copy cat apron

You might recognize this apron from yesterday's canning post. And perhaps you recognize the red and brown fabric from this bag. When Stacy and I got together with our friend Kayleen to make aprons, I knew we could count on Stacy's fabric stash to provide just the right options for the perfect aprons. She really has great taste, and she's so incredibly generous! I love this apron, and I've pretty much been living in it all month with my crazy canning.


So you may be wondering, where did you find the pattern for those adorable aprons? Funny thing, that. We planned on doing a tutorial, but it was so darn easy we couldn't bring ourselves to take step-by-step pictures! Don't believe me? If you have a similar BBQ-style apron at your house, you can make this apron. That's right--we used another apron as our pattern. It took all of a half an hour to put these together. In fact, Kayleen made 2 and 1/2 of them while I left my kids with her and went to visit another friend. When I came back, they were all three almost finished!

That apron we copied is the one you see below. Or the six you see below. My amazing mother-in-law made aprons for every single person who came to Christmas Eve dinner last year. Down to the last-minute guests and the kiddies. I couldn't believe how much work she went to outfit us all to help in the kitchen. Her little secret? She used an old apron as a pattern and traced it. Now that I've made one, I guess I can see how she did it. Sort of. That's still a lot of aprons. She really is incredible!




So, here are some loose instructions on how to make this apron, but really, once you get your fabric out and start, you'll see it's a piece of cake.

1. Lay out a simple apron on top of your fabric. We used heavier decorator-weight fabric for ours.

2. Trace the apron, adding a 1" border, and cut it out.

3. Cut a piece of ribbon, or a wide band of fabric, to make the neck strap. If using fabric, cut it about 4" to 5" wide. Fold it in half lengthwise and sew all the way down, using a 1/4" seam allowance. Turn right-side out and press flat with the seam down the middle. We didn't even hem the edges, but you could for a cleaner look.

4. Cut two long pieces of ribbon or fabric to make the ties (use same method as 3. if you're making fabric ties). We used ribbon because it was just so much easier!

5. Optional: Cut a wide band the width of the chest in a coordinating fabric (ours was about 4"). Or use ribbon. Hem the fabric 1/4" on each long end, and sew on the front of the apron across the chest. Trim any excess fabric.

6. Optional: Cut a wide band of coordinating fabric the width of the bottom to make a ruffle. See this tutorial to create your ruffle.

7. Fold over the edges of the apron 1/4" and iron. Fold over another 1/4" and iron. Stitch the hem down around entire apron. (We were lazy and just folded it over 1/2" and sewed it.)

8. Take your neck strap and position it at the outside edges of the top of the apron. Sew in place.

9. Position your waist ties at the appropriate spot and sew in place.

10. Hem the bottom edge of your ruffle strip with a 1/4″ seam. Using a basting stitch, or the longest machine stitch you have, sew two parallel lines across the top of the strip. To create gathers, tie the threads at one end, then pull the bobbin threads (on the back side) on the other end gently, evenly distributing the gathers until you like the way they look. Sew across gathers with a zig-zag stitch to keep them in place. Pin in place on the bottom of the apron (right sides together and upside down). Sew onto the apron using a regular straight stitch to hold in place. This is what it will look like on the back. Need a video? Check this one out from SewSing.com--it's excellent.



That is it! Sorry about the lack of pictures. If we make another one we'll update the post. But really, it's a very simple project that even novice sewers can tackle. If in doubt, take a closer look at the apron you're copying!