Betty's Block: Project of the Week: No Sew Craft Apron

First off, sorry about not posting a new project last Sunday. I had been feeling under the weather. And by the time I got better, I had so much to do that I didn't have a chance to make anything until too late in the week. So I figured I would just save it for this Sunday. I will try to post new projects every Sunday. But sometimes, other stuff just gets in the way!! But boy, did I miss doing anything creative! Not being able to work on anything creative really made me feel "off"!!! But I digress! On to our new project!

I know that most people probably use aprons or smocks when they do crafts. But for some reason, this little detail has been escaping me! Or at least until after I got paint on my last pair of pants! So this gave me an idea to get an apron to use for when I craft. But I thought it might be more fun to make one! I thought it might be even more fun to use the pants that I ruined as material! In the interest of keeping it simple, I figured we could try this one without having to sew. It seems like a lot of steps, but it's pretty easy. So here is this week's project...

What you will need:

at least one pair of pants (I used two for the colors. They were too big for me and/or stained. They were both sweats, but you can use the material you like best for this project)
scissors
newspaper (to make your pattern on)
marker (to draw your pattern)
a good no-sew fabric glue

How you do it:
1. Cut the waist off of your pants. If it has a draw string, try not to cut that because you can use it for later.

2. Cut off the seam that goes from the front to the back of your pants. Leave the seam that runs down the sides. You should now have two separate legs of your pants.

3. Cut off the seam that runs from where the crotch of your pants is down to the bottom of the pants. You should now have something that resembles an apron shape. Set this aside.

4. Use your newspaper to make an apron pattern. Hold it up to you for sizing and to get the shape right. When you are satisfied with this pattern, fold it in half. Then fold your open pant leg in half. Line up the two pieces with the folded sides together. Cut your pant leg about a half of an inch bigger than your pattern to allow for your no-sew seam. Then hold your pant leg up to your body to double check size, shape, and length.

5. When you are satisfied with the size, length, and shape, you are ready to "sew." Find a comfortable starting point on your apron. For this step, you will glue as you fold. Start by making a line of glue close to the edge of the material. Fold your material about a quarter of an inch in and press. Continue to glue and fold until all of your apron has been glued and folded down. Remember to press down as you fold to seal the glue in more.

6. To avoid any frayed edges or lose threads, you will repeat this process so that you have smooth, even edges all around your apron. Put a line of glue at the edge of the material again, but this time, the glue will be on top of the part that is folded down. Then you will fold and press the edge down again. Do this around the whole apron.

7. Now it's time to make your straps! We will start with the waist straps. From your other pant leg, or from another pair of pants, cut out two long strips (long enough to be able to tie around your waist). They should be about 4 to 5 inches wide. Then glue all the edges in, gluing then folding the material about a quarter of an inch in. For this part, you only need to glue the edges in once.

8. After your edges are glued down, fold the whole strip in half horizontally and glue the edges together. You should now have straps.

9. Glue about an inch to two inches of each strap to each side of the apron where the waist is. Your apron now has waist straps!

10. For the neck straps of my apron, I used the draw string from my sweats. If you don't have any draw string to use, you can make the straps the same way you did for the waist, just a little shorter. To glue the straps on, place a line of glue on the end of your strap. Now, place the glued end of your strap diagonally at the bottom of the corner of your seam on the apron. Then put glue on the corner and fold it down over the end of your strap. You should have a small triangle on the inside corner that holds your strap in place. Repeat this for the other side.

11. Now, you are ready to make pockets! First, try on your apron to decide where you want to place your pockets and how big you want them. You can either put a line on the apron or use pins to mark where you want the pockets.

12. You can use some of the leftover material to cut out squares or rectangles for your pockets. Remember to leave about a half of an inch for your seams.

13. After you have cut out your pockets, you can glue and fold in the edges about a quarter of an inch all around. Then repeat the gluing and folding process around all of the edges.

14. Now you can place your pockets on your apron. Line up the bottom of your pocket with the marks you made on your apron. Put glue on the inside seam of the bottom of your pocket. Press and hold the bottom of the pocket on the apron. Repeat for the sides of the pocket, remembering to leave the top open. Repeat these steps for the other pocket.