Vintage Cherry Half Apron

Back when I was a child, the half apron was all the rage. Although not as efficient as a full cobbler style apron, it did offer some protection, and the women made lovely aprons to wear while entertaining. These were also useful while cleaning, because they had extra pockets for storing wayward items! I made this apron for Pixie’s birthday. Since her birthday isn’t for another month, the tree modeled for me! (BTW I was having major setting problems with my camera. I think it’s all been fixed so asap I’ll get a second apron made with better pics!)

 

 

To get more information and photos of this project, click HERE and HERE .

Sizes:
The pattern comes in two sizes; toddlers, which fits most children 2T – 4T and children, which fits most children 5 – 10.

Materials:
Toddlers:
Main fabric: 3/4 yard
Contrasting fabric: 3/8 yard
Wide Rick Rack: 36″

Children:
Main fabric: 7/8 yard
Contrasting fabric: 1/2 yard
Wide Rick Rack: 40″

Cutting:
You will be cutting 6 pieces.
(1) skirt – main fabric
(1) pocket – main fabric
(1) wide rick rack
(1) waistband – contrasting fabric
(2) ties – contrasting fabric

Skirt:
Toddler: Cut (1) 16″ x 34″
Children: Cut (1) 20″ x 40″

Pocket:
Toddler: Cut (1) 8″ x 34″
Children: Cut (1) 9″ x 40″

Wide Rick Rack:
Toddler: Cut (1) 34″
Children: Cut (1) 40″

Waistband and Ties:
Toddler: Cut (3) 4 1/2″ x 22″
Children: Cut (3) 5 1/2″ x 25″

Directions: Directions are for toddlers and children unless otherwise stated.

Pocket:

 

 

 

1. 1) Turn under the top of the pocket ¼” toward the wrong side of the fabric. Press. Fold the “turned under” seam under another ¼” and press. This will hide the raw edges.
   
2. 2) On the right side of the fabric pin and sew the wide rick rack to the top of the pocket.
   
3. 3) Pin the wrong side of the pocket to the right side of the apron skirt lining up the raw edges of the bottoms and sides.
   
4. 4) Treating the pocket and skirt as one piece turn under the bottom of the pocket and skirt 1/2” toward the wrong side of the apron. Press. Fold the “turned under” seam under another 1/2” and press. This will hide the raw edges and create the hem.
   
5. 5) Remove pocket pins and carefully fold pocket to the wrong side of the skirt keeping the folded edge in place. (This will prevent you from sewing through the pocket while hemming the apron.) From the wrong side of the skirt pin the hem in place. Sew hem to wrong side of skirt close to the open edge.

   

6. 6) Flip pocket back to the right side and pin sides.

   

7. 7) Treating the pocket and skirt as one piece, turn under the sides of the skirt ¼” toward the wrong side of the fabric. Press. Fold the “turned under” seams under another ¼” and press. This will hide the raw edges.
8. 8) Sew the “turned under” seams close to the open edge. (Note: there will be several thicknesses of fabric on the pocket. You may need a heavy duty needle to get through the multiple layers of fabric.)
   
9. 9) On the front of the skirt divide the pocket in quarters. (Fold in half to mark middle. Then fold each half toward the middle to find quarters.) Mark the middle and quarters and draw a line using a water soluble marker from the top of the pocket to the bottom of the hem.
   
10. 10) Stitch along these 3 lines to create 4 pockets. Reinforce your stitching at the top of the pocket to make sure your pockets are securely attached to the skirt.
    

Waistband:

 

 

1. 1) With right sides together, sew waistband to ties using 5/8” seam allowance. (We will refer to middle section as the waistband.) Press seams open.
   
2. 2) Mark the center of the waistband. Then, for toddlers, make a mark 7 1/2″ on either side of the center mark. For children, make a mark 9″ on either side of the center mark. This will give you the placement of the apron skirt. There will now be 15″ on the toddler’s waistband and 18″ on the children’s waistband marked for skirt placement, which will be referred to as finished skirt width.
   
3. 3) Fold the joined waistband and tie pieces in half lengthwise with right sides together. Pin in place. Leave open the finished skirt width you just marked plus 2” more on either side. (There will be a 19″ opening on the toddler waistband and a 22″ opening on the children’s waistband.)
4. 4) You will want to create an angle on the tie ends. To do this, from each tie end place a mark on the raw edge 2 1/4” for toddlers and 2 3/4″ for children from the tie end. Draw a line from the fold edge of the tie end to the mark. Cut along these lines. You should now have two angled ends.
   
5. 5) Sew the two ties using 5/8” seam allowance. Start by sewing the angled section, pivot at the corner and sew until you reached the marked opening. Repeat for the other tie.
6. 6) Trim back seam allowance at points. Turn ties inside out and iron.
   
7. 7) Turn under one side of the open section 5/8”. Iron.
   

Attaching Skirt to waistband:
1) Using a basting setting on your sewing machine, sew 2 gathering stitches ½” and ¼” from raw edge of skirt.

2) Gather the skirt to fit between the finished skirt edge marks.

3) Pin skirt with right sides together to unturned edge of the waistband between the finished skirt edge marks and sew in place.

4) Tuck the skirt edge into the waistband and pin the turned under edge of the waistband to the skirt.

5) To sew the waistband close, hand stitch the waistband closed using a blind stitch. Make sure to sew closed the extra 2 inches left open on either side of the finished skirt edge.

Notes about patterns: We are sharing patterns we have designed and made for our own children, families and friends. Every effort is made to share information in a clear and accurate manner. We offer preemptive apologies for any mistakes that may be made. Please let us know via comments or emails if you stumble upon a mistake or if you encounter directions that leave you scratching your head! We will rectify the situation as soon as humanly possible!