Friday, August 13, 2010

Utility Apron Tutorial



Love, love, love, this utility apron.
Perfect for teachers, crafters, gardeners, vendors, sewers, homemakers, children's church 
music leaders and so many more.

How do I use my utility apron?
When I'm cleaning up around the house one pocket is for little trash bits, one pocket is for things that need to go in another room, a smaller pocket on the side is for my phone and there are a couple more pockets for pens.
Perfect!

How does my sister use her apron?
She's a first grade teacher. She carries extra scissors, tape, markers, stamps, all those little things teachers always need to have on hand.

How will you use your utility apron?!!!


Let's get started!

Utility Apron Tutorial

Materials:
1/3 yard Fabric A: main part of apron
1/3 yard Fabric B: pocket
1/2 yard Fabric C: top of pocket and ties

Cutting:
From fabric A, cut
2 rectangles, 12" x 21"

From fabric B, cut;
2 smaller rectangles 6 1/2" x 21"

From fabric C, cut:
2 strips (ties) 6" x 41"
and
1 strip, 2" x 21"
Sew the Apron:
Pocket:
1. Using a 1/4" seam allowance and matching the 21"-long edges sew the fabric C strip (2" x 21") right sides together with one of the pocket rectangles (6 1/2" x 21")
Open up the pieces you just sewed and press the seam to one side.
Pin the other pocket rectangle to the other side of the 2" x 21" strip.
Sew, again using a 1/4" seam allowance.
Open and press the seam to one side.
Press on both the right and wrong sides of the fabric.
Fold your pocket section in half, wrong sides together and press.
Use a little bit of steam if you need to, to get a nice tight crease.
Top stitch 1/8" away from the seam.
Make sure to lengthen your stitch length to 3 or 4 to get a professional look on your top stitching.

Lay out one of the main apron rectangles (12" x 21") right side up.
Place your pocket on top of your main apron rectangle, right side up.
Match the raw edges at the bottom and sides.
Decide what you want to hold in your pockets and mark the stitch lines for each pocket accordingly.
Add 1/2" to each side pocket measurement for the seam allowance.
For example my pockets from left to right are
1 1/2"
7"
7"
5 1/2"
After marking your stitching lines attack your pocket and apron rectangle with pins (if you take a close look at the picture that's what it looks like I did)
Stitch over the lines you marked for the pockets.
Make sure to backstitch at the beginning and end of each line.

Apron:
Right sides together place the other apron rectangle on top of the apron rectangle with the pocket.
Pin the edges and place a few pins in the middle to keep the fabric from sliding.
Sew the sides and bottom with a 1/2" seam allowance.
Leave the top completely open for turning.
Clip the corners.
I like to angle them. This reduces the bulk so you can get a nice corner when you turn it.
Turn right side out.
Spray, with water, the lines you marked for the pockets.
Your water soluble marker will just disappear.
You want to do this before you press the apron because heat can set some water soluble markers(make the marker permanent).
Use a chopstick to poke out the corners.
Press.
Ties:
Pin the 6" side of the two tie sections together, right sides together, sew with a 1/2" seam allowance to make to create an 81" long strip.

Press the strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together.
Unfold and turn the raw edges of the strip in to the center crease and press.
On the ends of the strip, fold the corners into the center crease at a 45 degree angle and press.
Refold the entire strip on the center crease and press the entire strip.
Find and mark the center, top point of the apron.
Open up the center fold of the tie and place it over the top raw edge of the apron. Sandwiching the apron in the tie.
Match the tie's center seam with the center point of the apron.
Pin in place.
Sewing as close to the edge as possible, stitch from the open edge of the tie at one end point all the way across the apron and to the opposite end of the tie.
This will close the open edges of the tie and attach it to the apron.


You're done!
That wasn't too bad was it!
Now, go, enjoy your apron!
You'll look FANTASTIC doing whatever you're doing in your apron. and you'll feel fantastic because you know you made it!!!!

P.S. Remember, if you don't want to make your own there's a couple in the shop.

Edit: If you're interested in an updated printable pdf version of this tutorial it's available in my Etsy shop  HERE

Best wishes!


43 comments:

Cristina de Prada - milliner said...

Super tutorial for a very neatly finished, easy and beautiful apron. I was looking for an easy project to make with my 9 year old niece and this is just perfect!! Thank you!!

Lynnie said...

Your pictures and explanations are perfect, great tutorial!!

Rebecca@This Present Life said...

What a great apron! I wish I'd seen this a few weeks ago. I made my own vendor apron recently, but I totally could've used your tutorial! I love, love, love the fabrics you used! Very Cute!

Saw you at UCreate!

Michele said...

So cute! Your tutorial is top notch and I love the fabrics you chose.

Tiffany Sherman said...

Awesome apron tutorial! Thank you so much for sharing!

Andrea said...

Just made this today and it turned out cute! Thanks for the easy step by step directions!

Carol said...

Thanks everyone! I'm so glad you like the tutorial. I'd love to see everyone's completed aprons. Maybe I'll look into setting up a flikr group.

Sew Magic said...

Love this apron tutorial! I am hosting a swap and using your tute as a guide for the swapees! And guess what? They all wanted this utility apron!

Anyway Thanks for posting it on your blog!Gotta get started on my apron now. Have a great weekend!

Anita

Cynthia said...

I was interested in what type of fabric you used in this example. It looks like it might be a heavier fabric than cotton. Do you have a recommendation?? Do you think regular cotton would work and just add some lining???

Carol said...

Cynthia:
I just used cotton for the apron shown here but it is a high quality cotton and I feel like it is plenty sturdy for this purpose. I've also used twill as well as duck-cloth for the main part of the apron and then cotton for the pockets and that worked out well.
Good luck.

Desert Threads said...

Thank you so much for the tutorial. I made up 2 real quick one morning. Great hit for our guilds Christmas gift exchange.

karmyk said...

Thank you for your tutorial! I'm a registered nurse working on a very busy medical surgical floor, and I got very tired of digging through pockets in my pants and scrub top for saline flushes, alcohol swabs, pens, tape, scissors, my notes for the day, and other useful things I need during my shift. Additionally, I like to keep my phone on hand in case an emergency pops up in my family. I learned quickly that a good apron comes in handy, and I'd live to make a few so I can rotate through them each day/shift I work. :)

Maggie said...

I found this tutorial a couple of days ago and whipped one of these up last night - fantastic tutorial, thanks so much!!

Maggie said...

Oh, and I used duck for the main apron and cotton for the pockets/ties. So sturdy and functional!

AshleyH said...

This is an awesome tutorial. I am not great at sewing but this tutorial made it super easy and I was able to make two of these without problem. THANKS!

Carol said...

Love this pattern - so easy and fun. Best part is choosing 3 fabrics to use together. I've made several and plan to make more for Christmas gifts. I'll send pics soon. Thanks for a great tutorial!

Unknown said...

For all you bloggers and/or conference goers out there – I even have a bit over on SITS in the week concerning creating the foremost of a journal Conference…

Katharina Frei said...

Thank you for this fabulous tutorial. I love my utility aprons :)
You can have a look at them at my blog. Utility apron

LizzieSue said...

I just finished making a utility apron,this is the cutest apron I have seen. Your pattern instructions were so easy to follow and I didn't make a single mistake. Thank you so much!

kinderdiva said...

I don't sew. No, really, I don't. But this was soooo easy to make! Thank you for such a detailed tutorial! I love my new utility apron and can't wait to get oohs and aahs at work when I'm whipping out markers and stickers and scissors all at once! ;)

Theresa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Theresa said...

I just finished an apron for my neighbor's birthday. Thank you for the great tutorial! :)

janna said...

Nice.. may I have the tutorial email to me..? My email is jannanet@gmail.com.. tq.. :) :) :)

alasainteterre said...

Excellent tutorial! I made one in one evening! Thank you for sharing!

Aspasia B said...

I just wanted to thank you for the tutorial. I wrote a quick post about making the apron and linked to your page: http://whimsybower.blogspot.ca/2014/04/apron-strings-6.html I really love this apron :)

bakesewmakegrow said...

really great tutorial thanks so much super easy and fun to make :)

Marianne said...

You are so very kind to post this amazing tutorial. I have viewed many tuts on sewing a utility apron. Yours is hands down the most perfect and easy to follow one I have ever seen. Thank you and bless you !

Miss Sonoma said...

I'd love to make this apron, but I'm having trouble seeing some of the images that go with the tutorial. No matter what browser I use - images 5, 6, 7, 10, 18, 19, and 21 don't show up. Do you have this in a PDF?

Vicki said...

Really easy to follow and make love the detail you use to give the directions.

Lisaloo said...

Thank you so much for this - I had a request from a colleague to make an apron that our staff can use to store toys and motivators for a child with special needs that likes to escape from his daycare at any opportunity - they want him to be motivated and interested in staying with his support staff, but they asked for the pockets to close so things don't fall out when they bend over. I added velcro to the pockets and finished it in just over 2 hours! So surprised how quickly it came together - I'm going to make more of these for sure. Thanks again

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Rhonda said...

How can you sell out of a electronic tutorial???

Ben William said...

Utility Apron Tutorial is a very good guideline to make an Utility Apron
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Jenyford smith said...

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Mikesomi said...

Me too... end of yeat gift for teacher of 7 year old.

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Teacher Jen said...

I am so excited about this pattern! This is exactly what I've been envisioning in my head, and now I don't have to try to create it. I'm wondering if the pockets sag at all with use? Have you tried with interfacing? Thanks again so much for sharing this, I can't wait to make on for myself and my fellow Kinder teachers!

Carol said...

I have made one with interfacing. I felt like it was nice but not necessary for the weight of fabric I was using. If you are using light weight cotton I think it would be a good idea. 😊

Teacher Jen said...

Thanks you so much for this tutorial! I added a loop with a claw clip on the waistband to clip an ID or keys. I can’t figure out how to post a pic, but it’s super functional.

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