Full-Length Apron

It's done! It's not perfect, but it's done and I like that. :)

So let's get started on this LOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGG tutorial. (Maybe you better go pop some popcorn because this beauty is going to take forEVER to explain)...just warning you that you may starve or die a natural death before you finish this post, and I apologize for that.

So, first thing's first...draw a picture:
Wash, dry, and iron your fabric:
I used a gold colored pencil to draw my pattern onto my fabric (I couldn't find a white pencil, but the yellow actually worked fine.)
Make sure you have enough fabric. I traced around this apron (adding quite a bit on the sides for seam allowance and because I wanted this apron a little bigger than the one I was tracing around.)Fold the fabric in half and make sure it's symmetrical. Mine wasn't and I had to trim one of the sides down a little....
Lay out all your pieces. I had to sew some fabric together to make mine long enough (because I was using scraps left over from THIS project.) But hopefully you won't have to do that extra step...plus it's nice to not have seams showing....but oh well, I was being resourceful!Now turn the fabric upside-down and make sure you have enough around the edges to sew a nice sturdy seam. (Sorry about the blurry pic.)
Make sure you have enough all the way around, then cut off any excess.
Pin the edges and get ready to sew!
For the second stripe, you need to lay it face-down with the piece that's already on. This is so when you are done sewing the seam, the seam will be on the inside, you can lift it up and not have thread showing. (Sorry if that's confusing, but it will seem like the logical thing to do when you start sewing.)This is what it should look like after you sew on the stripe:Trim off any excess fabric that is far away from the seam, because all it will do is cause you trouble and add excess bulk that you don't need along your seam.
Now when you lay that piece down, it will be kind of curled like this:
And of course, you want it to lay flat so there won't be any bubbles when you are done. So you need to iron it flat:
And then it should look like this:
Do the same process to add the top stripe. The only difference wit the top stripe is that you need to make sure to turn the top part of the strip under so you don't have a raw edge (kind of like a hem, only at the top instead of the bottom.)
Then pin it in place, and stitch along the edge.
Now comes the tedious part: The Ties! I hate doing ties because you have to work them inside out and my fingers always hurt after from trying to pinch and tug the fabric to pull it through. But here goes....take the fabric you plan to use for your ties and fold it at the thickness you want your ties to be (adding a little extra for seam allowance.)Draw a line, and cut it out:
Then sew up the sides:
Now comes the tricky part....getting them inside-out without ripping the seam or thinking suicidal thoughts (or both). Start tucking the fabric through like you are inside-outing a really long, super-skinny sock.
You'll need something like a long stick, a wooden spoon, or in my case, a colored pencil, to help push it through:
Once you get them inside-outed, they will look like this:
So obviously you will want to iron them flat:
Okay, you made it through that alive, and you have these to show for it:
Okay, so that's not a whole lot of consolation, but think happy thoughts and move on....you aren't done inside-outing for the day. So I realized after I had them inside-out that I hadn't sewn the corners in like I should have...and obviously I wasn't going to re-inside-out them. So the alternative was this:
I pinned them, I sewed them, and I trimmed them. That was good enough for me:
Don't cry, but now you need to do the tie that goes around the neck of the apron. Measure it, cut it, tediously inside out it, and iron it flat--whoever you are giving this apron to BETTER appreciate it!Now pin the ties on the sides and on the top of your apron, and sew away! I backstitched and forward stitched about five times, just to make sure they were on securely (since those three ties are holding up the rest of your heavily layered apron.)
Next comes the pocket. I had never made a pocket before, so it's not perfect, but darn close enough! For the pocket, first you need to cut out a square about the size you want the pocket to be (leaving a little extra for...what else....seam allowance!) Then you need to iron the seams down so that you can make sure you have a straight line to follow when you sew it on:
Now before you attach it to the pocket, you need to sew the seam on the top of the pocket because obviously you don't want to sew that part after you have it pinned on, or your pocket will cease to be a pocket, because there will be no opening at the top to put stuff in. (What do you put in an apron pocket anyway? I never use my pockets....but they sure look cute!) Wait, maybe that pocket is the perfect size to keep a recipe card in....hmmm...Okay, NOW pin it to your apron (but don't pin the top part, remember, you don't want to sew it down!
Believe it or not, that's it! You are done! I know you thought this day would never come...and you aged about 10 years just sitting here reading this HUGE tutorial, but maybe now you'll go make yourself a cute new stripey apron!

If you have questions, let me know! Also, if you have a cute apron tutorial you'd like to share, or you use mine to make an apron, leave a comment with a link so I can check it out!

Happy Sewing!