How To Make A Plain Apron

Front and Back Bodice Pieces

 Take the front bodice piece and fold the pattern diagonally from the outside shoulder to the point at the waist that you want it. I try to keep my shoulder seam about 5 to 6 inches wide from the neckline.  For Olivia we keep it about 4 inches.

Fold the outside edges under as shown

Measuring Side to Side Of Waist For Skirt Width

The skirt part of the apron is a rectangle of fabric – the length you want (from the waist) and wide as your waist about 1 1/2 times (it is gathered just to go in the front.)  You can use the skirt pattern piece from your dress to help you keep lines straight but it isn’t necessary to have a pattern piece.  Just cut the rectangle using the measurements.

Skirt section of apron

Measuring Olivia’s Waist

    You make the waistband as long as you like.  If you want a tie apron then you will cut the fabric double your waist measurement.  If you want it to button then you just add about 8 inches and this will give you room to fold under and make button holes on one end and sew buttons on the other.

Marking the Waist Band

 You want to cut the waistband double the width that you want it so that when you fold it over to sew it is the right finished width.  We have found that skinny waistbands do not look as nice and so we keep ours wide – finished 2 to 3 inches.  So we cut the fabric about 5 to 6 inches wide.

Marking the width of waistband

Fabric Waistband Piece

Pieces ready to cut

 Make sure that when you pin your front bodice down to your fabric that you pin the center fold on the fold line of the material.  You can play around with the placement of the pieces to have as little waste as possible when cutting – (this picture is not normally the placement we use but for the website it shows better.) 

Lay Front Bodice on Fold

Fabric Pieces

 Here is the fabric pieces that you will use to construct the apron.

Bodice Back Seam

 First, you sew the back bodice pieces together at the center seam leaving about 3 inches at the top for getting it over your head.  We sew a hook and eye to close this.

Shoulder seams

  Sew the back bodice to the front bodice at the shoulder seams. 

Hem Outer Edges Of Bodice

Bodice Outside Hem

Fold the outside edges of the front and back bodice under 1/4 inch and then 1/2 inch and sew down for the outside hem.  Do this on both sides.  

Neck Edge Hemmed

 For the neck area we fold it under 1/4 inch and 1/4 inch again and sew down for hem around the neck. You do this all the way around. 

Neck Edge Hemmed Rightside View

Close-Up Neck Opening

Back side neck edge close-up

 Here is a picture of the bodice part of your apron finished.  The outside edges have been hemmed and the neck edges have been hemmed.

Finished Bodice

Finished Bodice Back

Fold Waist Band In Half and Sew

To prepare your waistband, you will fold it in half lengthwise (like a hotdog) and then sew the long open edge.  You can sew one end closed if you like or leave them open and sew them shut later.  I leave one end open for turning.

Fold Ends of Waistband In And Sew

Use A BroomStick to Turn Waistband

Bodice Pinned to Waistband

  Pin the bodice front to the waistband – you will need to put the bodice on the person who will wear it and pin it so that the waistband can tie or button under the arm.  You do the same thing with the back of the bodice.  It is much better to pin it while it is on the person.  This way you don’t have the back of the bodice off center.

Pin Bodice to Waistband

Skirt Sides and Bottom Hem

Next prepare your “skirt”.  Hem sides and bottom and then gather the top to the measurement where you want your skirt to extend around your front. 

Gathering Waist

Sarah Hard At Work

Skirt Hemmed and Gathered

Underside of Waistband with Bodice and Skirt

 Here you can see how we sew the bodice to the top underside of the waistband and the “skirt” to the bottom of the waistband.  (If you are adding length to the bodice for future adjustments for a child then you can just fold that and sew it in with the bodice seam.)

Bodice and Skirt sewn to waistband

A Job Well Done!

Olivia In Her New Apron

Thanks so much Sarah! I love it!!!