Tutorial | Everyday Apron | by Heidi Staples | Featuring Everyday Party

Today, we are ecstatic to welcome back Heidi of The Fabric Mutt.  She is sharing an adorable Everyday Party Apron tutorial with us, to celebrate the upcoming collection by Emily Isabella.  Everyday can be a celebration, and you'll need the right tools to prep the celebration cake of course.  An apron is just the key, and this one is adorable to boot.  Heidi will take the reins from here.

Everyday Party by Emily Isabella for Birch Fabrics is so completely charming. Strawberries, teapots, animals enjoying a friendly picnic -- it couldn't be more perfect for your next kitchen project!  To get you started, I have a simple, vintage inspired apron tutorial for you today.

Looking for a quick housewarming or bridal shower gift? Whip up one of these aprons along with a matching potholder. For bonus points, wrap them up in a baking twine bow along with a piece of vintage Pyrex. You'll be the hit of the party!

Materials:
(1) 12 x 22" for bodice (white fabric)
(1) 23 x 32" for skirt (green fabric)
(3) 6" x width of fabric for neck strap and sash (blue fabric)
(3) buttons for sash decoration
coordinating thread

1. Fold the bodice fabric in half (side to side) with the wrong sides together. Follow the directions in the photo above to make a diagonal cut on the side edges opposite the fold.

2. Fold the diagonal sides of the bodice under 1/4" so that the wrong sides of the fabric are touching. Fold under 1/4" one more time and sew 1/8" from the fold.

3. Use one of the three blue strips of fabric. Fold in half lengthwise and press. Unfold and then fold each of the long sides in to meet at the center, pressing again. Refold on the original fold line with the two long sides tucked in the middle. Sew 1/8" from each side.

Cut a piece of the strap long enough to fit around your neck. It should fit comfortably over your head without being too long. Mine was about 27" in length. Definitely test yours out before making the final cut!

4. Fold the top edge of the bodice under 1/4" twice just as you did with the sides of the bodice in step 2. Stick the short ends of your neck strap under the fold and sew across the strap about 1/8" from the fold. You don't have to sew all the way across the top yet -- just over those strap ends.

5. Fold the straps up toward the top of the bodice and now sew 1/8" from the fold all the way across the top of the bodice, backstitching at both ends.

6. Adjust your machine to its longest straight stitch at the highest tension setting. Sew two lines across the top long side of the skirt fabric. The first line should be 1/4" from the top of the fabric, and the second line should be 1/4" below that. Leave some thread at either end of the seam for pulling. Tug on those end strings carefully to gather the skirt along the top edge, adjusting it until the gathers are evenly spaced out and the top of the skirt is as long as the bottom edge of the apron bodice.

7. Pin or clip the bottom of the bodice and the top of the skirt together. Readjust your sewing machine to normal stitch length and thread tension. Sew a line 3/4" from the edge of the bodice and skirt. Press the seam toward the bodice and clip the corner edges of the bottom of the apron bodice so they don't stick out past the sides of the apron. Fold the sides of the skirt under 1/4" twice just as you did in steps 2 and 4, and sew 1/8" from the fold. Repeat with the bottom of the skirt hem.

8. Sew the two remaining blue strips together at the short ends to make one long 6" wide strip. Fold the short ends of the long strip under 1/4" so the wrong sides of the fabric are touching, then fold and press as you did with the neck strap in step 3. This time instead of just sewing 1/8" from each of the long sides of the strap, sew one long rectangle inside the sash by sewing 1/8" from the short folded ends too.

9. Center the blue sash on the bodice of the apron just above the skirt. Pin it in place and sew a rectangle 1/8" inside the long rectangle where the sash covers the bodice. You'll be sewing right over the existing stitching on the long sides of the sash and then sewing 1/8" from the edges of the apron on the right and left sides. Take three coordinating buttons, centering one in the middle of the sash and placing the other two on either side of the middle one. Mine are about 1 1/8" apart, but adjust yours to fit the size of your buttons. Sew them in place by hand, and you're all finished!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at hjstaples@gmail.com, visit me on Instagram @fabricmutt, or drop by my blog Fabric Mutt for a visit. Happy sewing!

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Thank you Heidi for helping us celebrate the Everyday Party Collection with this adorable apron tutorial!  We'll be making one of these for our very own baking adventures!