An Apron for Sewing or A Sewing Apron

Last month I had the opportunity to guest post over at Skip To My Lou’s fun Homemade Holiday Event and this was the project that I shared. I am reposting it today for 2 reasons which are:

#1—I really like it. (I made it for myself and actually use it.) Plus I really think that if you made this gift for someone who likes to sew she would really like it as well….AND

#2—My house is a war zone. Remember when I posted about my husband jumping on the crafty bandwagon? Well he’s not just on the wagon he’s driving it. He has torn up the ENTIRE main floor of our house down to the plywood…honestly it’s a wreck which means I’ve been spending my days sanding and painting and remodeling instead of sewing…and I’m going through withdrawls…seriously…so while I’m remodeling here’s a little project that I can’t wait to use again.

An Apron for Sewing:
Awhile back I was reading a homemaking book from the 50’s and there the author mentioned using a sewing apron and it got me thinking how useful a sewing apron would actually be. So finally this past week I whipped one up…and it’s AWESOME.

Here’s what you’ll need to make one:
1. A utility apron. (I bought mine at Hobby Lobby for $4.99 but you can buy one anywhere and any style would work or you can be ambitious and can make your own from a favorite pattern.)
2. A measuring tape.
3. A pin cushion.
4. A large safety pin or a piece of velcro.
5. Other fabrics or trims you would like to embellish your apron with.

The apron I bought had one giant pocket across the bottom so the first thing I did was to make that one giant pocket into several smaller pockets to hold items like my scissors, pencil, seam ripper etc..

This was easy to do. I just decided where and how wide I wanted my pocket and then sewed a straight line from the top of the existing pocket to the bottom. (Doing that sectioned off the giant pocket into sizes I could use to stash my sewing gear in.)

Next I added two pieces (of some Alexander Henry fabric that I love) to different areas of the apron. The fabric has no point. It’s just there to look cute and to give me an excuse to buy it.

Then I added the measuring tape. You can see from the picture above that the measuring tape has been sewn on upside down. I did this on purpose. That way when I’m sitting down at my sewing machine and I need to see a quick measurement the tape is right there on my lap and facing the right way.

(I also added another stretch of the measuring tape across the top just for decoration.)

And finally I pinned a small pin cushion onto the top left side. (My pin cushion is a tiny one I made out of batting and a handkerchief but you can use what ever you’d like. Also, if you don’t want to pin it on you can use velcro which would work nicely as well.)

So that’s that. My sewing apron. I love it. Everything is where I need it. (The scissors on the right hand side so I can just reach down and grab them…my seam ripper in the bottom pocket so I don’t have to search through piles of junk on my sewing table looking for it….the pin cushion on my shoulder so I don’t have to jam all the pins in my shirt…it’s awesome.) And like I said earlier even though I’ve been dying to make one for myself I think they would be a great gift for anyone who likes to sew.

I really do love my apron. It’s just so handy. I don’t know which part I like the best the pin cushion up by my shoulder or the built in tape measure on my lap or my scissors always there at my side instead of getting lost on the table. It’s all good and I’m missing it but hopefully I’ll be wearing it again soon because the list of things I want to make keeps growing and I have some sketches I’d really like to start turning into dresses.

Until I get my space back (or at least with flooring) I hope you all enjoy the sewing for me. What are you making anyways? Please do tell…it will give me something to think about as I put the 5th coat of white paint on the banister that wants to stay ugly.