How To Make A Zippered Money Apron
As I’ve previously mentioned we’re going on the road which of course means there’s been a ton of things to think about and organise, one of which is what would we do with money on the day. If you follow me on Instagram then you will have seen me whip up some of these aprons a few weeks ago and I’m really please with how they’ve turned out. I had a few criteria, I wanted them to have a zip, I wanted a pocket for my phone and I wanted to make them from denim so they were super durable and wouldn’t need any kind of interfacing and most importantly so the Plush Boys would be happy to wear them. I didn’t want any kind of seam at the bottom of the apron to eliminate bulk and save myself a step. You could equally use 2 smaller pieces of fabric for the aprons and sew at the bottom but for some reason I was quite set on not having a bottom seam (maybe I am worried all of my money might fall out!) These aprons would be perfect for you to use at a craft fair if you have any coming up and will keep all your pennies safe and secure.
This apron is quite generous in size because a) I have a fat tummy and b) Joseph and Jon (Mr Plush) who will also be sporting these are men, and men need bigger things. Fact. I would suggest holding up a piece of fabric where you’d like the apron to sit and measuring it to get a size which suits you.
You will need
- 1 x piece of medium to heavy weight denim 22″ x 28″
- 2 x pieces of denim for the ties 3″ x 60″ (or 3″ x WOF – width of fabric – it depends on how long you want your ties)
- 1 x 22″ zip (Grab a cheeky 10% discount off your next Zip purchase with ZIPPEDUP10 One time use per customer.)
- 2 x pieces of home dec weight fabric for the inside pocket. Mine each measured 7″ x 18″ which gave me a long pocket along the inside back of the apron
- Denim thread
- Denim machine needles (I used a 90/14)
Step 1: Prepare Your Main Fabric
Cut and press your main fabric as detailed below. Overlock/ serge the edges (optional).
Step 2: Add embellishment (optional)
I decided to embroider our shop logo on to the front of the apron on the right hand side. This is entirely optional, but lovely! I placed the centre of the design (which measures 10 x 6cm) as below
Step 3: Add inside pocket
With RST (right sides together) stitch your 2 pockets pieces together and leave a turning gap of a couple of inches. Once sewn clip the corners.
Turn to the right side and press (a chopstick is very handy for poking out all of the seams)
Top stitch the top of the pocket only (see my top stitching tips here)
Pin your pocket on to the apron where you’d like the inside pocket to sit and stitch around 3 sides.
Step 4: Add the Zipper
Place the zip face down on to the right side of the fabric and pin/ clip (Wonder Clips are awesome for this). Think about which side you want the zip pull when closed (I placed it on the left as I’m right handed)
Stitch using your zipper foot. Once stitched press the fabric flat making sure the zipper tape is flat too.
Top stitch along the zipper using a longer stitch length (I used 3mm)
Repeat for the other side
Press your apron
Step 5: Make and Insert The Ties
Take your 3″ strips of fabric and press in half length ways. Then fold each edge to align with the centre you’ve just pressed and press again. You should have 3 pressed lines.
Fold in the 2 edges to the centre and then fold in half again. Clip.
Stitch the open side closed using a longer stitch length, I used 3.5mm as there’s 4 layers of denim here. Repeat on the other long side.
** Note that as my ties are the full width of the fabric the selvedges are at the end of each of my ties. I liked the tufty look so left them as they were but you might want to fold your ends in first if you want to conceal them)
To insert your ties turn your apron inside out and re-press along the top and bottom.
Insert your ties approx. 1″ from the top of the apron and clip/ pin. Sew along the sides with a 1/2″ seam re-inforcing the stitching 3 times or so over the ties and zip.
Repeat for the other side remembering to leave the zip partly open so you can turn your apron.
Step 6: Create the Divider Pockets
Turn your apron to the right side and press. Fold your apron in half and press again to mark the half way point to make your divider pockets. Mark the line with a fabric marker.
Sew along your marked line stitching through all the layers from the bottom of the apron to the zip.
You’re done! Congrats!
The darker denim apron is mine and I couldn’t resist inserting a pop of colour at the zip and I managed to use some Echino stag scraps I’ve been holding on to for ages for my inside pockets. Love him!
I hope this is helpful. If you make one please post to our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages and tag us @plushaddict, thanks!
Here we are modelling after the event. I can report that they all held up well, and will see their next outing at Duxford Quilt Show!
(Grab a cheeky 10% discount off your next Zip purchase with ZIPPEDUP10 One time use per customer.)
A Guide To Fleece Fabrics
I wrote this article a few months ago and was originally published in the November issue of Sewing World Magazine but I’m sharing it here for those that missed the publication at the time. This was the second in a series of four fabric guides I wrote for the magazine, which I thoroughly enjoyed. A big thank you to Emma at Mummy & Millie’s Boutique for helping me out with the fleecey makes! (more…)
What Is Cotton Drill? A Fabric Guide
I love cotton drill. It’s very versatile and is a great utility fabric that we stock in some very vibrant colours and best of all it’s really great value too. Drill has a twill weave which makes it a very strong, dense medium to heavy weight fabric. It’s a really popular choice for uniforms and work clothes but the vibrant colours lends itself to all sorts of other exciting garments including both tailored and casual designs, as well as children’s wear and home furnishings. It’s even used to line shoes! (more…)
A Rainbow Kona Cotton Peppermint Swirl Dress
Happy new year! Did you all have a good Christmas? I hope you managed to grab some rest in amongst the mayhem and are feeling ready to take on 2015, I know I certainly am. November and December are pretty hectic months for me, Christmas aside everyone I know has a birthday in November. OK, that’s an exaggeration, but with husband and daughter having their birthdays just a few days apart plus two of my besties also enjoying November birthdays within a few days it seems to feel like it’s that way.
I did squeeze in a make of a rather splend dress for Little Plush for her birthday party, have you seen the Peppermint Swirl Dress by Candy Castle Patterns? I saw it quite some time ago and knew immediately it was the perfect special occasion frock, what little girl wouldn’t love to twirl around in a dress like this? Little Plush certainly did!
A special occasion dress it most certainly is, each one of the 14 skirt flounces takes a fat quarter of fabric and the entire dress used around 4.5m of fabric in all, pretty punchy for a toddler sized dress! Each of the skirt flounces is made from two curved pieces of fabric and there just isn’t any way you can get the shape of the skirt and be frugal, there’s a lot of wastage (I prefer to think that my quilt scraps have had a boost) but I think it’s worth it for such a special dress. I’ve seen some beautiful two colour Peppermint Swirl dresses made up but when deciding which colours to use I was automatically drawn to using a rainbow from Robert Kaufman’s Kona cotton, a no brainer as there are 303 colours to choose from. If you wanted to recreate this dress then the shades I used were Geranium for the bodice, Corn Yellow for the ties, Azalea, Kumquat, Lipstick, Parrot and Peacock (plus Geranium & Corn Yellow) in the skirt.
The pattern comes in 12 sizes ranging from 6m to 10 years and it also additionally benefits from both a slim and regular sizes. According to the measurements on the pattern I should have been making up a size 3 slim for Little Plush but I was warned before hand that it came up quite big so I decided to measure out the actual pattern pieces to compare measurements and I made a bit of a boob. I measured very carefully and worked out I should be making up a 2 slim BUT I forgot to take off the seam allowances when I was measuring – doh! The 2 slim fitted but if I’d have put a zip or button closure in she wouldn’t have had much room for birthday cake so I ended up just using a single heart shaped KAM snap fastener at the back at the top of the dress which was cute and worked out fine, especially as the long ties kept it from gaping. A regular size 2 would have been perfect.
I generally hate PDF patterns, all that sticking and cutting tends to confuse me and no matter how well laid out the pattern is I always seem to end up with a small triangle of paper which I can’t work out should be destined for the bin, or is in search of a pattern piece mate, but the pattern was easy to cut out and put together and each size was colour coded. Cutting out the skirt flounces was made easier as I made a template from a couple of sheets of quilter’s plastic template and I was able to cut out 4 flounce parts at once using my lovely 28mm Olfa (I can’t recommend the smaller Olfa enough for cutting round patterns – it saves loads of time and is so easy to manoeuvre around pattern pieces).
The whole pattern was very clearly laid out and the photos and instructions were detailed and easy to follow. It’s billed as suitable for “an adventurous beginner” and without an overlocker/ serger. I’d question both of these points, particularly about the overlocker. Yes it would be possible to sew without one but I wouldn’t recommend it if you are a beginner too. If you’ve got some experience under your belt then I’m sure it’d be fine without an overlocker but you may swear. A lot. (Who am I to stand in your way if you are an overlocker-less beginner?! I fully prepare to stand corrected!)
Essentially when sewing the skirt flounces you are sewing a convex and a concave curve together which like to spiral in opposite directions. It really is one of the strangest things I’ve ever sewn but seeing the skirt come together was magical, I loved it!
The flounces love to spiral!
It’s a pretty amazing pattern
I did hem the dress originally with bias tape as I was hoping to get a stiffer, more pronounced wave to the skirt hem when “at rest” but it just didn’t work well, perhaps I had “sewing on the curve fatigue” by that point. I think it would have been better to have used a narrower bias tape then the 25mm I used. I ended up unpicking all 8m of it and finishing with a rolled hem on my overlocker in the end.
Do I love the dress? OhGodYeah! Despite its imperfections which I shall aim to iron out on the next one I think it’s pretty damn awesome. Definitely a proud mummy moment as she twirled and twirled and seeing her face light up with it on was priceless. This dress isn’t a quick make (by toddler dress standards) but I definitely see another on the horizon. I might give the skirt a whirl next which will probably get a bit more wear than the dress.
There is an adult sized version too, I’ve not even looked how much fabric that might take! What do you reckon? Are you tempted to give the Peppermint Swirl dress a go?