The One-Hour Apron

Ever since one of my favorite blogs linked to the pattern, I've been wanting to try the Apron in an Hour Tutorial. A few weeks ago I had two wonderful excuses, so I got to try it out!

The pattern starts with a fat quarter of fabric and half a yard of coordinating fabric. (Or you could just buy half a yard of two different fabrics you like, which is what I did.) Supposedly, within an hour you'll have a gorgeous, trendy apron fit for wearing or giving. It ended up taking me closer to two, but I made just a few changes, which I'll mention later.

Two birthdays were wonderful reasons to make aprons. Since my lovely niece is both an amazing cook and an enviable hunter (at 12, she got a deer and a bear last fall), I decided to make her a camouflage apron.


My good friend Lindsey had a birthday on the same day. She actually sent me a link to the Apron in an Hour Tutorial thinking I'd enjoy it, which was comical since I'd already seen it, and planned to make one for her birthday! Since she loves the aprons from Marie-Madeline Studio, I tried to choose some contemporary-yet-feminine fabrics for hers:


It was a great tutorial. Here's what I enjoyed and learned:

~Tricks to make the apron look professional. The way the it's constructed, all the seams are hidden. I'm a self-taught sewer, and I never knew how to do this!

~It really is a quick gift, great for bridal showers, birthdays, etc.

~The apron can be made inexpensively as well, especially if you use coupons or sales (or simply fabric from your stash). At the risk of being tacky (since I know my niece and Lindsey both read my blog), I think it's okay to say that each apron cost around four dollars to make.

~You can personalize it by embroidering the recipient's name on the front, if you're lucky enough to have an embroidery machine (or a good friend who has one).

~I would change two parts of the tutorial. First, I'd line the apron by using two layers of fabric for the bib part. If you buy half a yard of fabric instead of a fat quarter, you have enough anyway; and lining the apron will make it more functional.

I also topstitch the ties. This is mostly because aprons get dirty; they get washed; and I didn't want the ties to get messed up in the wash and the recipients to have to re-iron them! Maybe that wouldn't actually happen, but I thought it better to play it safe and topstitch. (I actually sew the last seam as I topstitch, instead of zigzagging--you'll see what I mean if you try the tutorial.)

My verdict: lots of fun. Great excuse to play around with fun fabric and make a really nice gift for someone. Check out Jona G's Flickr group to see the lovely aprons others have made using her tutorial.

Anyone else want to try it?