Buttoned-Up Apron Look cute while you're cooking in the kitchen with this ingenious apron idea! A stylish button-up shirt gets transformed into a fashionable kitchen essential in this tutorial. Large pockets hold all your baking gear, while fun embroidery adds a personal touch. Project Needs & Notes: - One button-up shirt - 1/3 yard twill (for front of pockets) - 1/8 yard print cotton fabric (for top trim of pockets) - 2 yards print cotton fabric (for ties and inner lining of pockets) - Medium-weight cutaway stabilizer - Air-erase pen for marking Designs used in this tutorial include: M7423, Coffee Shop Cat and M7438, Coffee Shop Dog. Finished Size: Size will depend on the size of the shirt used (this example was created with a women's large size shirt), and my apron is 23 1/2" x 19 1/2" with 71" ties. Special Notes: The shirt used in this tutorial is a cotton/rayon blend. You can use 100% cotton shirts, cotton/polyester blend shirts, or flannel shirts with long or short sleeves. Using an air-erase pen or dressmaker's pencil, draw a 8
1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangle on the sturdy cotton fabric (I used twill). Leave at least 1" of excess fabric around the shape. A template, or printout of a design, is an excellent tool to help with placement. Print a template of the design from your embroidery software. If you do not have embroidery software, Wilcom's TrueSizer is a free program to use. Center the template within the embroidered area. Mark the center point and vertical and horizontal axis lines. Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together, aligning the marks on the hoop with the marks on the fabric.
Attach the hoop to the machine and load the design. Move the hoop so that the needle is directly aligned with the center point on the fabric. Embroider the design. When the design has finished, trim away the excess stabilizer on the backside of the embroidery. Cut out the shape.
Cut a piece of print cotton fabric to 8 1/2" x 2". Align the trim fabric with the top edge of the embroidered front piece, right sides together. Pin in place and sew a 1/2" seam along the top edge only. Fold the trim fabric up and press the seam with an iron. Top-stitch a 1/4" seam along the folded edge of the trim. Lay the assembled front/trim piece on top of the second print cotton fabric, right sides together. Pin in place and cut around the shape of the front/trim piece. Sew a 1/2" seam along the top and side edges only -- leave the bottom edge open for turning.
Turn the pocket right side out and press the seams. Turn the fabric of the opening at the bottom in 1/2" to the wrong side and press. Repeat these steps for a total of two pockets. Leaving the shirt buttoned, lay it flat right side facing up. Pin the front and back layers together along the front of the shirt just under where the bottom of the sleeves meet the shirt (just under the armpits). Cut through both layers of the shirt just above the pins. This will be one cut straight from one armpit to the other. Sew a 1/2" seam along the top edge only to tack the two layers together.
Align the bottom edges of the shirt together. If necessary, fold the back layer to the wrong side up and under the top layer. Pin in place and sew a 1/4" seam along the entire bottom edge of the shirt. Place the pockets along the bottom edge of the shirt with the right sides facing up. Position the pockets so they have mirror placement to one another. On this apron, the pockets are positioned 1" from the edges of the shirt. Pin in place and sew a 1/4" seam along the side and bottom edges only. Do not sew along the top edge of the pockets. Cut a piece of the second print cotton fabric to 72" x 5". Turn the short ends in 1/2" to the wrong side and press. Then, turn the long edges in 1/2" and press.
Fold the fabric together, wrong sides together, with the long folded edges aligned. Press the fold. Measure and mark the center of the ties (lengthwise) and align the mark with the buttons along the top edge of the shirt. Wrap the tie fabric around the entire top edge of the shirt and pin in place. Sew a 1/4" seam along the entire outer edges of the tie fabric. Whip up an apron for your kitchen with an old button-up shirt, a little bit of time, and gorgeous embroidery!
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