Apron tutorial

Time for an apron tutorial!
 

 

 
Hello!

Thanks for coming to read my apron tutorial and I hope it can be of use to the cooking lolitas out there or just those that like to wear aprons  :)  

Lets get our basics covered about this tutorial first.

~All of my meaurements are marked in inches.
~My default seam allowance is 1/2 inch unless otherwise stated
~This apron was made to fit my waist of 27 inches so if you have a different waist size and would like to keep these proportions I would suggest adding or subtracting the difference in your waist measurement on the pattern piece.  However you make the waist band to your measurement so if your waist is only slightly different then there's no need to change anything
~I make this tutorial to help other lolita sewers and please ask that you do not use it or my patterns to make products for selling.  It's one thing if you made it for yourself and sold it later but I'm talking about making them with intent to sell several.

Okay lets get started!

Supplies

~ 1.75 yards of white fabric at least 45 inches wide (this includes fabric for the pocket and a bow on the back)
~ 6.5 inches of lace for the pocket
~ Interfacing for your waist band.  It needs to be the same size as one of your waistband pieces but this isn't 100% necessary if you do not feel the need to bother with it.
~ Back closures for your waist band.  I used two buttons.
~ 12 inches of 45 inch wide fabric for the bow on the front (mine was black but yours can be any color or nonexistant obviously)
~ 26 inches of ribbon or trim to go on the bow (pink in my case)
~ Pearls for the hanging strand under the front bow
~ A printer for printing the pattern pieces or large sheets of paper to trace them up yourself
~ The correct thread color and a sewing machine of course

Lets start with a diagram of how the pieces need to be laid out and cut
(my porportions are terrible please ignore that)
Also, where the ruffles and waistband are on a fold that means to fold the pattern piece in half
Therefore the ruffle not on a fold should be laid out at its full length and cut out giving you two, and the ones on the fold should be folded in half and when cut out and unfolded giving you another two the same size.


When you get home with your white fabric you need to make sure that it's folded in half exactly as you will be using nearly the entire width of it.  So be sure to fold it in half and iron it and then you're ready to get started.

I'm going to go ahead and link to the pattern pieces since they're full size and very large.
Apron  http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/TheKiwiness/Tutorials/apronbody.jpg
Middle end on fold should be 12 inches, and from the middle of that width wise it should be roughly 15
Cut 2 on fold
Ruffle http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/TheKiwiness/Tutorials/apronruffle.jpg
6 x 33 cut 4
Waist band http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/TheKiwiness/Tutorials/apronband.jpg
3 inches tall and as long as your waist measurement plus 1 inch
cut 2
Pocket http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/TheKiwiness/Tutorials/apronpocket.jpg
6.5 x 6 cut 2
Bow tails http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/TheKiwiness/Tutorials/bowtails.jpg
6 x 10.5 cut 2
Main bow piece http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/TheKiwiness/Tutorials/bowbase.jpg
12 x 4 cut 2
Center bow band http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/TheKiwiness/Tutorials/bowcenter.jpg
5 x 4 cut 1

MAKE NOTE OF MARKED SIZES  
The numbers on the pattern pieces are the size the patterns should come out
The problem is that if you're like me and use MS paint to print such things it either does two things, gives you the correct size when you click the attributes button, or gives you an incorrect size and you have to hold a rule up to your monitor until it's correct.

So I would start with the center bow band since it's such a small piece.
Open it up in MS paint (or other basic program)  and adjust the size until it's correct based on holding a ruler up to your monitor.
Print it out and measure the piece.  If it's way off then you need to do the next step instead.
Open it up in your basic program and click the attributes tab (that's what it is in MS paint) and adjust it until that says it's the right size regardless of what a ruler up to your monitor suggests.  Then print it out and it should be correct.
I have no idea why some computers run it differently but always be sure to double check after printing your pieces that they are the right size.

If you don't have a printer then most of these pieces are pretty easy to replicate with a ruler and some paper.  That's how I made them anyway.

Now we will really get started!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pin down your pattern pieces and get to cutting!  Be sure to cut the correct amount and positioning as listed above

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1.
Sew the ruffle pieces together with a very small seam allowance of 1/4 inch so that they make a giant chain of fabric.



2.
Iron the seams you just sewed.  This is very necessary to help them be as close to invisible as possible on your final result.

3.
You now need to sew up the ends.  Fold the ruffle in half the wrong way so that the raw edges of your seam are facing out and stitch a line (1/4 inch.) on the ends like so

(the ridiculous squiggles are raw fraying edges)
Do so on both ends of the ruffle

4.
Now turn it inside out and fold it in half the correct way so that the raw edges of the seams are on the inside.

Be sure to iron this in half all the way down

5.
If you have an overlock machine you might want to finish the edges on top of your ruffle to stop them from fraying.  If you don't have an overlock machine than don't  worry about it!  It's not necessary but my fabric was fraying like a beast at this point.
Regardless of any of that you need to now run a gathering stitch all along the top (fraying ends) of the ruffle.  We are sewing the ruffle in with a 1/2 inch seam allowance so make sure your gathering stitch is closer to the edge than that.

6.
Start gathering!  Lay it out as you go and gather, gather gather.  
This took me quite some time but when you are finished it should be layed out like this.

You only want one piece of your apron layed out for your ruffle!  Take the other piece and set it aside for now.
The ruffle will be facing in with the raw edges matching up with those on the apron.   After we sew it between the two layers it gets flipped out the correct way.

7.
Very carfully sew down your ruffle on this piece.  Use lots and lots of straight pins and go nice and slow.  You want to make sure the ruffle ends don't turn under and stick out when it's flipped over.  You also want to make sure the base apron piece doesn't crinkled up in your seam while you're sewing it.  I had to go back and seam rip a few spots where mine slipped up on me and restitch it.

8.
Once the ruffle is sewn on leave it facing inward and sew the other apron piece on top of it (but not across the top obviously) meaning the ruffle will be in the middle between the two pieces.  This won't be quite as difficult at step 7 but still be careful!  Step 7 was to try and make this step much easier.

9.
Now go ahead and flip out your pretty ruffled apron piece and iron it!

10.
Next run a gathering stitch across the top of your apron where the two main pieces come together and there are still raw edges.  Do not run the gathering stitch onto the ruffles that show be right along your top piece, we want to leave those just the way they are.

The black squiggles up top represent raw edges and the scallop looking lines are meant to be the ruffles of course.

11.
The goal here is to get our gather stitched area down to 18 inches.  With the ruffle ends included the entire top should span 23 after gathering.

12.
The waist band gets a little tricky so bear with me.  You should have two waist band pieces that are the same size and as long as your waist plus a little extra for seam allowance.  Lay one of them out and mark the very middle of it with a fabric marker or fabric chalk (if you don't have either of these just stick a pin there).  From the middle mark mark out 11.5 inches on each side.  This is so we know where the apron is going to sit on the waistband.


13.
Take the waist band piece you didn't mark on at this time and interface it on the wrong side of the fabric.  I used fusible interfacing so I just ironed it on but if you didn't use fusible you'll need to baste stitch it on close to the edge on the wrong side.

14.
Now lay out the piece you marked with the right side up.  Pin the gathered apron piece on here where we marked for it.  You will want the waistband facing down

The waistband is transparent in this photo so that you can see what I mean.
Go ahead and stitch the apron onto just this one piece first for security like we did with the ruffle earlier.

15.
Now stack the other waistband piece on top of this and match it up with the bottom one.  The waistband pieces should be right sides together but with an apron in between them.
When you stitch this piece you will go ahead and stitch that entire seam and the sides but not the other part of the waist band obviously.
As always use a 1/2 seam allowance


16.
Now take the edges you didn't stitch and hem them 1/2 inch.  Mark, pin and iron them but don't stitch them yet so it should look something like this

(once again black squiggles = raw edges) 

17.
Now turn the waist band right side out and stitch together the top which you just hemmed in and your waistband should look complete!  
It should look like this right before you stitch it together

There should now be no raw edges showing after this is complete.


18.
Obviously this apron needs a way to stay on, so at this time sew on any closer on the back that you choose.  I used buttons and button holes for mine.  Hook and eyes are another option or anything that you choose really  :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the back mine I have a fake bow which is now what we will be making

Yours will come out a bit different because I was running short on fabric for mine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1.
Take your two main bow base pieces and fold each in half right sides together
Then stitch up the sides


2.
Flip the bow base pieces right side out and iron them flat.
Now if you want your bow to look exactly like mine at this point I put some stuffing in each of these pieces.  I either use the loose stuffing you can buy or the batting cotton fluff like sheets of material.
Another way to give the bow life without making it plush is to use nylon netting.  If using this method I would go ahead and sew the piece together as above and then sew nylon netting on top in the same shape before turning it right side out.
Tip thanks to auroraceleste

3.
Now stitch the these two pieces together (1/2 inch)
and iron open the seam you just stitched.

4.
Now run a gathering stitch right down the middle over that last seam you just sewed (if you don't sew it over the seam and end up on the bow it will be much more difficult to gather)  Once you do that go ahead and gather the bow as far as it will go.  We will scrunch it down a bit more later with the band piece.

5.
Now take your bow tail pieces and with right sides together fold them in half and stitch them like so


6.
Now turn them right side out and iron them flat just like the pieces above.  No, we don't stuff the tail pieces.

7.
Now sew them together with a 1/2 seam allowance and press the seam open.

8.
Now take the bow center piece and fold it in half and stitch the side and one of the ends


9.
Turn it right side out and iron it flat like the others.

10.
Now you want to take your tail pieces and line up the middle with the middle of the main bow piece but at the bottom where the tails go of course.  You can either pin this or hand stitch it to keep it in place for the next step.

11.
Now take the band we made and wrap it around the middle of both of these.  The finished edge of the band should overlap the raw edge.
Once you position the tails and bow where you want them and the middle band is where it needs to be, hand stitch it together and in place.  I go ahead and run some stitches through the back of the bow and tail piece as well just to keep them from slipping around.
The stitches should only be on the back of the bow and no one should ever know they are  :)

12.
Now hand sew this onto the back of your waistband!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pocket time
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1.  
With right sides together take your two pocket pieces and stitch them together except for the top edge as shown


2.
Then turn your pocket right side out so that the only raw edges you can see are the top unstitched ones.  Take these two edges together as one and hem them 1 inch.  Don't stitch it just to pin it and iron it in place.

3.
Now take your small piece of lace or edging and lay it on top of this raw seam to cover it up.  The ends of the lace should be tucked between this flap and the bottom so that they are invisible.  
Hopefully this dot will explain


4.
Now position the pocket where you want it on your apron and stitch it down!  Obviously the top will need to be left open :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At this point if you want to add the bow detailing on the front of your apron as I did, just follow the same bow instructions as above but before putting the pieces together stitch on the trim where you want it and add the pearls onto the band when finished.
The bow on my apron was handstitched on and the flaps where hand stithced down as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and I can't wait to see the results!


If you have any questions please feel free to ask and I would love to hear suggestions for tutorials you would like to see in the future  :)

Thanks for reading!

~ChiiChick



 

This tutorial is intended for all level of sewers including beginners