The lazy girl's guide to making an apron.

I went through a blip in 2009 where I got a wee bit obsessed and made two aprons in a day. One was covered in American flags and frilly, and the other was made from an offcut I found at Walmart with dolphins on it (sadly, no evidence of this abomination exists).
Here is a picture of my housemate at the time regretting he'd stayed in that day:

Anyway, from what I remember, making that apron was a huge headache because I used some McCall's pattern that doesn't even exist any more which involved a bunch of ruching and turning shit inside out and *eurgh* using an iron.
Well, when I got my kit list for university, there was an apron on there that I blindly bought from the company. It was a crappy piece of white plastic that was barely waterproof and for some reason had the pocket on it sewn up. Sick of using a useless apron, I re-discovered a PVC offcut in the back of my wardrobe and set about making myself something that should last until I can afford my own studio. 


You will need:

•  PVC. Fabric backed is best. They sell it in places like John lewis for people to use as tablecloths. My piece was about 1m by 150 which left me with a touch left over when I'd finished.
• Woven fabric tape. You can also use ribbon but it's less durable. Roughly 2m
• Sewing stuff- synthetic thread, pins, sharp scissors, sewing machine
• An existing apron that fits you the way you want you new one to.

Lay your existing apron out onto your PVC. I used the lower apron here, the hideous tie-dye one because it's straight sides saved me time cutting out.

I turned it round so I got a better fit and more left over and then pinned it in place. PVC is a bitch to pin because it's not very flexible.

Cut it out and shove the other crappy apron back into the kitchen.

I had to even up the top because it ended up wonky. Okay, now take your tape, pin it in place, unwind some more of the tape and pin it where you think it should go on the other side.

Try it on. Take it on and off a few times to make sure you've made enough room for your big ol' head. When you're satisfied it's the right length, cut the tape (oh yeah, make sure you've got a good inch or so in contact with the PVC). Now take your tape ends, fold over a couple of times and zig-zag them up so they don't fray.

This is a bad shot because you can see a fraying bit, but I trimmed that. Pin your tape back in place, and with a straight stitch sew it in place. You want to make a square (or square-ish shape) with a cross in the middle. This is how bag handles are usually attached and it makes for a strong join.

Now measure out tape for your back ties. I measured mine out against a different apron I had because the ugly apron had way too long tapes.

Cut them, zig-zag them, sew them in place exactly as you did for the top loop.

There you go. One apron. I stuck a big pocket on the front but it's camouflage. To make a pocket, just cut one out of your offcut and sew in place with straight stitch. There's no need to fold any of it over because PVC doesn't fray (which was the only godsend when working with the stuff). 


And that's how you become the best dressed person in the ceramics workshop.