August 3, 2020

DIY Cross Back Apron Design

I’ve been browsing the internet pretty regularly looking for a more practical Cross Back Apron Design for months now. I’m in the Kitchen baking nearly every day and wind up covered in flour. On top of that, I spend a lot of time out in the shop getting covered in Sawdust. The idea of a comfortable and versatile apron has been brewing in my mind for a while and this design concept just really made sense for all day comfort. I saw a version of this as a Butcher’s Apron and another as a Garden Apron and knew this was one I could re-imagine!

The measurements for this pattern were based off the scraps I had leftover from a Curtain Project. The cut pieces ended up being:

10″ x 15″ – Top
30″ x 40″ – Bottom
28″ x 6″ – Straps (x2)
9″ x 11″ – Pocket

I started by hemming all four sides of the top piece and then pinning it to the center of the skirt/bottom. I wasn’t 100% sure of how big I wanted the top, but knew I could always hem it in more if it seemed too big. Turns out, this size was EXACTLY what I was hoping for, so it worked out perfectly! After pinning the top and bottom pieces together, I sewed 1/4″ seam across the top of the skirt to attach them.

Once I had the top and bottom sewn together, I got the pocket ready to sew down. I sewed a hem along the top edge of the pocket, but then I used my Quilting Clips to fold over the edges 1/4″. I wanted the stitching to look intentional and didn’t want two lines, so instead of hemming it and then sewing it down, I folded the edges over, then pinned the whole piece to the apron.

Once the pocket was folded and placed in the center of the “skirt”, I was able to sew it down with a 1/4″ seam that looked uniform all the way around.

Last but not least come the criss cross straps! To sew the straps, I opted to cut 6″ wide strips that I could fold in half and sew down one side. I put a 1/4″ seam down the side and flipped them right side out for 2.5″ wide straps.

I wanted to attach these to the body and skirt with minimal and intentional straight lines. So instead of hemming the skirt and then adding the straps, I folded the straps into the top piece as well as the skirt to create straight seams attaching the straps and hemming the rest of the rough edges.

By folding the rough edges of the top around the strap, I could hem and attach the strap in one seam

To help attach the straps to the back, I recruited my husband to help me clip them into place. This was a time where having a dress form would have really come in handy, but, he did a great job getting them folded into the skirt evenly.

I slipped out of the apron, squared up the straps a little to get them even on both sides and then clipped the rough edge of the skirt to create a straight line from the strap to the bottom hem.