Not Just Another Apron, to Me Anyway

When last we talked, I showed you the remaining fabric from the 3.5 yards of "autumn leaves" quilting cotton fabric, which I've been using to make table top items (placemats, table runners), shown here and here.  

My plan was to make an apron. Good news: I did it!

Better news: I also used some darker blue/teal linen, part of it was repurposing some linen pants I made (ahem) some time ago and a little bit of it was from my "resource center" (AKA stash).

I decided on a chef's apron style because that is such an easy style of apron to make. Except that I would be piecing fabrics. And I've been learning that when using quilting cotton, I prefer my aprons to be two layers (yes, I am messy in the kitchen), so I decided to make it reversible. And I prefer the neckband to be one piece (not ties) that is large enough to go over my head—while I have my glasses on—but high enough in front when I'm wearing it, so I decided to insert some elastic in the one-piece neckband. Oh, and I like a pocket and a towel on each apron (so, reversible = 2 pockets and 2 towels). It wasn't so much mathy, like some sewing projects are, but it was definitely a thinking-several-steps-ahead kind of sewing project. I thought, "I'm making it, so I might as well make it just the way I want it." Isn't that one of the reasons we sew?

I was going to create a tutorial but decided against it because, really, who wants to make a chef's reversible apron with a stretchy neckband and a pocket and towel on each side? So I'll just show you a few highlights and lowlights.

Highlights:
I used almost all of the fabric. Here's what's left (and the brown fabric was not part of the original group):

I have an apron that a) fits me, b) I will use a lot, and 3) is reversible so I won't have to launder it every time I wear it (I already shared that I am messy), and d) is pretty.

I figured almost everything out enough ahead of time, so my brain cells were on high activity, part of my brain-maintenance program. Examples: I gathered the towel at the top. I pinned the towel toward the inside so it wouldn't be stitched into the side seams. I stitched both waistbands (one for each side of the apron) on at the same time to minimize the likelihood of some very crooked stitching. I positioned the pockets, which I made to fit the iPhone I will buy one of these days, and the towels for my lefthanded self.

Lowlights:
My corners are inconsistent. I know that this is just an apron, so it's okay for this project. However, I really want to improve my corners. Here's what I do: I stitch, turn the fabric 90 degrees, continue stitching. (Sometimes I stop 1 stitch short of the corner, turn the fabric 45 degrees, take 1 or 2 stitches, turn the fabric 45 degrees, and continue. I see no difference in the resulting corner.) Press the stitched fabric flat. Trim the corner (maybe not close enough?). Press the seams open, if possible. Turn, using a large knitting needle (so, blunt tip) to push out the corner. Sometimes the result is excellent and other times, it's mediocre. I want consistently excellent corners! I welcome your thoughts, links to tutorials/instructions.

See? The 2 top corners are good, the 2 bottom corners are not.

I thought I was finished, so I put it on and asked my personal photographer to take some photos. The camera does not lie. It confirmed a thought that was floating in my mind: the top front sides seem weird (click on the photo to see what I'm referring to):

reverse side of apron

I know how this happened. Because my fabric wasn't wide enough, I thought that this would work:

Um, no, actually, it created sort of flaps. No chef's apron has flaps. If I wanted flaps, I'd have kept them. But I could see how they would get in my way. So I did a bit of trimming and restitching and topstitching.

For the next one, I would reshape the pattern piece for the bodice and also make the bodice a bit shorter. I think I'll go draw a new bodice piece right now, before I forget. Because I will happily make more aprons like this one!

And now, what to do with that last piece of autumn leaves print?

It's only the print fabric I am determined to use up; the others can be incorporated into other projects. Here are my ideas:

• Make 3 dark blue/teal linen towels trimmed with the print border, similar to others I've made, shown (with a tutorial) here
• Make 9 coasters, the idea of which makes me wonder whether they'd keep dampness from the table surface, plus I don't have a use for them
• Make another table mat by cutting the strip into three sections and piecing them so that it might look (remotely) like a 9-patch quilt block

Any other ideas?

Blessings and peace...

Use Leftover Fabrics to Make Cute Linen Dish Towels

These are what I made out of some leftover fabrics. Don't you love to find a way to use up leftovers? And who can't use some new dish towels (for themselves or for gifts)? I am including in this post my tutorial for my one-measurement, low-bulk, mitered-corner hem technique. I've never seen it anywhere else; it was a puzzle I wanted to solve.

Linen Dish Towels With
Gingerbread Cookie Trim

I had about 2/3 of a yard of medium-weight brown linen leftover from this skirt (Kwik Sew 3789 blog post).

And I had these leftovers from a cotton print of gingerbread cookie baking after making three aprons some time ago.

Here's a close up of the recipe.

I happened to be moving the linen from the leftover pile to a drawer (always trying to get organized), and I serendipitously laid it next to the gingerbread fabric. Well, I thought, those are nice together. So I pressed both pieces of fabric and laid them out to see how many dish towels I could make from the linen. Three (see first photo).

Measure:

I cut the linen into three rectangles, approximately 17 in. wide x 24 in. long.

I cut the print cotton into 6 pieces: three pieces at 17 in. wide x 6 in. long, with the "recipe" more or less in the center, and three pieces at 17 in. wide x 3 in. long.

Mark and Press:

Notes: In "home dec" sewing, most seam allowances are 1/2 inch. All folds in this tutorial are 1/2 in.

I mark, using a soap sliver, 1 in. from the long edge (width) on the wrong side of the print fabric.

Then I fold the fabric up to the marked line and press. Repeat for all long edges (widths) of the print fabric.

Place and Pin:

Place the print fabrics right side up onto the right side of the linen pieces. In placing it, be sure to allow for bottom and top hems. Pin into place along the folded edges of the print fabric.

I placed the bottom of the larger piece of print fabric 4 in. from the bottom edge of the linen, knowing that after hemming, it would be 3 in. from the bottom. The placement is purely a personal decision.

I repeated with the narrower pieces, placing them 6 in. from the top edge of the linen, again, a personal decision.

Stitch:

From the right side, stitch the print fabric to the linen, close to the edges, leaving the ends open (they will be enclosed in the hem later). Repeat with all pieces.

(I think the center towel has been folded under at the bottom. As you can see from the finished towels [first photo], the print fabrics are all placed at about the same place.) 

Trim Edges:

Trim any edges as needed. I wasn't precise when cutting the width of the print fabrics, knowing I could trim any excess at this point.)

 

Hem:

As promised, here is my tutorial for my one-measurement, low-bulk, mitered-corner hem technique. {{Feel free to grab a piece of graph paper (or plain paper on which you have drawn a 1-in. grid), so that you can follow along with paper.}} First, the one-measurement, fold, and press step.

1. Using a soap sliver and a ruler (or your preferred marking tool), measure 1 in. from all 4 edges of each towel on the wrong side of the fabric.

2. Fold the fabric up to the marked line and press. This will result in a 1/2 in. fold. Repeat for all 4 sides of each towel. The order (short sides first, work around clockwise) doesn't matter.

The steam pressing has removed
the marking; no problem.

3. Fold the fabric again, this time, where the fabric is now doubled, and press.

Next is the low-bulk, mitered-corner step.

4. Unfold one corner.

I have marked in white soap and photo edited in red the cutting line. It's up, across a diagonal, and over. If you're following along with paper, go ahead and cut it. Here's the piece that is cut off:

5. Now, working again with the towel, fold the corner so that the first set of folds is back in place. Make a new fold (shown here) and press.

I photo edited in white to show
the former fold so that you can see
how this works.

6. Fold one edge, paying attention to the corner angle.

7. Fold the adjacent edge, again paying attention to the corner angle.

Are you seeing the miter coming together?

8. Clip or pin from the right side. I find that clips do not move the fabric the way that pins can, especially when going through 3+ layers of fabric. Repeat with remaining sides.

Clipped/pinned from the right side;
photo shows the wrong side.

9. Stitch from the right side. I like to stitch around twice, once close to the outer fold and again close to the inner fold.

Two rows of stitching (right side)

Two rows of stitching (wrong side)

10. Admire your work.

I made four linen towels and a teapot mat in a similar way this past summer, but with log cabin patchwork instead of a single print.

 
Questions? Comments?

Here's my comment: It took me significantly less time to make these three dish towels than to create this tutorial. It's one of those processes that takes longer to explain than to do. Give it a try!

Blessings and peace...