Created by: Maker, Duy Truong
Hi everyone, Duy here, aka CafeDeDuy!
Today we’ll be focusing on using leftover fabrics and ribbons, and turning them into a reversible apron – except with a holiday twist!
As with all of us, I sew a lot, and with that comes the unfortunate curse of “I can’t throw all of these fabrics out, but they’re not enough to make something!” Well you can now, with the mindset of patch working, we can make an apron decorated with presents and the opposite side can be minimalist.
WHAT YOU NEED:
Janome Heavy Duty Machine – this might seem too much at first, but this is highly recommended the moment all of those layers start adding up.
A bunch of fabrics and old ribbons.
PART ONE:
Gather your materials and design in your head. For me, I want to keep this an easy project, especially one I can wing with my eyes without using too much math.
Luckily for us, every single shape for this design is a series of rectangles.
For the apron body, I used my hips (+1 inch) x desired length (+1 inch). The pockets can vary whatever sizes you like. I had three pockets on each side, all the same sizes. For the apron sash, at least your waist size + 10 inches.
It is best to start with the minimal side first as it is less work than the Holidays side.
HOLIDAY EDITION: With your other scraps, cut out squares of different sizes. These squares will be sewn on top of the lower rectangle.
After you finish cutting out your pockets, lay out your pockets, and figure out where you’d like them to be.
PART TWO:
With your Janome Heavy Duty machine, hem every pocket piece you had cut out. You don’t have to hem the actual apron body or any pocket edge that aligns with the body edge.
After hemming your pockets, we are going to top stitch them on.
HOLIDAY EDITION:
For the present boxes, grab some old ribbons, and top stitch them on. I find that it is much easier to sew them on before you hem the present boxes, but you can still do it afterwards.
For the present bows, I made individual loops, layered them on, and sew them right on top wherever I’d like them to be.
After you’re done working on each present box, place them onto the bigger rectangle pocket piece and top stitch it on. Remember to do this prior to sewing the actual pocket piece on the apron. You don’t want to seal your pocket shut by accident.
PART THREE:
Time to make it reversible! Face the two right sides of the fabric together, and start sewing the side edges and the bottom edge shut, then flip inside out. There is no need to seal the top edge because we will cover it with a waistband. Flip it inside out and top stitch the same edges. This is when Janome’s Heavy Duty does its part because we should have many layers already.
Because it is lined, there might be some bubble space, so feel free to quilt any area of the apron to keep the two layers together.
PART FOUR:
For the waist band, it is optional for you to make it reversible as well to match the rest of the apron. That is the direction I chose.
Cut two sides for the waist band that matches the apron body fabric. Sew one edge together, and hem the outer edges. Fold your waist band, and sew it onto your apron body as you desired. It’s the same as adding a waist band onto a skirt, only this time, it’s an apron.
And Voila! You have a double sided apron. I approached mine with one side being minimalistic, while the other side had a bit more work.
While this apron isn’t the most extreme and finest product of craftsmanship, it’s about making something for fun for the holidays while putting our old fabric scraps to use, and giving it life by making it into a useful garment for crafting!
Hopefully this will give you ideas on how to use your Janome Heavy Duty! While the materials I used were simple cotton, the layers really do add up, especially when your apron is reversible and have present boxes adding to the layers.
