Gardening Apron Tutorial

With thoughts of Spring on my mind and a job in a nursery where we are getting ready for Spring, I thought it would be a good time to make myself a few new gardening aprons.  I made a few before and have found them very useful both at work and at home so I thought I would share how I put them together here and then I will know where to look back for directions when I am ready to make more for myself.

I found I can make one with 3 fat quarters or 2 half yards of fabric plus about a half yard of flannel.  I like to use 2 contrasting fabrics so that the pockets stand out a bit and then I use the same fabric for the ties and waistband.  The flannel is used between all layers so the color doesn’t matter, it does give the apron a nice weight and makes it a little more absorbent for those gardening mishaps.  This apron would also work well as a cooking or sewing apron and the pockets are handy for many tasks.

Step 1 - 

Cut 1 – 16” X 20” of each fabric and the flannel

Cut 1 –3” X 21” of fabric you want for waistband

Cut 2 – 3” X 36” of fabric for ties (these can be pieced if needed)

Cut 1 – 1 1/2” X 21” of flannel for waistband

Step 2 –  Layer the 16” X20” pieces in this order

• Flannel
• Pocket fabric front side up
• Background fabric front side down (facing pocket fabric)

Step 3 - Sew around 3 sides leaving the top where the waistband will be attached open.  Trim corners then turn and iron.

Step 4 – Fold pocket up, I usually turn it up about 5 1/2”.  Then top stitch on sides  making sure to back stitch tops so it won’t pull apart when there is weight in the pocket.  I measure in about 6” from each side and top stitch these down creating 3 pockets on my apron.  You could adjust this to fit your needs.

Step 5 – Attach a 3” X 21” waistband piece and the 1 1/2” flannel on top of that to the  open end of apron.  Fold up and iron.

Step 6 – Sew the ties to each end of waistband piece.  Fold over the top and bottom edge of each tie and the top of the waistband and iron a hem, don’t forget to fold down the end of the tie first.  I use about a 1/2”,  then fold ties in half matching folded edges and fold down waistband and pin in place.  Top stitch ties on folded sides (no turning!) and top stitch waist band in place.  You could hand sew waist band if you prefer, I have done it both ways and am happy with both.

Now put it on and start planting and look good doing it!   Be sure to check out my previous post for ideas on planting pots of salad greens…

Ferne

P.S.  I don’t know how to create a pdf file so to copy this tutorial just highlight the parts you want and copy them to a word file.  Anyone who wants to teach me how to make a pdf file please feel free to leave me some tips!