengers fabric for quite some time. I was initially going to make a dress or skirt out of it for the Avengers 2 premier and then, after waiting so long and not doing it, the Civil War premier. But that didn't work out and I needed an apron so this was born!
The instructions for this are fairly simple. I really didn't run into many problems besides issues with bias tape. Which I had to make a lot of! I could have purchased it and saved time but I wanted the tape to match the waist ties and buttons I was adding.
I started out by taking the front piece and making the dart for the pocket and ironing it down. The rounded bottom part will come together to make the pocket.
The pockets in this thing are awesome! I have a huge phone, the Note 4, and these pockets fit it perfectly.
The next thing I did was to add the pocket front piece to the large front sections. Then I added bias tape to the tops.
Once those pieces are completed you can sew the pocket pieces together. I suggest using a serger or some kind of finishing stitch to the edges to keep fraying down. Maybe even use bias tape on the edges as a bound seam. This project will use A LOT of bias tape so buy or make extra! I chose to use my serger and serged the seams.
Below is what it will look like when the two pieces are sewn together.
Next is the center front. Use the bias tape to encase the neckline in bias tape. Don't fold in the edges. They will get caught up in side seams to get finished.
The next step will be to sew the side fronts to the center front. You will sew wrong sides together so that the seam is outside. Then trim it down by 1cm all the way up to the shoulder seam edge so you can put the bias tape over it. Make sure you are pressing everything regularly. You want to make sure everything is flat when you are laying the tape down.
Now it is time for the shoulder straps. I sewed them together with french seams. I didn't want any exposed seams on this because I knew this would be washed often and I didn't want the seams to shred. You can either use a serger or a finishing stitch. I do not recommend using bias tape for bound seams because it will create bulk for the edges when the trim goes on.
I also sewed on the side back panels using my serger and ironed the seams towards the back. On the sides in the front, the edge just under the first scallop you
will need to trim away 1cm from the edge all the way down to the side
edge.
The next step took the most time. I pinned on all the bias tape from the side all the way up and around the strap and down the center front seams. It took a lot of time to get the tape properly set in the corners of the scallops and over everything evenly. But I sewed them down and ironed them towards the center in the middle.
Now it was time to work on the ties. This part was super simple. The pattern calls for 1 piece of fabric to create the tie and then you make narrow hems the whole way around. I decided to modify this because I wanted the ties to look nicer. So I used 2 pieces and sewed them into a tube. Then I flipped it right side out and make sure the pointed ends were pointy and ironed it down. I top stitched the edges 1/8th away from the edge and then gathered the square ends.
I basted the ties down onto the edges and then wrapped bias tape around the hem of the apron.
Sewing the bias tape over the waist ties seemed to be the most difficult thing. The gathering created extra bulk that the 1/4 inch bias tape didn't want to handle while going through a machine. If I had laid it flat it would have worked. It might have been the extra layer in the tie, but I refuse to believe that. I had to sew and resew the section over and over. It looked terrible. Finally I just decided I would force it down with hand stitches and then top sew over it. So I sewed the edges down with invisible stitches and then ran it through the machine. Still not pleased because the fabric is visibly mangled a bit from the constant resewing but you can't see once its tied and buttoned. The rest of the hem looks great though!
I made button holes in the ends of the shoulder straps and covered some 1" buttons with the yellow fabric and sewed them onto the edges. It was finally finished!
And now for one picture with a petticoat under it as is tradition. Well at least EVERY picture I see of aprons always seem to have petticoats underneath.
Thank you for reading! Happy sewing!
