Apron Top Tutorial

Welcome this week's guest designer, Bridget Baxter from Everyday Chaos. I love her eye for color and her simple tutorials. She is sharing her Apron Top Tutorial with us today.                                                                                                                                  Bridget says, "I'm a very blessed stay at home mom to six. I hoard craft supplies and have at least a year supply. I survive on cranberry juice blends and gummy bears in between the healthy junk. I hate wearing shoes and regular clothes and would live in a bedazzled sweat suit and flip flops if it were socially acceptable. I love shiny things."

Supplies:

Chevron yoke pattern (it should print 4” wide for all sizes)
3/4 yard fabric for main body front and back
1/4 yard fabric for the top yoke and straps
1 piece of 1/4” elastic
A ruler and fabric marker/pencil and basic sewing supplies.

This tutorial works best using a 1/2” seam allowance.

Cutting Measurements:

For all sizes cut 2 strips of fabric 1 1/2” x 22” for the straps and cut out 2 yoke pieces out of your 1/4 yard fabric.
Cut your elastic half the length of the largest measurement of your Body Back fabric (for a size 4/5 you would cut your elastic 11” long, etc)



For the main body front and back you’ll cut two rectangles according to the size you need below from your 3/4 yard fabric choice.

Body Front Piece cut Body Back piece cut
Size 4/5 - 16” x 22” 13” x 22”
Size 6/7 - 18” x 24” 15” x 24”
Size 8/10 - 20” x 26” 17” x 26”

How to:

1. Take your front body piece and fold it in half lengthwise. Using your ruler measure and make a mark 1 1/2” from the middle of the fold down. Cut your fabric from the mark to the top corner on the outside edge of the fabric. When you open your fabric back up it should have a slight “v” cut out of the top like so.



2. Sew a gathering stitch along the top edge of the front piece (along the “v” cut out edge). Mark the center of your “v” of the front piece with a pin. Pin one yoke piece right sides together to the body piece matching the center of the “v” to the bottom point of the yoke. Pin the bottom edge of the yoke to the top edge of the body piece and pull the threads to gather. Evenly distribute the gathers and pin some more.



3. Sew along your gathered edge. Turn right side out and press the gathered seam towards the yoke. Looking good so far! Fold one top strap piece right sides together and sew up the side seam and one end to make a tube. Do this for both straps. Turn right side out and press each flat. Pin the straps with the raw edge meeting the top edge of your yoke with the right side facing you about a 1/2” from the outside edges of the yoke.



4. Take your second yoke piece and place it right sides together with the other yoke piece, sandwiching the straps in the middle. Pin in place. Mark (or use a pin to mark) on the wrong side of the second yoke where your body piece seam is gathered underneath on each side. Sew 1/2” seam around the outside edge of your “sandwich” starting from your mark along the top edge of the yoke, make sure not to catch the loose strap bits in your stitching. Stop when you get to your mark on the opposite side.

*You do not want to sew the 2nd yoke piece to the gathered body front piece at all yet- just yoke to yoke*.



5. Turn the entire yoke right side out and press. Fold up the bottom raw edge of your inside yoke piece about 1/4” and press towards the inside. Your inside yoke piece edge should cover the gathered inside seam of your body piece.



6. Fold the outside edges of your body piece 1/4” to the inside and press. Fold the hem over again another 1/4” and pin. Make sure your side seam of the Body fabric matches the seam sewn into the yoke so the inner yoke covers it but doesn’t go over the outside edge of it. Pin the side seams about 1/3 the way down from the bottom of the yoke to the bottom of the shirt. We’ll sew that up in step 9 so just leave it for now.



7. Pin the folded edge of your yoke on the inside over the gathered seam of the body front piece. Flip your top over right side out and top stitch along the inside edge of the yoke top, making sure to catch the inside yoke underneath.



8. Grab your Body Back piece and fold the top edge over 1/4” and press. Fold over again 1/2” and press. This is your casing for the elastic. Thread your elastic through the casing and pin at each edge. You can sew your elastic down at the very outside edges if you’d like to make it easier to do the next step.

9. Pin the body back to the body front matching bottoms and side seams with the elastic edge near the top. Sew the sides from the bottom to the top of the elastic. You should have your pressed edge the rest of the way to the yoke from step 6, refold that if you need to then sew that edge. Everything should be nice and tidy but if it isn’t don’t stress, it’s the armpit section anyway. Turn under the bottom edge 1/2” and press then turn under 1/2” again and press to finish the bottom hem. Stitch.

Done!

I love adding a contrasting band of fabric to the bottom, and normally I do but this one just didn’t want it. Feel free to play with it and make it your own. Embellish away and change up the length, this is tunic length so shorten it to get a shirt type top or lengthen for a dress.