Wear Your Apron Low: Make an Apron You'll Love to Wear!

It's apron season! Love your apron! The best aprons are both practical for the kitchen and pretty enough to wear all night. So for Thanksgiving I've prepared you all a quick and simple apron DIY!

You can either trace an apron you already have that you like the fit of, or you can easily create your pattern directly on the backside of you fabric with a ruler, tape measure, tailor's chalk, and french curve.

With any symmetrical pattern, it is always best to draw out only half, then cut on the fold, you know it's perfectly symmetrical.

Start by standing in front of a mirror with a tape measure...

How wide do you want the bib to be?
How wide do you want the waist/body to be?
How long do you want the bib to be? (I always like to wear my aprons folded at the waist, so I added a few extra inches here)
How long do you want it to fall from the waist?

Using these measurements, draw out your apron pattern as in the above image, smoothing the corner between bib and waist to a curve with a french curve.

Fold at your center front line and cut.

Hem in all the edges around your apron.

Now for ties and pockets!

Ties can be made from twill strapping or a sturdy ribbon, if you have it, or you can make them from fabric. To make your ties, cut them to desired length + 4", and three times desired width. Iron and sew them as shown above, folded in half, with raw edges turned and sandwiched inside.

Cut pockets to desired width + 1" and desired height + 1 1/2". Fold and iron raw edges towards the inside on sides and bottom. Hem in top edge. Don't forget to sew the top edge (and only the top edge) before attaching the pocket to your apron.

Sew on ties with an X in a box!

Divide large pockets into sections to make them more useful!

Angle waist ties for a more flattering fit!

Ready for cooking!

Happy Turkey Day,

Witchy Woman: The Pattern

So, I teach this sewing class for 3rd-6th graders, and this semester it's 

ALL AMERICAN GIRL, ALL THE TIME. 

Adorable, right? 

For Halloween, we're working on witch hats for our American Girl dolls. 

But don't fret: All you need is a head circumference to make this hat in any size!

Not just for your American Girl Doll.

For your Barbie!

For your dog!

For your child!

For you!

For your school mascot!

Fortunately, American Girl doll size is also a perfect cat size, so even though Molly and I don't spend much time together any more, my witch hat fits Dinah all too perfectly...

Witchy Kitty

What You'll Need to Make the Pattern

Measuring tape

Calculator

Compass

Paper

(opening up paper grocery bags is a great source for big paper for patterns)

Pencil

Ruler

Scissors

Measure your head circumference. Now put on your high-school-math-thinking-cap. We have our circumference. We want to find the radius of that circle.

( Circumference ÷ pi ) ÷ 2 = radius

Remember that? Make sense?

Now that we have our radius, we can open our compass just that wide, and draw ourselves a perfect head-sized circle.

Add 1/2" seam allowance inside that circle

Add your desired brim width outside that circle

Add 1/4" seam allowance beyond the brim

It should look something like this:

The outer shape of the pattern is what you need to cut out of your fabric. The pencil lines represent your stitch lines. 

Note: For a larger hat you may want to divide the brim into 2 pieces to reduce fabric waste, or if your fabric isn't wide enough. If you do this, don't forget to add 1/2" seam allowance on both sides of the divide!

Now for the top. We have to make something that looks like this:

How tall do you want the point to be? My tiny hat has a 6" peak. Every point along the bottom curve is equidistant from the point, and the bottom curve is the same length as your head circumference. 

The best way to do this is to start with a point and using a ruler, measure and mark your peak height from that point a bunch of times, until you have a semblance of a curved line approximately lent enough. Measure your curved line and mark your head circumference, making sure it is perfectly symmetrical, saddling your peak point equally.

Add 1/2" seam allowance all the way around.

Cut out both pattern pieces and mark them as shown (if we're being professional, or if you want to share your pattern, or if you want to save your pattern and possibly use it again at some future occasion at which time you may have forgotten what the heck this pattern is all about).

• I always label my patterns with a title, in this case Witch Hat, so I know what the pattern pieces are for.
• Then I label which part of the pattern it is, in this case Hat and Brim, so I know which part is which.
• Then I draw an arrow indicating grain, so I know where to line up the length grain when I cut. (This is irrelevant in the case of full circles, like my brim)
• Finally I write how many pieces to cut out of what material. "Self" is the main fabric. "Inter" is fusible interfacing. 

Pattern complete!

Learn how to sew it here

Happy Halloween!