Child Apron Tutorial

I looked at a lot of different apron ideas before settling on this one. I picked this apron because I wanted it to be sturdy and cover a lot of space while doing art, cooking and science projects. I really liked that the child could loosen the head piece to fit it over their head and then pull it tight. Most aprons were loose on top, which isn't good for keeping clean, or you need a D ring or some other fastener to tighten it, which I really didn't want to mess with.

The Pattern

I used this Instructables tutorial for making a chef's apron. To the left is a picture of my measurements.

I was making these for kids ranging in ages from 3 years to 9 years, so I made them a little long so they weren't too short for the older kids. They seemed a good length for the younger ones too.

I drew my pattern on freezer paper, mostly because I had a huge roll of it that I wasn't using. It worked perfectly and was translucent enough to trace the casing. You can also use parchment paper or tissue paper.

I estimated a yard per apron and had left overs. I went shopping on Black Friday and Joanne's had amazing deals before noon. I purchased duck canvas and cotton twill at Jo Ann's for $4.11/yard! I bought a lot of different things that day and the savings were pretty amazing, and there weren't the crowds like at other Black Friday sales. These fabrics are really sturdy for the type of wear I was expecting to put them through.

After tracing the main body of the apron, draw a line 2" from the arm hole to make the casing.

Time to Cut & Sew

Take the pattern and trace it onto your fabric with the long side resting against the fold. You should end up with one large piece of fabric for the main part of the apron and 2 casing pieces.

Once the pieces are cut, you can embroider the child's name or an image to make it more personal. If you don't have an embroidery machine, iron-on's are a fun alternative.

Take the casing pieces and press down the long side 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch. This ironing is a very important step that will make sewing much easier later.

Pin the casing to the edge of the main piece of fabric with right sides together. Sew both pieces.

Fold and press the top of the apron 3/8 - 1/2 over twice and then sew. Repeat this with the two sides. Make sure casing is open when you do this.

Fold the casing towards the back of the apron so wrong sides are together. Press. Pin and sew close to the edge of the long edge of the casing. The strips need to fit through the open space so the opening needs to be wide enough to let it fit.

This is the back side of the apron once sewn:

Hem the bottom, same as the top and sides.

Making Bias Tape

To make the strip, cut a strip of fabric 2" wide by 70" long or two strips of fabric 2" wide by 35" long. These could be made even longer if you want extra long strips. If using two strips, you need to start by sewing them together. Place the two strips at a 90 degree angle to each other. Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner as shown below.

Sew along the diagonal line. Trim the corner off of the fabric. My photo below shows a very close trim. After some practice, I learned that this should not be so close. You should leave at least 1/4" of fabric from sewing line.

Press the crease, with the raw edges open.

Now time to make bias tape. For these apron strips, I was making them 1/2" wide. I purchased this bias tape maker for $7 on Amazon. I bought a 1/2" bias tape maker at first and then realized it was too small. I then purchased the 1" bias tape maker. 2" of fabric enter the device and fold it into bias tape 1" wide. Then you fold it in half and iron it flat, leaving you with a 1/2" strip. If you use a bias tape make, use the 1" size. You can also do this old school by folding the strip in half, ironing and then folding the two long edges in the the center crease and ironing again. It's way more work but will have the same result.

As the fabric goes through the bias tape maker, iron the fabric.

Fold in half again and iron flat. Fold the ends in and pin. Sew the ends and along the length of the bias tape.

Now that the strip is sewn, attach a safety pin and thread it through the casing pieces to make a neck loop. Tie knots at the end of the strips so they don't get pulled through the casing easily. The little ones love to pull the strips right out and leave you rethreading again and again. I learned this the hard way!

Enjoy countless hours of fun activities in these aprons!

Princess Leia DIY Costume

Princess Leia is definitely one of my favorite princesses. I made this costume last year but still wanted to post it, even though I didn't snap that many pictures. For the fabric, I found a white suit material that turned out to be extremely durable. She went rolling in grass right after finishing it and to my amazement, not a mark. It's really worn in now but there aren't any stains on it. I'm not sure what the exact blend was, but I'll be on the lookout for the same fabric and will post it if I find it again.

I used Burda pattern 9541 and sketched my own pattern for the belt.

The dress was pretty simple and I followed the pattern exactly. This definitely was one of my earlier pieces and the edges were a little rough. Of course, she never noticed or cared. She has spent hours and hours in the dress.

Here is the back latch:

For the belt, the below pattern is the basic design that I used. I cut this shape in the white fabric, not on the fold. There was 2 long pieces of white fabric, each one about 24" long by 4" wide at the edges. The point will be wider.

I purchased some silver fabric to look like metal. I cut 4 pieces of silver fabric with the dimensions of 4" by 3". For the other two pieces that included the point, I used the center of the pattern and traced the same height but 4 1/2" wide.

On the 2 shorter sides of all 6 pieces, I ironed 1/2" under. Then, I pinned the silver pieces onto each long white piece, but didn't sew them on. I put the right sides together of the whole belt and sewed the 2 long edges with 1/2" seam.

I turned the belt inside out which was a little tricky. Then I sewed the shorter sides of each silver pieces close to the edge and going through both top and bottom silver pieces. Sewing it after the long edges are sewn will ensure that it doesn't puff out. So, I actually sewed through two pieces of silver material and two pieces of white. The belt should then lay flat.

I finished the two open edges by ironing them over 1/2" and sewing the fabric down. I would do a much nicer job of this now, but it got the job done. To hold the belt together, I added iron-on velcro. Finished, the belt was 23" long.

Rapunzel (Tangled) DIY Sewing Tutorial

For my daughter's 3rd birthday, she was in love with Tangled so we decided to throw her a Tangled birthday party. To go with the party, I made her a Rapunzel dress for her birthday present. It is definitely the best costume I've made so far. She absolutely loved it.

I used Simplicity pattern 2065.

This pattern is perfect, but I like to keep the costumes looking similar to the original, so the light pink and purple weren't going to work. Plus, I figure those light colors will be quickly stained with how my kids play in their costumes. I went to downtown LA fabric district to get the supplies. I spent around $30 on everything. I choose a plum brocade for the underskirt and a matching lilac brocade for the bodice.

It was tricky finding a matching plum satin to use for the overskirt and sleeves. The one I used wasn't the easiest material to sew, but I made it work. It was a lighter weight than some others that I saw. This dress was fairly heavy once finished so I'm happy this fabric wasn't too heavy. I followed the pattern as directed.

I took these photos after the dress was complete, but the grommets didn't hold. I had to hand sew over the grommets to hold them in place. I haven't used grommets that often so I'm not sure if there is a better quality I could have purchased, but the ones I sewed were very strong.

I loved this light pink against the plum purple. I started with the middle ribbon and went outward. I didn't pin it that much at first and that was a mistake. It worked out better when I used a lot of pins. I remember in sewing class, my teacher really emphasized pinning. I sort of blew this off and lightly pinned on most projects. After many annoying mistakes, I've realized pinning is key. I now take the time to pin and it makes a huge difference in cleaner stitches.

I love this danty, cotton trim. I actually purchased this for $0.25 a yard in downtown LA! I attached it by hand since it needed extra attention and sleeve is delicate too.

These sleeves are beautiful and the material isn't scratchy. I think this dress could look amazing with the sheer sleeve and be a little more play friendly.

Here is the skirt liner attached to the mesh:

I was going to embroider the fabric but ended up buying iron-on pieces for the overskirt. They didn't stay on the satin material really well so a few pieces I had to stitch down. I found these at Joanne's and definitely a pricey addition. But, they looked great.

I found the trim in Joanne's $1 trim bin and got 2 packages.

The hair took a while to cut all that yarn! But it looked fantastic and was very sturdy. She loved having the yarn wig. We also had a purchased wig but she wouldn't wear it and it got "Tangled" really fast! This Rapunzel dress was definitely a hit.

Mavis Dracula DIY Costume, Hotel Transylvania

My 3 year old wanted to be Mavis Dracula for Halloween this year. I thought this was a great idea for a costume and easier than the Belle costume I made last year. I made the matching Martha Dracula costume for myself to do the mom and me set.

Here's the photo from the movie:

For the dress, Aurora had a Carter's dress that she wears with legging that was almost an exact replica of the design. I used a black suit material that was very soft but durable. I only needed 1 yard for her dress. I folded the fabric in half and folded the dress. I then traced the dress and went back to add 1/2" around the outline. I cut a circle piece to match the collar that was 3" wide to add a collar and make it look more authentic.

The dress was just two pieces sewn together and the collar added on top. This was such an easy costume to put together. I bought the tights on Amazon for $4.50 plus $2.95 for shipping. I ordered the black and red to match the costume.

The red high top converse were definitely the most expensive part of the costume, but adorable and she will be able to wear them with a lot of clothes. I got these for $27 at Kid's Footlocker.

I also bought an $8 black wig with sparkly pieces. She wouldn't wear it, but maybe when she's a little older.

Although I normally wouldn't be inclined to put make-up on her, the black make-up with this costume is a must. I got black nail polish, eye liner and lipstick. She's too young for the cute vampire fangs but I think this would be an adorable addition for kids who will put them on. We had a melt down with the lipstick and she took it all off, but she still looked adorable!

Martha Dracula DIY Costume, Hotel Transylvania

My daughter decided to be Mavis Dracula from Hotel Transylvania and begged me to be Mavis's mom, Martha. This definitely seemed like a fun costume and I figured my time to do mom and me costumes is limited.

Here is what I was working with:

Fortunately, I had two patterns that work out nicely for this costume.  For the main part of the dress, I used dress B on McCall's 5499 pattern, with no belt. I used a 14" zipper down the back instead of the lace up back. The pattern flares at the bottom, so I had to modify the size when cutting the pattern. The neckline was a v-neck, so I made a change to this. I also needed to figure out how to add that trail at the end. Lots of fun modifications!

The arms on this pattern don't have the long, droopy look of Martha, so I used the arms from Simplicity 4940, dress A.

I bought a black suiting material that I also used for Mavis. Starting with the McCalls pattern, I used dress B. This dress has a lot of material in the skirt and the Martha skirt needs to be more fitted. Instead of wasting fabric to tailor the dress, I folded the pattern pieces to narrow the skirt. You can see below how the pattern is folded under. Don't forget to add the extra pattern pieces to make the skirt the correct length. I forgot to do this and had to improvise!

To add a train, I added 12" of length to the back pieces. I drew the white lines above to show how I sketched this onto the fabric.  On the side back pieces, I measured out 12" on one side of the side back piece to match up with the back pieces and made a curved line toward the other side, which would then match up with the front side pieces. When placed together, the side back and back pieces should make a semi-circle to create the train.

The v-neck was much easier to add then I expected. I placed my ruler on the fabric when folded in half, like the picture above. I cut off this piece of fabric and the neckline flowed nicely from the shoulder on down. I used bias tape to easily keep the v-neckline looking sharp. I used this tutorial to use bias tape on a v-neckline.

I sewed the rest of the dress like on the pattern, except I added a zipper instead of the lace up back. It fit great.

For the choker, I cut a piece of fabric 2.5" by 14", which should be more than enough extra material to do the velcro. I placed right sides together and sewed along raw edge. Using a safety pin, I turned it inside out. I ironed it flat and sewed along both long sides close to edge to keep it flat. For the short sides, I sewed them under so the raw edge is facing the neck.

I found this beautiful button at Joanne's for a few dollars. Instead of going for a sparkly jewel, I liked the antique look of this one.

I sewed the button on the center of the choker and added the velcro. The velcro was iron-on so it stayed pretty strong.

This was a very comfortable costume. Most people didn't know who I was but Aurora loved our mom and me, Mavis and Martha Dracula costumes, so that's all that mattered!