my sister sammie loves to cook, maya loves to help, and i love to use up scraps of fabric. so it's not surprising this apron came into existence.

at first i consulted the internet and found a few patterns, but my printer was out of ink and i figured making an apron for someone who can't use a knife was one of those times in life when one could wing it. plus it's a child sized apron, even after a few beers (gingerbread stouts to be exact) how hard could it be?

enter the class picnic tunic by oliver + s. with an apron-esq trapezoid front yoke, i figured it would be a decent place to start. remember i don't live with the kids i sew for, and while they are darling and adorable in my auntly opinion they are sorta funky shaped. (i.e. 8 percentile height and 94 percentile headsize). so i really need patterns to gauge measurements.

drafting the pattern & cutting

i traced the yoke of the 2t class picnic pattern and extended the sides down a few inches past where the bottom piece would end. then i angled the arm 'holes' in and rounded them.

i cut two of this piece (one of main fabric and one of the lining/accent), two rectangles (one main, one lining/accent) for the front pocket, and four long thin rectangles for the waist ties. i made the neck ties the same way, except only used the lining/accent fabric.

finally since maya and i share initials (my brother in law refers to us as mk 1.0 and mk 2.0) i decided to monogram the apron. i free handed them on pattern paper then cut them out of the lining/accent fabric.

as for the fabric, i had a fat quarter of this orange starburst in my stash since victor and i went to spring training over a year earlier. since maya looks so good in flashy contrasting color combos i paired it with some purple left over from her peacock costume.

construction

here is how it all came together:

1. i sewed the initials on with a zig-zag stitch.

2. with right sides together i stitched the pocket pieces together, leaving a small opening on the bottom long side.

3. i trimmed the seam allowances, flipped the pocket right side out, and ironed it all into place.

4. i did the same for the waist ties, but this time it was one of the the short ends open i left open.

5. i pinned the pocket to the right side of the main fabric apron piece and stitched it in place on three sides, closing up the opening on the bottom in the process.

6. i pinned the waist ties to the apron, right sides together, aligning the un-sewn side of the ties with the apron sides and basted it into place.

7. i attached the neck ties to the top the same way i attached the waist ties to the sides.

8. i pinned all four ties to the center of the apron, so they would be out of the way for the next steps.

9. i pinned the lining/accent apron piece to the main fabric apron piece, right sides together, and stitched along the outside, leaving a small opening at the bottom.

10. i trimmed the seam allowances, flipped the apron right side out, and ironed everything into place.

11. i edge stitched around the entire apron, closing the opening at the bottom in the process .