Sew a half apron tutorial
A half apron is the perfect piece of garb for when your clothes need that bit of extra protection or if you need that extra bit of storage. Whether you are baking some bread or running around the house picking up the toys, this apron will help you. So try out this tutorial, and pretty soon, you will have your very own homemade apron.
Choosing your fabric
I choose a cream coarse linen fabric. The threads in the fabric give a bit of texture, which balances nicely with the cream colour. Bit any type of medium to heavyweight fabric will be a good pick. Since the apron folds over on itself to create the pockets, it might be best to choose a fabric that looks good on both sides. But if you have your heart set on a specific fabric, then please don’t let me hold you back. You can either use a double layer and stitch the wrong sides together. Or you can cut out a piece of 42 cm by 64 cm and a piece of 22 cm by 64 cm. Then sew together to create the same pocket style apron.
Choosing your fabric
I choose a cream coarse linen fabric. The threads in the fabric give a bit of texture, which balances nicely with the cream colour. Bit any type of medium to heavyweight fabric will be a good pick. Since the apron folds over on itself to create the pockets, it might be best to choose a fabric that looks good on both sides. But if you have your heart set on a specific fabric, then please don’t let me hold you back. You can either use a double layer and stitch the wrong sides together. Or you can cut out a piece of 42 by 64 cm and a piece of 22 by 64 cm. Then sew together to create the same pocket style apron.
Cutting out the fabric for your half apron is not difficult, it is a simple square of 64 by 64 cm. That will give an apron that will fit a size S to L, if you want it a bit bigger you might want to add 5 to 10 cm. For the waistband, you simply cut out a long strip, or 2 shorter strips depending on the length of available fabric. If you cut a single strip of fabric, you will want to have it 5 by 130 cm. If you don’t have a piece of fabric that long, you can use 2 strips of 5 by 64 cm, and sew the short sides together to create one long strip.
Super straight cuts on linen
If you choose to also use a linen fabric for your apron, then you can achieve straight grain cuts with just a seam ripper and some patience. It’s called drawing the thread and can be a bit tedious, but personally, I find it much more enjoyable while listening to a podcast or watching a show.
I do recommend doing it while you have access to either some bright sunlight or a good bright lamp.
Simply measure where the cut should be and pry out a single thread. You can do this by using the pointy end of the seam ripper and lifting it up, the first bit is the hardest. You want to lift that same thread up along the fabric until you have enough to pull a bit on that thread. Once you can pull on the thread it gets much easier to lift the thread up and free it from the rest of the fabric. You continue with this until you get to the end you want to cut. Then you can simply follow the empty space between the threads with your scissors while you’re cutting. This will result in a true straight grain cut, which will prevent any warping of the fabric while wearing it.
Pin and sew your main piece
I used the selvedge edge of my fabric as the top of my pocket piece, so I didn’t have to hem that area. But if the edge of your pockets is a raw edge, then I recommend folding it twice over to hide that raw edge and sewing that hem. Now that that’s done, we can fold our square main piece of fabric. We fold over 1/3 of it so that our pockets will be 20 cm deep, and there will be an additional 20 cm of apron above your pockets. (I estimated roughly 2 cm on each side for the hem and waistband.)
Fold the rough edges to the inside of the side seams and pin them together. If you have some matching pretty ribbon, then using that to cover the raw edges might be a fun twist.
When you’re happy with your seams then it is time to sew them together. I used a simple straight stitch, but you can also use a strong decorative stitch if you want to add some extra detail. Once the sides are sewn together, you will want to divide the big pocket flap up into different compartments. First pin where you want to sew, to keep the fabric from shifting. Then simply sew a straight stitch from the bottom to the top of the pocket flap.
I made 3 compartments, one small pocket for my notebook, and then 2 others that are bigger for holding misplaced toys/items or harvested veggies.
My pockets measured 15 cm, 25 cm and 23 cm wide from left to right. I choose to have the biggest pocket in the middle because that is where you automatically store the most items.
Attaching the waistband
After having finished the main piece of your half apron, you will want to attach a waistband to it. This is the last little step, and it’s really simple and easy to do.
If you’re using two strips of fabric and you haven’t sewn them together on their short sides to create one long strip, then do so now. If you have cut one long strip, then you can skip that.
On both sides of the long sides of your strip, you will want to fold over about 1 cm(1/3 inch) of your fabric to the inside. Then fold the entire strip double so that the raw edges will be hidden on the inside. I recommend ironing your fabric while you fold it, it will give a cleaner finish, and the folds will keep their shape better. But if you don’t want to iron, I would fold the fabric directly onto the top of the apron. Because that way, you can fold and immediately pin the fabric into place.
For the ends of your waistband, you will want to fold the outside short raw edge inside and then fold it double. This will result in all the raw edges being on the inside.
Once you’ve pinned the waistband onto the main piece, you can sew them together. Take care while sewing the ends of the waistband together because there are multiple layers of fabric, it can be tricky for your machine.
Yeah, you made your apron!
Now that you’ve finished your half apron, I hope it will bring you plenty of joy for years to come. Maybe you even want to continue with another project like maybe you want to sew you own bandana or a knitting bag.
Although I’ve been sewing for over 20 years, I have never explained it in writing before. So if there is anything at all that is unclear, please let me know, and I will do my best to answer you and explain it more clearly.
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