Easy, Low Sew Aprons for Kids or Adults

My daughter has just turned 7 and after much discussion, she decided she wanted a cooking birthday party for her and her friends.  So I decided to rent a local cooking school to teach the 14 girls (gasp..this is why I don’t do it at my home) to teach the girls how to make pizza from scratch (including the dough), fruit salad and how to decorate a cake. It was amazing and I would highly recommend it.

I enjoy easy sewing (I mean straight lines :)) so I thought there would be a project for the loot/goody bags I could make to go along with her idea.  For the take home gifts, I made each of the girls their own aprons using bright colored hand towels, purchased a cookbook specifically for kids and they got to take home the 7 inch cake they decorated during the party.

I purchased solid colored pink, teal blue and orange hand towels at Walmart for $7 for 6 and then some upholstery fabric for $5 a yard at a local fabric shop. I used upholstery fabric for the tie for two reasons, firstly it was wide enough that it fit around the waist so I wouldn’t have to join a number of pieces for the ties and secondly it is a stiff fabric so it is easy to use. Each homemade apron worked out to under $2 and they are adorable, absorbent and washable. 

Materials needed:

Hand towels

Accent fabric for tie and pocket

Thread in corresponding color

Iron

Pins

Method: 

Prewash all the towels to ensure they are preshrunk an the colors will not bleed before sewing them.

I decided to do two small pleats in the apron as the towels were a little wide around my daughters waist.  I measured the width of the fabric and then divided by 3 to determine where the pleats should be located and pinned the spot. I then folded the fabric from the two sides to meet at the pin and then pinned down the pleats. I did a quick sew over just the pleats to ensure they stayed in place and I removed the pins.

I cut the accent fabric into 6 inch wide strips, folded it in half lengthwise and ironed it. I then folded the fabric under on both sides (along the length) by approximately ¼ of an inch and ironed it.

 

Determine the middle of the fabric and pin, then do the same with the towel.

Open the accent fabric and place the towel in the crease of the fold. Bring the top half of the accent fabric back over the towel and pin. Ensuring you catch both sides of the accent fabric.

Sew the accent fabric along the ironed (folded under) edge. Be careful to catch the back side at the same time. I also sewed the top side as well but it is not necessary.

 For the pocket, cut a piece of fabric to the desired size and iron all four sides under. Sew a small hem on the top of the pocket fabric. Pin the pocket to the apron and sew three sides, leaving the top (already sewn side) open.

 

Clean up the loose threads and then you are done.

I think it took me maybe 5 minutes per apron; it is hard to say because I did it in batches, i.e. all the cutting, ironing, etc. at one time. 

I apologize in advance for the changing colors in the photos. I forgot to take pictures of some of the steps as I went along.