Stitchy Saturday: Fat Quarter Apron

Who says that a) you can't be adorable while you toil away in the kitchen or b) that a fat quarter that you love has to be relegated to a quilt? I say, embrace the fabrics that you love and make yourself the envy of every other kitchen guru at the same time...

This apron takes one fat quarter, a half-yard of coordinating fabric, trim (if you desire), and about an hour!

The first thing that I did, since I am addicted to rick rack, was attach a piece

across the bottom of my apron fabric. I then ripped three pieces of the coordinating

fabric 6 inches wide by 44 inches long. Don't do what I did and choose a 

"floppy" fabric (I wanted to bust some of my stash) and choose something that

will stand up to pressing better.

Next, I cut one of the strips to the width of the fat quarter to be the bottom.

I folded it in half, pressed it, pinned right sides together and stitched.

After pressing open the seam, I folded over the edges of the long sides and 

stitched to make finished side hems.

The next bit was a bit tricky. If you have any problems, please leave me a comment

and I will try to clear the up. So...I took the leftover piece of coordinating fabric

from the bottom edge and the two other 6"x44" pieces and stitched them together

with the short piece in the middle. Then pin and stitch the waistband section of the this

long piece directly over the main body of the apron, right sides together.

Here's where it gets slightly more difficult: Fold over the entire waistband/ties section 

and press. pin JUST the ties but NOT the center section (the waistband) directly over the 

main body. This is where you will pull out the ties once they are stitched and turn them right side out.

After you pin the ties, stitch them shut. You can either angle the corners, like I did, by

pivoting your needle or stitch them straight. Once they are closed, pull them out

via the opening you left in the waist band.

Finally, top stitch the opening shut to complete the apron. At this time, you could zig zag, 

use a decorative stitch or add another piece of trim. Lastly press the waistband and ties to make a

nice crisp edge. Unfortunately, my fabric was a little too floppy for that, but I still adore it!