How To Sew An Elasticized Apron (for Kids)

Here is a tutorial on making a kid's apron for pretend play and even 

real baking with mom/dad. With many kids aprons I've seen, I've 

found that if the neck strap is long enough to fit over a child's head, 

the apron ends up hanging a little too low over the chest. Emily is 

still too little to manipulate buckles, so an adjustable sliding strap 

meant she couldn't be fully independent when putting it on and 

taking it off. So I decided to elasticize the neck strap so it stretches 

over her head and is still short enough for the apron 

to hang at the right height.

(Note: for the rest of the tutorial, "the apron" refers not to the 

entire finished garment, but just to the apron-shaped piece of 

fabric i.e. the one with prints in the picture below).

You will need

• Half a yard of fabric for the apron 
  
• A 9"x 6" rectangle of fabric for the pocket
  
• 13" of 1/4" or 3/8" elastic (not shown in picture, sorry)
  
• 14" of 3/8" bias tape for the pocket and top edge of apron
  
• 62" of 1" bias tape for the straps
  

(I used two different colored bias tapes just for clearer

 pictures for this tutorial. Yours can of course be of the 

same color if you choose.)

First cut out the apron shape. Here's the pattern I used. 

It isn't to scale, since it wouldn't fit on an 8.5" x 11" sheet 

to scan, but if you follow the measurements in the pattern, 

it should turn out right.

Part I

Attaching the pocket and neatening the raw edges of the apron.

Step 1

• Serge or zig-zag stitch the bottom hem and straight sides of the apron. Although in the picture, the apron does not have serged sides because I was too quick to take the picture. Sorry! (If you roll your eyes now and give up on me, I deserve it).  
  
• Serge or zig-zag stitch both short edges and one long edge of the pocket. It is unnecessary to serge the fourth edge because it will have bias tape sewn on.

Step 2

• Sew the 3/8" bias tape on the top edge of the apron. I find it helpful to sew the first seam on the wrong side of the fabric, then turn the bias tape over to cover the right side of the fabric to top-stitch.
  

Step 3

• Sew bias tape on the unserged edge of the pocket like you did with the apron's top edge.
  
• Top stitch. In the picture below, I sewed a double row of top-stitching simply because it seemed to give a nicer finish.
  

Step 4 (optional)

If you want to personalize or embellish the pocket, it needs to be done before Step 5.

Step 5

• Fold the apron and pocket lengthwise down the middle to get the center lines of both.
  
• Place the pocket centrally on the apron using the center lines as a guide and pin in the desired position. I found that a distance of 5.5" between the top of the apron and the top of the pocket is good (see pattern).
  

Step 6

• Fold 1/4"  - 3/8" of each serged edge of the pocket under and top-stitch the pocket on these three sides onto the apron. I did a second row of top-stitching again because it gave a nice finish.
  

Step 7

• Fold under the two serged sides of the apron and top stitch the hems.
  

Part II

The Straps 

Step 8 

• First take the 62" length of 1" bias tape and fold it in half to get the middle (which should be about 31" from either end). 
  
• Put a pin or some other marker at the middle spot. 
  
• Measure 10" on either side of that middle point.
  
• Unfold the bias tape and mark this 10" point on the inside of the bias tape. Make a mark rather than use a pin because you are going to sew on this spot. The picture below shows this 10" mark to the right of the middle point (where the white pin is). 

• Repeat this step 10" to the left of the middle pin. You will now have two marks 20" apart, with the pin exactly mid-way between them. Still with me?
  

Step 9

• Take the 13" length of elastic and sew one end securely on one of the 10" marks, and on the inside of the unfolded bias tape. The best position is not on the middle fold (faint white dotted line in the picture) of the bias tape but on either side of it. This is because you will be folding the bias tape closed again along the natural folds to stitch it up and you want it to lay flat.

• Repeat this step with the other end of the elastic i.e. sew the other end onto the other 10" mark, being careful not to let the elastic get all twisted.
  

You will now have a funny-looking thing like in the picture below: 20" of bias tape, with the middle pin still attached, straddling the 13" piece of elastic. This is the neck strap, although it looks nothing like it (yet).

• Remove the pin.
  

Step 10

• Measure 1 " below the 10" marks on each side of the neck strap and mark those points (in red in the picture). These will be the points which attach to the top corners of the apron so that the elastic goes around the wearer's head.
  

Step 11

• Position the bias tape on the corner of the apron so that the (red) 1" marks line up with the top edge of the apron (the orange edge in the picture) and sew along the curve of the "armhole" to attach the bias tape on the wrong side of the fabric.

• Repeat with the other 1" mark on the other corner of the apron and sew along the curve of the other armhole.

You will now have

• 22" of bias tape (with the 13" elastic sewn on at its ends) forming the neck strap
  
• 20" (total) of bias tape attached to one side of the apron by the curved armhole and dangling beyond that to form one tie
  
• 20" (total) of bias tape attached to the other side of the apron by the other curved armhole and dangling beyond that to form the other tie.
  

Step 12 - the last step!

• Fold the bias tape closed all along its 62" length. You will need to fold it over the raw armhole edges and also tuck in the elastic in the neck strap section. It might take some pulling when you get to the neck strap because the elastic is shorter than the bias casing that contains it. Sew slowly and keep readjusting. 
  
• Top stitch the open edges closed, tucking in the ends of the ties.
  

A picture of the neck strap sewn up, with the elastic inside it. 

Note: For this apron, I used 3/4" bias tape instead of 1" because it was 

what I had on hand. The end product is this snug-fitting elastic case. 

1" bias tape would give the gathers more room to lay flat 

which would look better.

The finished apron

which fits a 3 year old (and beyond). 

It is a little long for toddlers like Jenna, but they grow into it so 

quickly that it's not worth making them shorter.

Recent Acquisitions

Just finished some secret birthday projects yesterday so will do 

a post on them soon, once the birthday people have received their 

gifts. In the meantime, here is a short report on stuff I recently bought: 

Large spools of embroidery thread from a fabric warehouse that I

only patronize when someone can watch the kids. No point letting 

them see mom when she has absolutely no self-control. Up to this 

point, I have been using regular thread which has worked quite well. 

But these are so shiny! And a deal at $0.50 - $1 a spool!

The husband will out of the country for a few days for a work 

conference so to cope, I went fabric shopping at the local fabric 

store. It made me smile to think that in the old days when I was 

young(er) and chic(er), retail therapy for me was shoe shopping. 

Or clothes. Or CDs. 

Or something else that normal people liked a lot of. 

Pink fleece, chiffon and trim for Emily's halloween ballerina suit. 

Fleece! How many dancers do you know wear winter-weight 

fabrics on stage?

Fleece for baby blankets and other miscellaneous projects.

And more flannel for bibs, of course. Fabric therapy is not actually 

therapeutic without these. I must have looked slightly rabid because 

the store person measuring and cutting my fabric yesterday actually 

told me to stop buying these flannels. First she said, tactfully, 

"Wow, you're going to be busy," and no, she wasn't referring to Jenna 

and Kate in my shopping cart. Then, when my eyes glazed over, 

imagining the gratification of sewing close to a hundred bibs during 

the cold winter months, she said, "Why don't you come back when 

these (other fabric in my cart) are on sale? You have a lot to 

work with already."

Not even ashamed, let alone offended. It is hard for the 

unenlightened or those of sound mind to fathom. 

Some day bibs will rule the world. 

Painting Without Paint

A quick post about how we try to minimize mess in the creative 

process in our house. I love painting but not the cleaning up. And 

Emily has the shortest attention span nowadays- 10 minutes at 

least to set up the table, lay newspapers, fill the palettes with paint 

etc. and she paints for 3 minutes and says she's done. Jenna makes 

it more worth my time - she'll paint for as long as we let her but 

the process is usually truncated when she starts dumping colored 

water on herself and the floor. Mess is important in developing 

creativity, I've always felt, and the usual state of our living room 

might suggest that our children are masters in that aspect. But for 

the times when I am just not in the mood, here are three things 

we do when we still want to paint but not with paint:

First, the paint-with-water books. Not much creativity or self-

expression, since the pictures and the colors are chosen for you, 

but good for young kids learning to use a brush and older kids 

learning more advanced brush control and water use. And the 

magically-appearing colors are of course fascinating for little 

minds who haven't yet grasped the un-magic chemistry behind it all.

Observe the very un-messy table - hurrah!

Next, watercolor pencils.

You use them like regular color pencils and then paint over them 

with water to create water-color paint effects. Or, as Jenna likes 

to do, dip the pencil tips in water and draw with them so they come 

out smudgy and like paint. Pardon the seasonally-inappropriate 

drawing below - it was the only thing that came to mind when I was 

sitting at the kitchen table drawing yesterday - a simple example 

of how to (badly) fake a watercolor painting. 

                                                      Before water                  After water

For an even more arty outcome, make a faint black and white 

photocopy of a landscape on vellum, then color it in with the 

pencils, and brush over it with water. 

Watercolor crayons and normal blackboard or sidewalk chalk 

work the same way.

Finally, bleeding art tissue.

Very versatile, this bleeding tissue. Comes in a pack like this:

which you can cut shapes out of, or just use in big pieces

Emily did this in preschool and was very excited to show Jenna 

and me how it was done. Essentially, the tissue paper is put on 

the background paper, and a brush dipped in water is used to wet 

it so that the dye stains the paper underneath. 

Creates a nice watercolor effect - unless, like Jenna, you paint 

too forcefully and turn the background paper 

into a stencil for the table underneath.

Still, Jenna produced some nice tie-dye-ing in her piece, 

by using a lot of water. And with big random-shaped pieces 

of the tissue paper, you can make your own batik wrapping paper!

The Doll Party- Nuts and Bolts

It is often a challenge to fight (and be victorious over) the insidious 

merchandizing and commercializing out there when it is time to hold 

a birthday party. Emily loves princesses, dolls, fairies and all things 

girlish. And she always wants Dora, Strawberry Shortcake, Barbie, 

Cinderella (and her Disney cronies) whenever she thinks about toys, 

parties and presents. I prefer old-fashioned non-character stuff to the 

pink-and-glitter plastic in the stores, but I also want Emily to like 

how her parties turn out. So we try to compromise and I try to help 

her see that it's OK not to have stuff that everyone else seems to have. 

Unique is good, not bad, and handmade unique, 

while risky, might be even better. 

This year we had a Doll Party. 

You can read the full post in the family blog but, on the advice 

of a good friend, I'm posting here too so I can include all the 

other goodies like How Tos and supplies and sources and stuff 

that would send regular people into a coma. 

Still interested? Then read on!

First, the welcome activity:

We'd done bead-stringing to death at last year's Princess party, so this 

year we hopped on the Peg doll bandwagon and made our own peg dolls. 

No paint, of course- too messy for a group of little kids, so we used 

fabric scraps, ribbon, white glue and fine-tip permanent markers. 

Nothing makes me happy like a table laid with colorful craft stuff 

ready to be attacked by little hands! 

Incidentally, the wooden blanks came from here although I've seen 

them at Michaels sold in pairs. We only made girl dolls (the ones 

with the skirts) at the party but I also have the peg people blanks 

shaped like other family members and thought you might like a 

picture of them, with a clothespeg for size reference. 

Isn't the tiny baby to die for? 

I've been inspired by some extremely talented people who have done 

marvelous things with their peg and spool dolls. Someday when the 

kids are older, I plan to paint our own family dolls. Until then, they 

sit in my project box with about 20 containers of acrylic paint and 

varnish, taunting me.

Next, the game:

For want of a better name, we called it Dress The Dolly - 

a variation of Pin-The-Tail-On-The-Donkey.

Essentially it's a picture of a doll drawn on posterboard/vanguard 

sheets, with accessories for sticking on the picture. I used my old 

pungent art markers bought about 15 years ago from Art Friend:

Make enough accessories for each guest to draw one from a bag, 

stick a loop of masking tape behind them and have each blindfolded 

participant try and stick that accessory as close to the actual spot as 

they can. At the end, have everyone vote on who did best 

and that person wins. 

The picture on the left was how it would have turned out if 

everyone could see. The picture on the right was how the 

8 blindfolded, giggling girls did. 

Look - two games in one - let's Spot The Differences! 

Incidentally, the purse/handbag-sticker won. 

And this was her prize:

- a big (10") brown stuffed gingerbread dolly made of scrap fleece, 

buttons and ric-rac trims. 

Everyone else got mini-versions of this, with embroidered details 

(too tiny for ric-rac).

The food:

It was a lunch party, so apart from pizza (which I did not make), 

we had doll sugar cookies. I prefer my sugar cookies thin and crisp 

to chewy, and these were rolled out the day before, cut out with 

gingerbread boy and girl cutters, baked and then frosted. 

The hair and eyes was simply chocolate chips melted in the 

microwave and piped from a small plastic bag (like Ziploc) 

with a corner snipped off. The clothes were piped the same way 

with tinted frosting. 

The doll cake:

This was a boxed cake-mix. There is nothing like a good made-from-

scratch cake but I have made peace with myself about waiting till the 

kids are older to do the fancy gourmet stuff. Till then, Betty Crocker's 

French Vanilla supermoist thingammybob in a box is very, very good!

This was made in a rectangular pyrex dish, and then cut to shape 

when it was cool. The fun part was decorating it, and all it took was a 

little star nozzle and a plastic bag. Oh, and three sleeping kids. Phew. 

Other excuses to further the doll theme:

Emily wanted a pinata and I was tempted to make a papier mache one 

from an old favorite craft book I'd had as a child. But I decided to wait 

till she and Jenna were old enough to help with (and enjoy) the paper 

pulp and save it for another birthday. So we bought an inexpensive one, 

left it undecorated (since it was going to be bludgeoned to death 

anyway) and saved the fancy doll motifs for the goodie bags. Here 

are the dressed-up plain brown lunch bags to contain the candy 

from the pinata and all the other takeaways from the party.

Why is that little pink one in the bottom row nameless? you ask. 

Emily drew it before she lost interest in the party prep 

and it was too precious to give away.

And finally, the blowouts. Emily was really passionate about wanting 

"the things that go "whee" when you blow on them and they shoot out" 

at her party. She'd tell anyone who mentioned her upcoming party 

that she was going to have them. We had to improvise with cardstock/

vanguard sheets and glitter glue, of course, since store-bought ones 

weren't likely to have weird bald doll/gingerbread-person themed ones. 

Tomorrow, Emily has to bring a blue item to preschool and she's 

picked the blue blowout. Minus the doll decor, which had become 

damp and fallen off from overuse. Yes, she saved her bare blowout, 

so highly favored as a plaything has it become.

Which reminds me - I need to get the thank-you cards done. Oops.

Dress-up Clothes

Two years ago just before Jenna was born, I started sewing dress-up 

clothes for Emily. She was two years old and beginning to be very 

interested in pretend play. So I began with simple things in response 

to whatever she was playing at the time. She was cooking and baking 

a lot, both with plastic food and real dough with me in the kitchen, 

so I made her an apron, chef's hat and oven mitts

which she wore even when not playing kitchen. 

Perhaps because it was her only dress-up outfit at the time.

Then she wanted a medical career, and a library book about a 

fictitious Dr Amy Baker so captivated her that she became Dr. Baker. 

So she got a lab coat to go with her doctor accessories 

(no, I did not make the bag).

Then Jenna was born, and life was a flurry of feeding, restless nights 

and adjusting to life with two small children. 

No fancy sewing for a while - just good old bibs.

The following Halloween, Emily wanted to go trick-or-treating, 

and she wanted to go as a princess. In the cold. So I made her a 

princess outfit from strips of fleece in my remnant box (hence 

the panel skirt). The more I worked at it, the more paranoid I 

became that she would freeze in it, and the more elaborate the 

project became as I added more stuff to it - longer sleeves, then 

a shiny cloak, then a fleece lining to the cloak.

And just for the sake of completeness, I also made a tiara from 

chenille stems and whatever plastic beads we had in the house, 

using this tutorial. Emily never wore the tiara but it was fun 

to make it anyway.

She did wear the dress, though, over a turtleneck and pants. And 

even with the cape, she greeted the neighbors on her rounds 

through chattering teeth. 

Then Kate was born and, as with Jenna, I reverted to comfort 

sewing (i.e. bibs). And conveniently, Emily took a break from career 

exploration and embraced commercial girlishness, contentedly 

alternating between Princess and Ballerina, with the occasional 

Fairy variation. This fairy skirt is simply strips of fabric sewed 

onto an elastic waistband.

But with the typical attention span of a preschooler, she was soon back 

to trying out non-traditional careers, pulling Jenna along for the ride 

as well. So one Bob-the-Builder day, I was moved to 

make them both toolbelts. 

And henceforth, with two dresser-uppers, I now had to make 

two of everything, like these felt-and-ribbon star wands

and doubles of stuff Emily already has, so they could be, 

in Jenna's words, "twins together".

Halloween is almost upon us again, and Emily is entertaining 

unfeasible costume ideas, totally inappropriate for October 

temperatures on this side of the world. Am planning to use peer 

pressure on her and convince her to dress in normal clothes 

like the rest of the neighbors.

And finally, here's a kitchen ensemble for the daughter of a friend

(Look out for them in the post, G!). 

These are (I think) improved versions 

of the adjustable chef's hat,

elasticized apron,

oven mitts that actually fit

and a canvas tool belt for her son

Will post tutorials for these soon, for those interested in making them.

What career dress-up clothes or costumes shall I make next? 

As the three girls get older, the possibilities are endless - 

although the Three Little Pigs come immediately to mind.

I'd love to hear your ideas!