Tutorial! Crayon Apron

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Jaime at Prudent Baby invited me over for a guest post yesterday, so I wrote up this Crayon Apron Tutorial.  I thought you guys might like to see it in case you didn't catch it over there (but you really need to go over to Prudent Baby, it's one of my favorite blogs).  Crayon aprons are also available in my Etsy store – stop by and take a look! 





Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1/4 yard main fabric (a fat quarter works, too)
• 1/8 yard contrast fabric (for the waistband)
• thread, scissors, and pins
• a marking pencil or pen with water soluble ink
• ruler

 

1. First, cut two rectangles from your main fabric - one that measures 20” x 6” for the body of the apron and another that measures 20” x 3.5” for the pocket.  For the waistband, cut a 4” x 40” strip of your contrasting fabric.



2. Finish one long edge of your pocket.  I usually use my serger, but you can also just zigzag it on your regular machine.  Turn the finished edge under about 1/4” and press.  Topstitch close to the folded edge.



3. Lay your finished pocket right side down on the wrong side of the main apron piece, matching up the long unfinished edges.  Serge (or stitch a 1/4” seam) the bottom edges together, open the pieces up, and press the whole thing flat.  Flip the pocket piece to the right side of the main apron piece and press again, enclosing the bottom seam.



4. Serge or stitch the short sides of the main apron piece, joining the pocket and main piece together.  Turn both short edges under 3/8” or so to the back side of the apron and topstitch close to the folded edge.



5. Now for the fun part – the little crayon pockets!  Starting in the middle and working your way out to both sides, use your ruler to make little marks at the top of the pocket every 3/4”.  If you’re worried about stitching straight lines, you can also mark the bottom of the pocket (and even draw in the whole stitching line if you’d like).



6. Moving top to bottom, stitch straight down the pocket through both the pocket and main piece of fabric, making 24 individual pockets (you’ll have a little space left at each end).  Don’t forget to backstitch a few stitches at the top and bottom of each line of stitching to keep the pockets nice and secure.  I usually don’t bother snipping the threads until the very end – it’s faster that way and easier to just lift the needle and move to the next line.



7. After trimming all those little threads, gather the top edge of the apron.  I usually set my machine to the highest tension (9 on my Brother machine) and longest stitch length (5.0), but you may have to fiddle with your machine settings a little.  Run a line of stitching about 1/4” from the top unfinished edge of the apron.  It should gather up quite a bit on its own.  Pull the bobbin thread to gather the fabric tighter if you need to – the top edge should measure about 11” once it’s all gathered up.

 

8. Match up the center of the apron piece and the center of one long edge of the waistband right sides together with the raw edges even.  Stitch the apron piece onto the waistband with a 1/2” seam.




9. Now we’ll finish the ends of the waistband.  Turn under both long edges of the waistband 1/2” and press flat.  Fold the waistband in half lengthwise, right sides together, and stitch a 1/2” seam at each short end.  Clip the corners and flip right side out, so the waistband is folded in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and the pressed-under edges are sandwiched inside.



10. Match up the long folded edges of the waistband and pin together, aligning the folded edge with the row of stitching on the apron piece.  Stitch 1/4” away from the long edge of the waistband to join the two layers.  Iron the waistband flat.

 

Now load that crayon apron up with a fresh box of Crayolas and put it on your favorite kiddo!

Please use this tutorial to make adorable little aprons for your own kiddos or as gifts, not to sell.  Thanks!