Finished Object - Dino Apron

As my baking has ramped up recently, and after one particular vegan chocolate cake escapade, I decided it was probably time to get myself an apron for when I'm in the kitchen. Thankfully I only got my work shirt covered in chocolate and not a me made! So time for a me-made that wants to get covered in chocolate.

I've been meaning to get on with making myself an apron, and wanted a full length one to cover my top half as well as my bottom half, so the pattern I used for the spinning skirt was out. I found a free tutorial on The Sewing Directory which you can find here. The tutorial walks you through drafting the pattern and then sewing the actual apron. I used the tutorial for drafting the pattern and loosely followed the instructions for sewing it together as I really wanted to go my own way. 

The pattern uses a small facing along the top of the apron to help insert the neck strap, and the rest is pretty simple too. I made my first apron following the instructions and I think it turned out okay.

I had two old tablecloths that used to be my mothers, which she gave me when I moved out, but which didn't fit my dining room table, so I thought they would be perfect for the job, as they were a fabric that I wasn't going to be too sad if it got covered in food and I had a couple of dinosaur fat quarters which I thought would make a brilliant contrast fabric.

Now I don't actually know what type of fabric the tablecloths were made out of, but I do know now that it is a little thick and almost impossible to get a nice crease out of when pressing. When cutting out I managed to lay out my main apron piece so that the bottom of the apron was along the already hemmed edge of the tablecloth saving me a little work.

The top strap and the pocket I cut out of the dinosaur fabric. Here I deviated a little bit from the pattern. I hadn't actually got enough fabric to create the whole upper strap in one piece, and I had been a little lazy and hadn't cut a pattern piece for it. I knew that I had a little buckle left over from when I made waistcoats for my Mam's wedding, so I thought that I would try and combine this in to the upper strap to make an adjustable one. So I created one short strap and one long strap, but which would both make up the length of the pattern strap, which were then inserted in the top of the apron as the pattern suggested.

The buckle was then sewn on the end of the short strap and the other end fed through to make the adjustable strap. The idea was all well and good, and the strap worked as an adjuster. But my fabric I think was a little too thin and the buckle didn't actually hold in place and would just slide off from around my neck when any pressure was put on it. I solved the problem by pinning the loose and of the strap to the other strap with a Simon's cat pin.

I can't say that straps were my strong point on this apron at all either. My main straps, whilst long enough to tie at the front - which is a must for me on my apron - were made of the same tablecloth and just feel a little to big a bulky for my liking. I think that is nothing to do with pattern but all to do with the fabric I was using.

I realise there is a lot of complaining about how this project wasn't perfect, but not all are. I will say that despite all of these things that aren't perfect with it, I do really enjoy wearing it in the kitchen and I do love the dinosaurs. The apron is perfectly functional, if not perfect in the way that I would have liked it to be.

With that in mind the cogs in my brain were turning and over the next couple of days I had thought up of ways that I would have done the apron differently to make it work, and I decided to have another go. I also had a good friend who wanted a dino apron too!

The next apron I made used the other tablecloth I had, so was made out of the same heavy fabric that was a little bit of a nightmare to work with. I decided that this time, only the main apron front was to be made with the tablecloth. I used a white dinosaur fabric for the neck strap and the front pocket, and used a thinner plain white cotton for the main straps (I had a good long length of this in my stash which was perfect for the job) I had also been toying with the idea of making the facing on the back a lot bigger to incorporate the side straps so they could also be sewn in easier.

Second apron with larger facing

This facing I decided to do with a scrap of light/medium weight cotton I had, to reduce the bulk in the top seam, and I think it worked really well in the end. The second apron I am a lot happier with then the first. The bigger facing allows the straps to be easily installed, and the added understitching along the facing added another strengthening seam as well as encouraged the facing to turn under. That apron will be sent off soon and I really hope it is enjoyed where it is going.