Upcycling with SALS - Day 4 - Avery Apron with Scraps

Hey folks! It’s Trissa again! Isn’t Maxine the absolute cutest? If you missed any of her upcycling tutorials, be sure to use the links below to check them out! Such a great way to reuse old clothes, or repurpose things you don’t use anymore for something else. There is fabric everywhere. You don’t have to just get it from a fabric shop!

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Schedule

Day 1: Intro + Inspo
Day 2: Polo tutorial
Day 3: Juniper dress with and without collar
Day 4: Avery Apron with Scraps
Day 5: Catch up Day

If you haven’t checked out the Avery Apron from Sew a Little Seam, it’s FREE when you sign up for the newsletter! It fits chest sizes between 19″ and 51″ with multiple different options to choose from. This one that I’m going to show you is constructed a little different than in the instructions because I quilted it! This is perfect for scrap busting but it does require binding, which isn’t my favorite, but it turned out so cute. Totally worth it.

Since I use I projector for sewing, I projected the pattern onto my mat and then marked the outside of the main pieces with washi tape. Originally I was going to do the gathered bottom with the top. You will see as we continue below that I definitely changed my mind! (Gathering would have been a little harder to gather with all the seams. I definitely suggest the solid options for scrap busting this way.) Place your scraps on the mat in whatever order you’d like. The scraps I used were extras from the quilt I made my daughter, so they were already cut into nice squares and rectangles for me.

Make sure it is big enough to fit your pattern on when it’s folded in half! And don’t forget to account for the seam allowance when sewing all the pieces together. Basically, just sew a bunch of scraps together until it’s big enough to fit your pattern pieces on.

I used a 1/4″ seam allowance and pressed my seams open. I sewed each row separately before sewing them together. **If your cotton fabric isn’t the best quality, make sure you use a slightly bigger seam allowance!

You can see below that I since changed my mind and decided to do the solid option. Here is my main fabric sewed and ready to be cut out! I used a solid piece for my lining/back fabric. Since I’m going to be quilting the two fabrics together, I used a basting spray to hold the fabrics together and added a few pins once my design was drawn on.

Since I’m adding binding instead of sewing both pieces together and turned it out, I did go and trim the seam allowance 3/8″ all the way around.

Don’t forget to press everything really well.

I waited to trim the quilted side until after I quilted it. I used these little hexagons to make the pattern, used a water soluble fabric marker and went to town!

Once your apron is all quilted and trimmed, you are ready to add your binding! You can purchase ready made binding or make your own. I prefer to purchase because it’s just easier, but I made it this time so it would be all matchy matchy! You will start off by binding the top of the apron. I like double fold binding so it looks nice and crisp on both sides. (Hello reversible!)

Once the binding is sewn on the top, you are ready to add the biding all the way around your apron. You will be using the binding as your strap ties as well, so make sure you mark on your binding where to start binding on your apron. I just did one side and then trimmed the other side to be the correct length after it was sewn on.

Whew! Those curves can get a little tricky so take your time. If you don’t know how to do a mitered corner with binding, you can check out this video here.

Once you have the binding sewn on, flip it around to the wrong side and use all the clips! I highly suggest pressing it really well, making sure your initial seam is covered by the binding before sewing all the way around.

Before you sew, you will want to fold the raw edge of your binding to the wrong side and stitch the end. Once that’s done, you are ready to sew all the way around! You can either stitch in the ditch or sew very close to the seam. I prefer sewing close to the seam since there is a better chance of catching all the fabric on the other side.

Look how beautiful that looks! Now it’s time to add the side tie!

For the center tie piece, you will need to trim the sides if you trimmed your apron. You want 3/8″ on either side so your seam will match up with the side of the apron. Sew the long tie ends to the center piece, fold in half with long sides together and sew all the way around. Make sure you leave an opening to turn the strap right-side-out and don’t forget to trim the corners. Turn the strap right-side-out and give it a nice press, making sure to tuck in the seam allowance where your opening is. Pin it in place and sew all the way around, close to the edge. this will also close the opening in your strap.