Zara's Apron

 Well, I thought I was done making aprons.  Don't get me wrong, I love making them, but I just didn't think I would need anymore, anytime soon.  Last summer I wrote how to make 3 aprons out of a shirt and a pair of jeans 1-shirt-1-pair-of-jeans-3-aprons .  For Christmas I made my daughter and two beautiful granddaughters aprons out of one shirt, and my son-in-law a barbecue apron out of some canvas with a duck on the pocket that I printed off the computer.  Sorry, no pictures of theirs, I was in a hurry to get them mailed off for Christmas.  So, like I said, I thought I was done until a friend called up and asked if I could make an apron for her granddaughter Zara.
She wanted a full apron, and I happened to have some patterns, but really what fun is it to just follow a pattern?  So off to Goodwill to find a pair of jeans in Zara's size.  I got these great Arizona Capris with this fun embroidery on them for a buck.  I also bought 1/2 yd of the flowered fabric, and 1yd of the pink, plus I already had  the pink rick rack. 

So, I'm going to kind of zip through how to make this.  You can see more detail in the earlier posts.  First you want to cut out the back of the jeans inside the side seams (you don't want to have to mess with those), and down below the crotch, then cut around the waistband leaving a couple of inches on either side. 

Rip out the seam at the crotch until you can get it to lay flat, and sew it down.  Then cut the legs off just below that and round off the sides.  Cut 2 hearts out of the flowered fabric to fit the width of the chest plus an inch or so for a seam allowance, and a 2 1/2 in. strip approximately twice as long as the outside edge of your jeans for the ruffle.  Out of the solid fabric cut 2 neck straps 3 inches wide and long enough to tie up (1 1/2 ft for a size 8-9), and 2 tie ends 3 in. by 21 in. or long enough to tie around the waist.  Also cut out a duplicate of your jeans out of the solid fabric for the back facing.  As you can see I had a pattern for part of it, but you don't really need it.

OK, now the fun part.  Fold the tie ends and neck straps in half lengthwise, sew 3 sides, trim, turn right side out and press. Pin the unfinished edge of the straps to the top of the heart and sew the heart, right sides together leaving an opening on one side.  Turn it right side out and press, stitch up the opening.  Carefully pin on your rick rack and top stitch to the heart.  Narrow hem one edge of your ruffle, baste and gather the other edge.  Now you are going to sandwich the ruffle between the facing and the jeans carefully pinning it altogether, right sides in.  Sew all 3 layers leaving the top open, turn right side out, press in a hem at the top of the facing and hand stitch to the inside top at the waistband.  Center the tip of the heart to the center of your jeans just below the waistband (I had to remove a belt loop first) and sew it on with a zigzag or interlocking stitch.  Open up the waistband on the bottom of both sides about an inch or so, sew the tie ends in the waistband right sides together, flip out and stitch up the bottom edge.
It sounds like a lot of instructions, but it's really not that difficult once you get into it.  Just don't be like me and get the ruffle caught in the seam in a bunch of spots, and take you time with the rick rack.  Well I hope Zara likes it.

Linking up to:
farmhouse porch
coastal charm
pjh designs
beyond the picket fence