Monday, July 25, 2011

Half Apron

I have been wanting to sew something since forever.  I want to learn to sew but I'm terrified to actually sew.  that combination doesn't really make for a lot of finished projects.  :P

Finally, I just decided to pick something, anything, and settled on a half apron.  So here it is.
(okay, no head in this pic, but you get to see my knobby knees, is that good enough?)
I found a tutorial from Craft Faves and got to it.  I had bought the cutest fat quarters from Walmart of all places (don't know what a fat quarter is? neither did I,...go here to find out) and decided to try a trendy-looking black on black.  I had my cup of tea, all of the lights in the room turned on, and I was ready.  Now I won't go over the steps here, you'll have to check out the tutorial for that, but if you're a newbie seamstress, then I'll fill you in on all the things NOT to do.

The tutorial starts with the ties.  Sounds easy.  Fold wrong sides together, sew, turn right side out.  Easy peasy.  Insert a long stupid silence here with furrowed brow and a definite 'huh?' expression.  I did okay folding, did okay sewing, but turn that narrow tube around? How the heck do you do that?

I googled.  It still sounded hard.  In the end, I got the biggest needle I have (I think it is called an upholstery needle), double threaded it, and made a stitch in one end of the fabric tube.



 Then I threaded the fabric tube onto a knitting needle.



Once the knitting needle was inserted, I snaked the upholstery needle through until it came out the other side, taking care not to actually poke through the fabric at any point.  I pulled out the knitting needle and went to the back end of the tube, where the stitch was (NOT where the needle now was).


I pushed the fabric at the back end in a bit with the knitting needle.  After that I helped it along by pushing with the knitting needle while I pulled on the upholstery needle from the other side.  Sound confusing? Yeah, it took some finesse.  Eventually I got it and the second one went more easily along (isn't that always the way).



The other spot that got me was the pocket.  To this moment, I still do not know what I was supposed to do with that pocket::  turn this way, then turn that way. ???????  In the end I just folded each side under twice so the fabric wouldn't unravel, and sewed the pocket to the apron.  It wasn't exactly the way it was supposed to go, but it did the trick.



In the end, I was pretty pleased with my first attempt.  I have another version with ric rac for embellishment in the works.  I think the endorphins at the end are addictive.  :)


I was a bit limited by the fat quarter so I believe I will get more fabric for my next project to open up my options a bit.

8 comments:

Michelle said...

How cute!
You amaze me. :)

Unknown said...

You did such a great job!!!!! I LOVE aprons.... maybe a little to much. For your first sewing project you did very well. And your pockets look fine! As long as they stay on and don't fray it is a success in my book. ;-)

Mindy said...

I have a small "thing" for aprons. Okay, I'm addicted. Hello, my name is Mindy, my drug of choice is aprons. And cheese.

Yvonne@StyleBurb said...

I love you fabric choice, Terry and your apron turned out really well! I think you are probably one of the most patient people I have come across.

I have to google a fat quarter. BTW, I have a fat half ( my lower half, to be exact!)

Becky and the Beanstock said...

I'm not afraid of sewing: I detest it so much that I have no fear. Of course, I can't say this improves the outcome any. :)

Your half apron is tre trendy -- I really do love it. Will you be doing custom orders anytime soon?

Ann from On Sutton Place said...

Open options are always good when you're sewing. I love the black and white. Very chic!

Rosemary@villabarnes said...

I love the fabric you used. Dramatic, I love it. You're so good.

Jill said...

Great apron!I love the fabric!
I found you from your feature over at A Creative Princess - lovely blog you have here - I'm going to follow you so I can come back and see more!!


Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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