Parisian Apron(s)

Arista modeling her apron

I wanted to make my mom something fun for her birthday that would go with the Grace Thomas doll she plans to get. Unfortunately, as I’ll discuss later in a post about the “Dress of Many Failures,” I’m still not that great at sewing complicated things… SO, I went with something easy that Grace would enjoy using – an apron!

First Steps

My local Joann’s never seems to have a good selection of prints – unless you’re looking for owls and butterflies. I don’t know why, but apparently those are the big ticket patterns for that store. Luckily, there’s a small mom ‘n’ pop fabric store that sells a wider variety of prints. That’s where I managed to find this cute Paris-themed print (and another pretty design I might use for a different outfit). I drafted a pattern using plain paper. I folded until I found a basic shape I liked, then cut the pattern out.

My lovely assistant, Sienna

Sewing the Apron

To make things easier, and to give a cleaner finished look, I opted for a lined top. With right sides and long neck straps inserted, I sewed around three edges of the top and then turned it inside out. Next, I cut a rectangle of fabric that was twice as long as my desired width for the bottom of the apron. My mom and I are big fans of flowy, full skirts – the bigger the better! Aprons are no exception. I hemmed the bottom and sides of the rectangle, then gathered the top. Then I attached the two sections and tested the fit.

I ♥ Pinking Shears

Finishing Touches

Then all that was left was to add a large ribbon around the waist and some final decorations. I liked the final result so much, I ended up making one for myself, too. I didn’t have enough of the neck ribbon left, so I opted for a single neck ribbon that connects to the other side of the apron top with Velcro. Mine also doesn’t have as full of a base (or as nicely gathered… oops).

The finished apron for my mom

The Big Reveal

Yesterday, we celebrated my mom’s birthday. I couldn’t wait for her to open the apron! It wasn’t the main thing we’d gotten her, but it was the one that definitely took the most effort! I was so happy my mom liked her surprise! We tried it on my mom’s Saige, and she looks pretty good in it! Grace may have a hard time getting to use it, haha…

Cousins! (My Sienna with my mom’s Saige)

Overall, I’m really happy with how both of these aprons came out. I think I like how my mom’s turned out slightly better because of the fuller bottom, but I’m happy with mine, too. I might eventually make more so that everyone can have a baking day at some point.

#SiennaCopeland #SaigeCopeland