How To Make An Apron

In this guide you will learn how to make a simple apron. This is an easy-to-follow project for beginners as it only uses one rectangular piece of fabric, plus some cotton webbing to make the apron ties. If you’re looking to build confidence with sewing whilst also making something practical, an apron is a great place to start.

We've teamed up with Upcycler, Lins Drabwell, to show you how she made this apron.

Aside from being useful, aprons are also a great way of adding a bit of colour and décor to your kitchen. You can either select complimentary colours for your apron, or if your kitchen is fairly neutral in design, why not go bold and select a statement fabric to make your apron. For this apron project, we’ve used the Hereford Fabric in Blush to coordinate greens and pinks to our colour scheme. It’s 100% cotton but durable and machine washable at 30 degrees which is ideal for cooking escapades. You could even make coordinating oven gloves and tea towels and they make a thoughtful gift.

Read on to find out how to make an apron.

What You Will Need

What You Will Need

  • A piece of fabric measuring 35 inches long by 28 inches wide
  • Approximately 3m of cotton webbing, one inch wide, for the straps
  • Sewing machine
  • Scissors
  • Iron + ironing board
  • Tape measure + pen/pencil + safety pin
Step One

Step One

Lay your fabric down, pattern side up and fold in half lengthways so the pattern side is now facing each other. On the raw edge, measure up 22 inches from the bottom and make a point. Now, from the folded edge, measure in 6.5 inches, draw a line down one inch, and make a second point. Join the two points to form a diagonal and cut along the diagonal and the one inch vertical to create your piece ready for sewing.

Step Two

Step Two

Open up the fabric and lay it pattern side down. Mark a one-inch border all the way around which will be the seam allowance for the apron.

Step Three

Step Three

Across the bottom of the apron, fold the fabric over half an inch and iron a crease in. Sew along this half inch – this will stop the raw edge of the fabric from fraying and look neater. Once this is done, fold the fabric over again another half inch and run another row of stitches across the apron. The bottom seam is now complete.

Repeat this for the sides and top of the apron, we will then work on the diagonals.

Step Four

Step Four

Take the diagonals, and iron in a narrow crease to stitch, as per step three. Once this is done on both diagonals, take the webbing and lay it so it’s flat on top of the apron fabric. Fold the diagonal over the webbing to cover it completely and pin in place. This will be around 1 and ¼ inch wide, if your webbing is 1 inch wide. Pin the fold in place, and you should be able to pull the webbing back and forth.

Step Five

Step Five

Sew the folded diagonals into place, then attach a safety pin to one end of the webbing and thread it through the folded over diagonal, around the top of the apron to create a loop to go over your head and thread it down through the other diagonal. Once you have created the loop, run a small row of stitches across the back of the webbing to secure it to the apron, keeping the loop in place and to stop your apron sliding off the webbing if you hang it on a hook.

Finally, with the ends of the webbing which form the apron ties, fold over once and then again, stitching across to make it tidy and stop the webbing from fraying.

Finished Apron

Finished Apron

Now you have your finished apron and something practical for your kitchen. You could also add a pocket to the top or across the bottom to make it more of a chef-style apron if you’re feeling adventurous.

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