With very little work you can make this smashing tea towel apron. Leave off the ruffle and you only have two lines of stitching.
(Thanks Zack for being my fabulous model and rockin' out my apron! You are a great kid and a really good sport!)
Supplies
1 tea towel (mine measured 20" X 28")
1/4 yard of coordinating fabric 44"-45" wide
4 yards of ribbon (mine was 1/2" wide)
about 21" of twill tape (width of towel plus a touch extra to turn ends under)
Before starting pre-wash fabric and tea towel
The Ruffle
With right sides together sew across each end of fabric.
Turn right side out and press.
Gather the fabric. I zig zag stitched over dental floss close to the edge, then pulled the dental floss to make my ruffle.
Sew ruffle to bottom of tea towel(right sides together). Before turning lay a piece of twill tape across the raw edge and stitch using a long stitching length. Tuck ends of twill tape under before stitching
Turn (open ruffle flat) and lightly press. This is how it will look from the back.
Edge stitch across on the front.
The Apron
Fold in top two corners of the tea towel and trim. I folded my towel in thirds to decide where to cut. If you want it wider at the top try folding them in only 1/4.
Trim off corners, turn raw edge under slightly and stitch close to the edge. Fold edge over wide enough for the ribbon to slip through, allowing enough for seam. Press. Really though, you could just fold over the corners like the above picture and sew the casings!
Stitch, making a casing for the ribbon. Feed ribbon through each casing.
The ribbon goes through each casing, crosses in the back and ties in the front.
Finished!
You might be interested in the half apron made from a tea towel, or this cute apron for kids. Don't forget the chef's hat!
Thanks for taking the time to visit me today!
I am totally going to make this apron for my future sister in law’s bridal shower! Thanks for the tutorial. I may leave off the ruffles b/c I am a sewing beginner!!
Don’t let the ruffle scare you! You could always sew ruffled eyelet trim to the bottom! See blue check apron in this post.
I love it! I am a huge apron fan. These are cute and fun and so cute! (And easy looking) And it is reminding me that I should make myself a St. Patrick’s Day apron. Maybe I need one for every holiday. So fun! Thanks!
I’m definitely making one – thank you so much for posting this tutorial!
Estou reformando a minha cozinha e quero colocar 3 aventais bem coloridos, pendurados na parede, só decorativo mesmo, mas vai ficar uma graça, tenho certeza disso!
very simple and clever, and that boy must LOVE you!
Hey I tie my APRON in the front too. You make it look so easy! i got to finish my latch hooking project before starting anything new.
I love simple & sweet projects like this! thanks
Maria
OK – this is super cute BUT are you a size 0?? I really can’t imagine a tea towel wrapping around my body quite that far – or is it just me ;p
I have some fabric and an item on my to do list to make an apron. This tutorial has inspired me to get it done!
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I am gong to have to make one of these…such a fun and easy way to make an apron!
Both Zach and you deserve a gold star. I hope my 5-year-old son will be willing to help out his mom when he’s older like that.
Great job!
Elizabeth
I love how your tutorials make things look so simple! Awesome job and Zach is a great sport! My 14 year old would’ve looked at me like I was insane and walked off mumbling about how crazy his mother is and no one understands LOL!
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Hi, I hope you don’t mind, I have added one of your tutorials to my 100+ fat quarter tutorials post, thank you for sharing
)
jo
http://jojoebi.blogspot.com/2010/02/fabric-swap-100-fat-quarter-tutorials.html
I love this tute! So fun and so simple! A great project. I added this to our “link luv roundup” today, come by for a peek! http://bit.ly/d8hv9k
What a beautiful apron! I’m in desperate need of a new one, and perhaps I’ll use this lovely tutorial. Thank you so much for sharing!
Very very cute! Just wondering on the zig zag step, did you thread your machine with dental floss? I have never heard of that but it sure would make the gathering step a lot easier. My threads always tend to break! Thank you!
Thread machine with your regular thread. Place the dental floss under the presser foot (leave a long tail) and then zig zag over the floss (http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/08/05/childs-apron-tutorial/) making sure not to catch it with the stitches. It is a great technique — I always have trouble when I just use gathering stitches, as they break.
If fabric is really heavy, fishing line works well.
[...] 06-26-2010, 12:53 PM #1 (permalink) Simple Apron Tutorial | Skip To My Lou [...]