Sew Can Do: Apron

Now that it's getting sunny & warm and green things are growing, it's time to get back into the garden. And what better way to get motivated than with a fun little Gardener's Apron to wear!

This gardening apron has two rows of multi-sized pockets, so you can easily tote items of all sizes like hand tools, stakes and seed packets. A simple sash tie means it's nice and adjustable too. It also works great as an apron for crafting & baking and can be flipped to the flat, reverse side as well. Lots of options for whatever you're working on.

Make it in about an hour to wear out in garden the very same day!

Materials:

- Cotton fabric (1/2yd for body & sash, 1/2yd or FQ for each of the pocket layers)

- Double fold bias tape

- Sewing Notions (shears/rotary cutter, pins, marking pen/chalk, iron)

The cute prints I used are from the new How Does Your Garden Grow? collection by Timeless Treasures. I'm seriously in love with this collection's bright colors and fun mini prints. Perfect for a gardening themed project!

Assembly

Start by cutting the following pieces:

Apron body - two rectangles 17 inches wide by 10 inches high

Tall pocket - one rectangle 17 inches wide by 16 inches high

Front pocket - one rectangle 17 inches wide by 11 inches high

Sash - one strip 17 inches wide by 5 inches high and two strips 22 inches wide by 5 inches high

Fold both pocket pieces in half, height-wise (wrong sides facing) and press.

Stack layers so apron body pieces are on the bottom (wrong sides facing inward), tall pocket in middle and then shorter pocket on top, with bottom corners all lined up. Use a bowl or small plate to trace & round off corners.

Keeping pocket pieces together, mark lines along the front with disappearing marker or tailor's chalk as shown and stitch down the two outer lines along the shorter pocket.

Lay pocket pieces on top of body pieces, pin together and stitch along middle line from top of tall pocket to bottom. Now there are two rows of pockets with different sizes.

Baste along sides and bottom to keep the layers even and then encased in bias tape and stitch tape into place.

Take sash pieces and fold in half height-wise and press along fold to make a nice top crease.

Open and stitch each short end of the middle piece to a short end of the longer pieces.

Fold in half, right sides facing, and stitch edges together for the just longer pieces. Stitch the short sides on the diagonal with a ½ inch seam allowance.

Leave the middle portion of the sash open. Trim raw edges.

Turn right side out and press all around, pressing raw edges inward on the middle portion.

Insert apron body into opening of sash. Using a directional print like this sprout one makes it very easy to line this up evenly. Pin into place.

Carefully top stitch 1/8 inch away from the opening, removing pins and sewing slowly so the body stays in place and doesn't shift.

Now the apron is ready to wear and fill with gardening goodies.

I received the fabrics pictured from Timeless Treasures to use as I desired, with no financial compensation. The opinions are completely my own based on my experiences.

I've got double the goodies for you today - a brand new tutorial and a fabric giveaway to go with it. Check out these adorable Baking Bunnies prints & matching solids from Timeless Treasures. They have such fabulous spring colors and designs. And just in time for Easter with those cute bunnies!

I'm going to show how to make them into my retro-style, double look, Two Sweet Reversible Apron AND give you a chance to win all these fabrics for yourself!!

Let's start with how to make the Two Sweet Reversible Apron and then onto the giveaway!

You'll Need:
- 1 yd Timeless Treasures Cooking Utensils White
- 1/2 yd Timeless Treasures Soho Solid Breeze
- 1/4 yd each of Timeless Treasures Baking Bunnies Yellow, Baking Bunnies Cupcakes
- 1/4 yd each of Timeless Treasures Soho Solids Canary and Ice
- Sewing notions (yardstick, rotary cutter/shears, pins, iron)

Cut the following strips:
From the Breeze cut (2 sash) 4 inch high by 44 inch wide, (2 waistband) 4 inch high by 22 inch wide and (1 neckband) 3 inch high by 21 inch wide pieces.

From the Canary cut (1) 3 inch high by 44 inch wide
From the Cupcake cut (1) 6 inch high by 44 inch wide
From the Ice cut (1) 3 inch high by 44 inch wide
From the Utensils cut (1) 5 inch high by 44 inch wide
From the Baking Bunnies cut (1) 7 inch high by 44 inch wide

Cut the following main pieces:
From Cooking Utensils, cut (1) 19 inch high by 44 inch wide rectangle and (2) rectangles 12 inches high by 11 inches wide for the top portions. For the top pieces, round off the top corners and sides using a plate or bowl.

Stitch together all the strips lengthwise with a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Add the waistband strip at the top and then the top portion above that. Press down the seams.

Fold in half and use a yardstick to create the angle sides (basically make the bottom edge 5 inches wider than the waistband) and cut.

Fold the neckband strip (the 3 inch by inch piece) in half lengthwise, with right sides facing, and sew together one short end and along the length and turn right side out. Press & topstitch, then pin and baste along top of apron like this, with about 5 inches between the ends:

Make the other side of the apron with a 22 inch wide strip of Breeze, the remaining top and the 19 inch by 44 inch rectangle of Cooking Utensils and stitch & trim together as done previously:

Now take the sash pieces and stitch together around the length sides and one short end, but make the short end diagonal to create a point. Trim, turn, press and topstitch:

Line up the raw ends of the sash pieces with the raw ends of the waistband on one of the aprons and baste to hold:

Now at the top of the waistband, the seam allowance was pressed down like this:

Carefully clip into it at the corners where the meets the apron top and then flip them up like this. Do the same on the other apron. This creates a seam allowance to sew the two sides together and to avoid catching the sash ties in it while being sewn together.

Pin the two apron sides together (right sides facing) all the way around. Make sure the sash ties are tucked inside so they won't get caught while sewing around the edges. Stitch together, leaving a 2 inch gap at the bottom for turning. Trim around seam allowance, clipping curves and corners and turn right side out. Press, topstitch to close gap and give a nice finish.

I made my top portion a little too wide & curvy, so I folded the edges inward on one side and stitched them down and sewed some mini pom pom trim over the seams. I actually like this look even better and it adds a little more interest to that side.