Art teacher Denise Warf surprised me recently when she showed up at that Andy Warhol's Flowers workshop in her finished apron! I love the Dia de los Muertos fabric she picked out, it has mini-Frida heads on it! Of course I demanded we get a twinsies apron pic together. Because I'm 12. You look adorbs, Denise!
Hello, y'all! I'm excited to share with you the fruits of our Apron-Sew Alongin' labor. Not too long ago, I threw the idea of a sew along out there to Facebookland and I was thrilled when many of your responded. And I'm even more thrilled (does that make me thrill-ier?) that y'all were able to follow my crazy directions and goofball vid clips (you can visit here for Part 1 and here for Part 2 for those sew along directions) to create your own masterpiece. Or is it an Apron-piece? Whatever you call it, it's simply Apron-tastic.
Now, for those of you that are still game but have fallen a pinch behind, no worries! You just keep on emailing me those super cute aprons (you can chat me up at cassieart75@gmail.com) and I'll keep sharing 'em here. In the meantime, I am currently dreaming up our next sew along, if you're game. I'll be sharing that idea with ya's soon.
So, without further jibber-jabber, check out these lovely ladies in their awesome aprons, why dontcha?!
Daw, look at how cute Nic Hahn is, would ya? She's the super amazing art teacher behind one of your fave blogs, Mini Matisse. If you've never met Nic, lemme tell ya, she's one of the sweetest ladies around. And super cute in that apron, riiiight? She went with an Amy Butler pattern for her apron and wisely only used fabric currently in her stash (if only I had that kind of self-control). You can read all about her stitchin' experience here. Thanks for joining the fun, Nic!
Can you believe this apron that art teacher Kerry Bevers made?! She scored that bargain ant fabric and stitched up this apron for her first grader's insect unit. I know the kids were just ant-sy over it (bwahah, sorry. I just had to).
The pocket detail is my fave. Kerry said the reverse side of her apron is heart-themed in honor of the artist Jim Dine. I love that her apron ties in with her themes! Thanks for sharing your ant-astic apron, Kerry!
Wait a Monet...er, minute. Is this lovely lady covered in Monet paintings? Your eyes do not deceive you, y'all.
Art teacher Christy Rasmussen is just a walking Monet-masterpiece, doncha think? I love that her apron is reversible so she can showcase all several of Monet's paintings. I know her students will remember this artist and their awesome art teacher who wore his paintings on an apron. Way to go, Christy!
If this beautiful lady looks relaxed to you, that's because newly retired art teacher! Which you'd never guess because my friend Ginny Guiffre only looks like she's 33. I love so many things about this picture: that lemon-y fabric, that gathered apron, that mirror (which has nothing to do with the apron but still, I loves it!). Thank you, Ginny, for sharing your lemon-y fresh adorable self!
I'm so glad I can call Leslyn Rushing, who is also the Kentucky Elementary Art Educator of the Year (way to go, Leslyn!), my friend as she is simply amazing. And this super adorbs apron (I am in love with that rainbow-ribbon-tie-thangie!) is just the tip of her awesome-ness iceberg. Last year she took a thrifted wedding dress and transformed it into this fantabulous peacock gown. A gown, I tell you! Thanks for stitching with us, Leslyn!
What was that? Did I just hear a collective "awwwwwww"? I know, right? I know, I too am smitten with this reversible artsy fabric apron. Meet art teacher outta Long Island, Kelly Ryan. After wearing her apron in art class, she wrote me the following: I wore my apron this week when I had the 4th grade because we are painting, and the one class especially FLIPPED OUT over it! They thought it was just pretty cool in general, and then when I said I made it, they absolutely could not believe it! They talked about it the entire period. I’m from Long Island, and I would say the thought to sew things ourselves is pretty much dead here, as far as I can tell. The only fabric store I know of is JoAnns, and it’s kind of gross in there. So to think that people can actually sew clothes is probably a very foreign concept to the kids. The teachers all really love it too! I can’t wait to make something else! Such a great story and what an impact Kelly made with her apron. I'm so glad you sewed along with us, Kelly!
So if I saw art teacher Jenny Knappenberger's apron for sale in a boutique, I'd totally throw my credit card down. I mean, how cute is that apron?! And I most def wouldn't wear it in the art room for fear that some crazed kiddo would get their grubby mitts on it (today's convo: Kindergartener, while tapping my arm, "Hey! I have paint on me!" Me, looking down at the painted taps on my arm, "Great! Now I do too"). That tiered skirt portion is amazzzzzzinggggg.
And woulda look at that! A Warhol-tastic apron. So bloomin' clever, Jenny! Thank you so much for sharing. By the way, Jenny has a super amazing blog that you gotta check out! Go here.
Leah Keller's apron is so stinkin' adrobs, y'all. From the pom-pom'ed bottom and the flowery accent to the two pockets and the scrunchie neck strap, it's just top-to-bottom, front-to-back super cuteness!
I really loved how she played with pattern, one of my fave things to do when I'm stitching. Her fabric choices are so happy -- and I love that one side of the apron is so different than the other. Way to go, Leah!
Meet my amazing art teacher friend, Hilda Thomas. I absolutely love that she used denim because it's the perfect fabric for an art room apron. It's super thick so no paint/ink/clay/whateverness can soak through and totes durable. But my fave part is that tie-dyed fabric. I love that she used it again for the waist tie. Doncha love Hilda's "I Am Art Teacher, Hear Me Roar" stance? She's the bomb squad, y'all.
Lucy Zucaro's apron has my retro-loving/sailor-themed heart. All the sweet details she added to her apron are so sweet. I'm a huge fan of rickrack and I love that she used it at the top, middle and bottom bringing the cute thing together. And the buttons at the top! I die! Congrats on your retro-tastic apron, Lucy!
Art teacher Amber Dow's apron is so rosy and romantic. I feel like it would be just the perfect thing to wear when making a cuppa tea and biscuits, doncha think? I'm a sucker for florals so I adore this super sweet apron.
Judy Harney's reversible apron showcases her interest in photography. That camera fabric has been in my virtual shopping cart many a time, I just love it so! And that mod face fabric on the reverse side pocket is just so awesome. I like how she used that band of fabric at the top of the pocket to bring both aprons together.
I know y'all know Phyl who blogs at the always amazing There's a Dragon in My Art Room (one of my go-to/omg, I-need-a-lesson-stat! blogs) but you might not know Violetta. She's the lovely mannequin that Phyl created (yes, she MADE that mannequin! She wrote a blog post all about it here). I love the fabric Phyl picked out for her apron, it's so stinkin' fun.
I mean, look! Yoga frogs! Her apron is just as fun as she is. You can read all about Phyl's apron stitching adventures here.
I love Laura's apron...but I might be a lil biased. I have a thang for Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The book is hilarious and the colors in the pattern are so cool and retro. Which is why I love that she created a half apron and that it's gathered. I do love me a gathered apron. Way to go, Laura!
Art teacher Amanda Kaiser's apron is covered in paint! Well, paint trays, anyway. This fabric is one of my fave art teacher-y fabrics and I'm so glad Amanda used it for her apron. What I really like is that she added a green trim and matching pocket. Her apron is so flattering. I know her students must love it!
Leah Klimet wrote, "My apron is done! After a little disagreement between me and a bobbin (which I won after a long battle), I am finally done!" And looking super cute, I might add. I love that color palette of gray, yellow and green, it's one of my faves. I'm so glad she was able to show that bobbin who's boss. I wonder if she could talk to my husband...
If y'all don't know this hilarious art teacher then allow me introduce ya. This is Lisa Beynon, super stitcher, blogger and art teacher. If she looks a pinch familiar, you might recognize her from this post or from her always fun blog.
Lisa is some kind of awesome. She's a big thrift shopper who transforms frumpy dresses into fabulous fashion. AND she's hilarious. So there's that. Thank you so much for keepin' us in stitches, Lisa. Like, literally!
Deborah FitzGerald should win the prize for Most Art Teacher-y Apron. Or maybe Most Upcycled Art Teacher-y Apron. I love how she transformed a pair of overalls into something splatter-tasticy super (can I say "super" any more in the post? What can I say, I am in love with all of these super stitchin' aprons!). I gotta get my mitts on some of that spluttery fabric, I just love it. Looks awesome, Deborah!
Speaking of prizes, if I were given' 'em out, Lisa Anderson would win Most Stitched Aprons as she's sewn up four now (maybe even more at this point). Each and everyone is so adorable that I feel like I need all of 'em in my closet. I mean, a heart-shaped bodice?! I. Die.
And angled pockets with lacy detail?! Be still my heart.
But this one just might be my fave...or, wait...
Doggone, Lisa! You are amazing, I love 'em all!
Rebekah Cohen's apron features some of my fave fabric (that may be sitting in my sewing room as I type just waiting to be stitched up). My fave part about this apron is that pop of blue. It's so perfect with the rest of the colors in the apron.
Here's Rebekah's daughter modeling the reverse side of the apron. I love how she used the blue again as the background and added those sweet fabrics for the pocket and the boarder. Her daughter looks adorbs!
Like our super stitcher, Lisa, Julie Fouts made more than one apron, she made two and a matching one for her mini-me. Two things: 1. Isn't that little girl precious?! 2. Could she be more excited about her apron?! That face is priceless!
Here's the reverse of Julie's apron. I am loving those rounded chevron pockets, girl!
Julie's third apron was one made from fabric from Ghana. Um, like, that's cool! I love African print fabric (I've got just a pinch in my stash) and I'm so glad to see this bold and unique apron. It's so fun, thanks for sharing, Julie!
So I pretty much squealed out loud when I saw Emily Gau's apron. I mean, it's got all of my fave things: polka dots upon polka dots (yes!) and a red/turquoise combo. Which is pretty much perfection in my book. So glad you joined the fun, Emily!
And here's the reverse side of our aprons seen in the first photo. Can you tell by the look on my face that I was a pinch pleased that Denise wore her apron? Gah, crazy much? By the way, don't you love that sweet bird fabric on Denise's apron? So cute and goes so well with the Frida fabric on the reverse.
And there you have it, friends! Thank you so much for sewing along with me, I had a blast! Remember, you can keep emailing me your aprons as you finish 'em. AND stay tuned for our next sew along...I think you'll really like it. Chat soon!
As I type up this here blog post, I've got my feets up, my hair down and my Brand New Reversible Apron with Ginormous Pockets on. Yay, it's finished! As I was finishing up my apron this past weekend, I was suspiciously surprised by how smoothly everything was going. I mean, my seam ripper was actually collecting dust! I remember looking at it, flipping my hair and thinking, "Humph! I don't need that old thing anymore, I'm BEYOND mistakes," which, of course, was like The Kiss of Sewing Death. As you'll find out in the following clips, it didn't take me but a hot minute to make a big-fat-hairy omg, my apron is practically hanging down to my ankles mistake. But don't you worry, I'll fill you in on the oops-deets so the same won't happen to you.
In this here post, I'll share with ya how to do the following:
* Make your neck strap (which, for some reason, in the vid clip I refer to it as a "necktie". Der.)
* Make your tie ends
* Assemble the neck strap and ties ends to the apron
* Finish off the apron and call it a day!
I'd also like to invite you to share your completed aprons on this here blog!
I mean, you've already been sharing 'em on the Apron Sew-Along Facebook page (which totes makes my day when I see 'em) so why not show 'em off here? I'd love to put 'em all together in one big ole apron-tastic blog post. I know several of you made children's aprons and/or went a totally different apron-sewing route. I think it'd be a blast to see 'em all! To make that happen, I do hafta set a deadline. If you haven't started yet, no worries! You still have plenty of time. Just to give you a deadline, please email me (cassieart75@gmail.com) or share on the Apron Sew-Along page a snapshot of you in your apron by Sunday, September 7th. I'd love a brief description on your fabric choices and where you plan to wear your apron.
But before we can do that, we gotta finish this thing! So, without further ado, let's get to work!
Neck strap and tie ends. Because I like to have a bow in the front of my apron, I decided to make my tie ends 4" X 30". You could adjust that length, of course. You might wanna cut out a couple different lengths with your wrapping paper, pin them to your apron and see how that length suits you before cutting into your fabric.
If you plan to tie your apron in the back, you could use the same pattern piece for your neck strap and tie ends, thus cutting three pieces of fabric from one pattern.
To stitch, pin those right sides together. As I mentioned, I like the ends of my pins to face my sewing needle. I don't wanna chance running over a ball with my sewing machine. No one likes squished balls.
For the neck strap, simply stitch the long edge, flip inside out and iron. I have a tool for flipping fabric but you could just as easily use a safety pin or maybe a pencil. Youtube can help you out with tips and tricks on that.
For the tie ends, you'll not only sew the long end but also one short end. To do that, stitch the length of the long end, stop about 1/2" away from the end, lift the presser foot, rotate the fabric, lower the presser foot and stitch the short end. If that run-on sentence has left you confused, see the gif below.
Make more sense?
To put the apron together, you'll need to pin your neck strap and tie ends on the right side of the apron (it doesn't matter which side). Now, my mistake was pinning everything in and stitching before I tried it on and checked the fit. Go ahead and pin your neck strap on and try the apron on so you can see if adjustments need to be made. Once you've got the fit where you want it, pin the neck strap 5/8" (or whatever your seam allowance is...mine is always 5/8") from the left and right ends (as seen below). For the tie ends, pin them 5/8" from the curve of the apron.
You'll want to pin the tie ends to the apron body just to keep them out of the way as you stitch. Now, lay the other half of your apron on top of this with right sides together. Pin the top, curved side and sides. Stitch everything except the bottom.
Here I've got my right sides together and I'm ready to stitch everything except the bottom edge.
"I lay mah hands on ya apron and you'll be healed!" (said in my sad attempt to impersonate an evangelist. And that apron needed some healin' as you'll find out in that thar clip.
Here I'll talk making adjustments to my mistake and finishing the thing off.
Because my apron straps were too long, I went about fixing it by seam ripping out just the top of the apron, pulling those straps up, repinning and stitching again.
I snipped off the excess before flipping it right side out.
I finished off the bottom of the apron the same way I did the bottom of the pocket from the last apron post. I simply tucked the bottom inside, ironed and stitched.
And, there you have it! There are definitely some things I might do differently on my next apron. I think I'd like the length longer and the pockets less tight. But I'm happy with the outcome and the kids have loved the print. I've been wearing it all week and feel kinda naked without it on when I'm in the art room!
