An apron.. for a boy!

Last summer I made some aprons using the tutorial by Anna from the Yards and Yards blog. At the time, Benjamin was only about 6 months old and didn't need an apron. Well, now that he is a year older (and wiser?!) I decided he needed his very own apron. This is what I came up with:

 

Okay so maybe it was Corey who decided Benjamin shouldn't be wearing Brooke's apron when he came home to this:.... So what if it was a mod floral pattern with ruffles?!....

I used a striped fabric on the front and some adorable doggie fabric for the pocket. 

I left the ruffles off of the pocket and the bottom of the apron.. for obvious reasons. 

It may be hard to see it here, but the back is a light blue fabric with darker blue swiss dots. (Ohhhh, GO ME! I just googled to see if I was correct in calling that a swiss dot and I was right! Point Tracy.) I also made a fabric tie using the same blue material instead of a satin ribbon, again for obvious reasons (it's sort of hard to make a shiny satin ribbon look masculine!). 

 Here is Mr. Benjamin, fresh up from a nap! He loved it!

 ?????

Brooke had to get in on the apron-posing action... shocker!

And since Brooke was running around and twirling with her hands in the air....

Benjamin had to do it too! 

My loves! 

Next up?... getting some boy dress up clothes!

Fat Quarter Apron

SO cool that you can make a half apron by using a fat quarter! For those who don't know what one is, it is a 1/4  yard of fabric, but it is cut differently than just by cutting a yard into fourths. This picture best illustrates what I mean.

Basically, it's just a way that fabric can be cut to get WAY more use out of it! This apron should take you only about 20 minutes if you have a pre-cut fat quarter and some pre-made or bought trim. On my little "retreat" here, I didn't bring my fat quarter stash (durn it all, I knew I forgot something!!). I also don't have any pre-made trim and obviously couldn't go out and get some! So.... I cut my own fat quarter from some yardage I had and made my own trim as well. Needless to say, this took me WAY longer than 20 minutes! But, it was still super easy! I followed the great tutorial over at Prudent Baby. Funny story about why I made an apron on my first evening in isolation. I didn't expect to sew at all for my first few days here. However, I was blog surfing and stumbled upon a contest they were having. Super competitive me just HAD to enter!! I read the post about the apron contest at 8pm and freaked a little when I read on and found out the deadline was midnight! So... to my machine I went! Hey, if I have a chance to win a bundle of 22 fat quarters, I'm all in! My actual odds of winning are pretty much slim to none, but hey, I certainly can't win if I don't enter, right!
I had brought along this fabric to make an apron b/c it just screams apron!

Start with one fat quarter (or cut fabric to 18"x22").

Cut one 4" strip off of the long (22") side.

Fold the larger portin in half and find something to use to round the corner. 

You need to trim the bottom corners to be round.

Cut along your line.

Fold the short sides of your 4" strip in 1/4" and press. Do the same with your long sides. Press.

This is when you get out your trim. I had to make mine. I cut 4 3" strips of material from a yard of fabric. I sewed two of them together to make one 6" strip (after realizing I should have just cut one 6" strip to make this easier!- live and learn). I will be using this one for the waistband ties. The other strips I sewed together, short end to short end to make one very long 3" strip. This is what I used for the pleated "ruffle" trim around the apron.

I folded the 3" trim over, with wrong sides facing out and sewed it, thus making it 1 1/2", but with a 1/4" seam. Then I turned it with my handy dandy turning tool, pressed it and then sewed it to the apron. I sewed it with the seam side on the raw edge of the apron. I sewed it on to the front (see pic), and then turned it and topstitched to help hold it down.

Like so. I topstitched very close to where the two fabrics come together. It looks great!

Then I attached the waistband ties and the top band. The top band is made by folding the 4" strip over and pressing in the middle. I pinned my waistband inside and then folded over the top band and stitched in place. I sewed two vertical lines where I attached the waistband and then sewed along the top and bottom edge of the top band.

And thar she be! The finished product! Love it!

Mommy & Me Apron!

So the whole premise behind my blogging here is that I will have time, when my babies nap, to sew and make fun things! Well, latley, the napping train has been derailed! I've been in GO mode this week, since it's the last full week I have at home with my babies before I go back to school!! I've had something planned EVERY day! Yesterday was a fun Splash Pad area in a local park (free!!), today we are going here ! I can't wait!! Brooke is into all things crafty and will LOVE this!! If Benjamin can paint with drool, he will be set too! Anyway, I think all of our activities are sometimes too much for Baby Ben and his cat napping in the car has made him not nap for more than an hour at home. Brooke sleeps for 3 hours though! With that being said, I started making these Mommy & Me apron sets sometime last week. As of this post, I have one of the small ones done and all I have left on the Mommy one is to add the ruffles! Must finish!

*I interrupt this post to tell you that my 2 year old (28months) just woke up for the 5th day in a row with a DRY diaper!! Gooo Brooke!! We are diaper free during the day except for sleepy time!! Even though she has been dry when waking up, I'm too chicken to let her sleep in panties! I think it is pretty sad that my 2 year old can sleep through the night w/out having to wake up to pottie.. yet I can not!! LOL!

So, my current To Do list is as follows: finish aprons (at least one set!), make more composition notebook covers for teacher friends, and make some shirts/dresses (?) for ME for school!! I'm scared to attempt making something for me to wear!!! I want something EASY to make, comfortable, and it can not look like a moo-moo!

On to the aprons!!

Here is the madness that was the floor in my sewing room. I goofed on these and didn't look at the fabric before cutting.. so I cut them w/ the pattern on the fabric upside down!! OOOOPs! So.. these particular ones are a little shorter than the pattern calls for, but it's a very forgiving pattern, so I pressed on! :)

Four sweet aprons, all pieces cut and ready to roll!

Here's a close up of the fabrics, too cute!

These are pretty easy to get together and I LOVE the quality of them!! They are fully lined,

gorgeous fabric on both sides, no exposed seams, totally cute!

There is, however, ONE thing that is a thorn in my side with them....

RUFFLES!!! I LOVE the ruffles, they make the apron, but gah all of the pulling, adjusting, pinning, etc!

Viola!! One toddler sized apron finished!!

Thank you Anna for your awesome tutorial!

I am SO PROUD to have been featured on the Yards and Yards blog again, for this very apron!!

Check it out here! Thank you Anna!