Sweetheart Apron

  It seems like it's almost a requirement of being a sewing blogger that you sew and share an apron at some point. Thing is, I don't like most aprons. They pull on my neck and are extremely uncomfortable. I've tried before to solve that problem and didn't particularly like the results, but I tried again recently, and it worked! The pattern I developed will need some tweaks, so I'll probably sew another one up soon, but I finally have an apron that is comfortable to wear!

  It's pink, even though I really don't wear pink, because I wanted to use a fabric I wouldn't miss if it utterly failed. It turned out that this is one of those fabrics that looks considerably better made into something than in a pile. It came from a set of fabric-stuffed garbage bags that I picked up second-hand recently, as did the grey accents. The lining is made of pink sheet pieces left from making crib sheets last year. =)

  I accented the bodice with black flat piping, and the skirt with black decorative stitching when I ran out of flat piping. I almost wish I had no flat piping to begin with, because I love the scalloped stitches. I'm not sure they would have worked well in the curves of the bodice though.

  I created this pattern using my basic block, extending the vertical darts into a seam and folding out the angled side darts. I should have folded out extra though. I didn't take into consideration that the sides of the bodice would now be partially on the bias, and would stretch. I had to sew darts in, and there is still some excess fabric there. I should also have trimmed some off the side panel at the most curved point, where it meets the center panel, because there is some bubbling.

  The extra at the side edge means that the waistband slants downward where it shouldn't as well, and makes the skirt pieces bubble out a bit. This was a very good lesson in fit for me! It's amazing how many things just that little bit of extra fabric affects.

  Ready to see the special treatment in the back that makes this apron comfortable for me?

  As you can see, there is some bubbling going on in a few spots here, but all of that should be simple enough to to alter for the next version. I also want to lower the strap keeper an inch.

  I had fun making this one fully lined with all of those straps. First, I sewed the strap keeper and turned it right side out. Then I sewed it into a seam of one shoulder strap, and turned that right side out. I stuffed the whole assemblage into the second shoulder strap and sewed the strap keeper into that strap too, the turned it right side out. I did something similar with the sashes, but instead of stuffing the whole thing in there I just made sure the edges of the straps met the right spot inside the sash and kept the rest hanging out the end of the sash where it would meet the apron front while I sewed.... then turned them right side out. =) Finally, I sewed the front and front lining of the apron, basted the straps on, and lined it, leaving a small gap in one of the side seams, which I hand-stitched closed after -you guessed it- turning everything right side out. =)

  One more thing that I messed up.... the sashes. I intended to make each sash 30" long, and my accent fabric was 60" wide, so I should have just cut two width-of-fabric strips in my desired height, and cut or folded those in half. Somehow I got distracted while cutting and cut 4 strips across the fabric. That, in turn, meant that I sewed those 4 pieces together for my sashes.... which means that I have to tie a really big bow or my sashes drag on the floor! The hazards of sewing with children awake... =)

Thanks for stopping by!