dishtowel apron tutorial

 

I decided to break out one of my Martha Stewart dishtowels and make a "Mommy's Little Helper Kitchen Apron". My initial goal was to make it to fit Aubry but it turned out closer to a size to fit an 8-11 year-old girl instead. If you want to make it smaller, you would just need to make it shorter and make the neck hole a bit smaller. If you want to make one, here are the supplies you will need:

1 dishtowel (mine measured 18" x 28")
one package of double fold bias tape--extra wide
thread to match
ribbon or trim (optional)

Lay out the dishtowel with the shorter edge on top and measure 4 inches in from each top edge, and measure 9 inches down each side edge. Draw a line between these two marks and cut on the line using scissors or a rotary cutter. The top of the apron should look like this:

This is when you would add any ribbon or trim.  I added mine at the top and the bottom of the apron:

Now you need to open up your bias tape (Click here for a tutorial on how to use bias tape--see 2-Step Binding) and pin it to the edges of the apron (the picture below this one will clarify this for you):

You will want to pin the bias tape to the apron so that there is a 15-inch neck hole and 22-inches of bias-tape hanging at each edge for ties. Now you can sew the bias tape to the apron:

Now fold your bias-tape over to the back of the apron (the neck-hole and tie bias-tape pieces will be sewn to themselves) and sew

You can finish the tie-ends like this:

Voila!  You are done and ready to bake a batch of cookies with your little baker!

Comments

[Erin]

Oh my that is too cute! I have a little 2 yo daughter that would go bonkers over one ... along with all her little girl friends. Thanks for sharing. :-)

[Sandy Coughlin]

Oh, my! This could work well for my 8 (10 yr old) Faithgirlz group of girls that I mentor. Thank you!

[lera]

This is awesome. I have some MS towels that, I too, am afraid to cut. This is just darling. I'm thinking I could whip this up in time to send to my neice for her early-March b'day. Thank you soooo much for sharing!

[Julie K in Taiwan]

Thanks! My daughter is crazy about aprons...

I found your blog through Creative Little Daisy's blog post

[Julie K in Taiwan]

Thanks! My daughter is crazy about aprons...

I found your blog through Creative Little Daisy's blog post

[freshvintage]

My two-year-old is obsessed with aprons (might have something to do with her mommy's obsession). I am going to give this a try! Thanks for sharing!

[Tammy S.]

This is too cute! I just whipped up two for my youngest sisters. Thanks for the idea!

[Cindy]

Thanks so much for this awesome idea and tutorial. I posted about it today on my blog. I wanted to make these for a 2 and 3 year old so I posted some smaller measurements if it helps anyone. http://skiptomylou.wordpress.com/2007/03/20/dishtowel-aprons/
Thanks again Randi for sharing!

[Tsoniki]

I love this! My daughter used to have a little apron but it was used too much and she definitely could use a new one. :)

[Sarah]

This is too cute!

[Valerie]

this fabric is gorgeous - thanks for sharing !

[Annie]

I really want to try this - SO CUTE!

[Janice]

Thanks for the tut...I just made several and have pics posted of three over at the Sew, Mama, Sew flicker group :)

http://flickr.com/groups/sewmamagroup/pool/

[Beth]

Hello! I work with Kristin on her Sew, Mama, Sew blog and we'd love to link to your tutorial for an upcoming feature... I've tried to email but it's not working. Would you mind emailing me for details? It's a great tutorial!

Thanks so much!

[randi]

checking

[Snap Happy Mama]

Hi there! I found your tutorial through Sew, Mama, Sew and will be making some of these great aprons as Christmas gifts. While perusing the pattern I noticed the link to the double bias tape tutorial was broken. After doing a bit of hunting around I found it here: http://www.wrights.com/wrights/class/sewing/doublefoldbias/doublefoldbias.htm
I'm sure others will be doing these too, so wanted to pass it along hoping you could update the link in your tutorial post for others. Thanks again for a great project/gift idea - LOVE IT!

[pam]

great apron tutorial, thanks!

[Heide]

I think I'll make a couple of these for my nieces, for Christmas. And maybe a little cookie cookbook to go with it? And a bag of chocolate chips? Cute!

[Paulette Insall]

What a wonderful tutorial!!! I've been wanting to make a little apron for my son since he's become interested in helping Momma and Daddy in the kitchen. This looks perfect! Thanks for sharing it! :)

[Paula]

This tutorial was a lifesaver! For a kid's Christmas party I needed 25 in various sizes. Your instructions made it a cinch. After craft time the children all wanted to keep them.

[Aimee]

After a YEAR I have finally made some of these tonight! So cute but they are big enough to fit me :) :) :) My daughter is going to a birthday party next weekend so this'll be the perfect gift.

[CC]

A great tutorial!!!!! and I love your blog..I've added you to my sidebar as a blog I love to read..Thanks so much for sharing your patterns and ideas..