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Sewing Shenanigans - Potholder Apron

2/4/2013

5 Comments

 
So I saw this adorable idea on Pinterest the other day.  I don't have a Pinterest account, but I do regularly see "pins" on Facebook and this particular one caught my eye.  An easy apron you can make out of a potholder and a dishtowel?

Color me intrigued.

So off I go to find a cute potholder / dishtowel duo that can serve as my base.  Here's what I found (Walmart for $3!):

Picture
The set came with two square potholders, a mitt, three towels and a washcloth.  Not bad for $3.  Material definitely isn't the best, but I figure $3 on a practice project is $3 well spent, especially when I can get several projects outta the pack!

So anyway, I decided to give the project a go tonight after I picked up the pink ribbon you see above.

I cut the towel a little less than halfway through.  I wanted the pattern of little cupcakes to still show up in a way that didn't look odd when completed.  Unfortunately, I underestimated the fabric allowance I'd need to fold over to sew a decent looking seam.  As a result, the lines aren't straight again and I think the cupcakes ended up being on a slight angle.  Meh... gives it some character.  *Grin*

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Pinning this way was not my smartest move.
Picture
Totally zigged when I shoulda zagged.
From here I decided I should attempt to fold down the corners of my little rectangle so I could sew the potholder onto the towel.  I eye-balled two triangles on either side of the top and sewed them in place.  I didn't take pictures of this part - though I really should've - because I didn't want to stop since I'd finally gotten things working right.

Those triangles taught me the importance of having an iron handy.  I don't think I'd've been able to sew those seams closed had I not had the iron to help me make the creases that would hold down the fabric.  So yes!  Irons really DO make all the difference in the world.  Who knew?

Once the triangles were in place, I took on the potholder.  I measured the seam out to where I thought it should go.  GLORIOUS mistake on this one.  Since I was sewing backside (to keep the stitch colors where I wanted them) I didn't see that my measurement was way off until I flipped the pieces over to view my not-so-handy-work.  I actually laughed.  This is what it looked like:
Picture
That's not under the cupcake!!!
Oh well.  I figured I may as well continue making as many mistakes as possible with this one.  Get 'em out of the way so when I try my hand at this again, I won't have so many goofs to take photos of.  Ha ha!

Once the potholder was attached, I decided to put a ribbon across the center as a little belt.  It'd cover the stitching error and would add a touch of cute (as if cupcakes weren't adorable enough!).  


So I grabbed the ribbon and was pleasantly surprised to find that it folded out into 2 inch fabric!  It's not real ribbon... it's something called bias tape.  Worked for me!  

So I unfolded it out and cut a center piece for the belt.  Again, I eye-balled it since I'm not really sure what I'd be measuring anyway since I didn't start out with any sizes.  I then folded those and sewed the ends into place. 
Picture
Note to self: Choose ribbon that is actually opaque next time.
I decided against sewing the belt down the center because after I secured both sides, it actually sat pretty flat against the potholder.  I felt that adding a sewing line would be silly. Granted, I would've gotten practice sewing in a straight line, but I think it looks cute enough without the line and I do plan to give this to my niece.  


Anyway, after the belt was secured, I attached the ribbons to tie in the back and around the neck.  Those were simple enough.  Once completed, I was pretty pleased with myself.  It took me about an hour and a half to accomplish (mostly because I was fighting with my machine), but all in all, this was a really good practice run and I learned a few new things about my machine and the sewing process.  Plus, I feel like I'm an expert threader now that I've had to do it about a bazillion times.

Win-win, right?

Here's the trial run apron.  Can't wait to see what the 2nd one looks like!

I sincerely hope a year from now I have enough practice that I can look back at this photo and cringe in horror.  Right now, though, I'm basking in my success, even if it's the messy sort.  :)
Picture
I think I'm gonna do blue ribbons for the ties next go around...
5 Comments
Kathryn H.
2/5/2013 04:41:17 am

"Meh... gives it some character."

I love that! You are having *way* too much fun. (I bet your niece will never take that apron off!) ;-)

Reply
Gina
2/5/2013 05:27:50 pm

I am, I am!!! Learning new things really is so much fun, especially things you never in a million years thought you could do.

I'm no sewing expert, but the fact that I can actually use a machine and make it sorta listen to me is... it's just incredible! Exhilarating, even!

Reply
Bee
2/7/2013 02:36:51 pm

From your post: "Once the triangles were in place, I took on the potholder. I measured the seam out to where I thought it should go. GLORIOUS mistake on this one. Since I was sewing backside (to keep the stitch colors where I wanted them) I didn't see that my measurement was way off until I flipped the pieces over to view my not-so-handy-work. "
Hey Gina, if I understand what you were doing, this may be a place where machine basting would have come in handy. You could have used big wide stitches to sew from the back side to hold it where you wanted. Then you could have checked it looked okay from the front. Also you could then do the top sewing you want, then rip out the machine basting easily. Also, so right about the pinning. You have to pin perpendicular to your sewing, so you can take the pins out. But because your seam is so narrow, it's hard to pin, so ironing to crease your seam can help here too. These narrow seams double folded over are hard to finish nicely and straight. But you did a nice job.
But I love this idea, so cute, and so inexpensive. What a fun project!

Reply
Bee
2/8/2013 10:26:21 am

Hey Gina: One more thing about uses for basting: I was looking at the Pinterest site you mentioned, Flexible Dreams, where you got the idea for this apron, and I wanted to mention another thing about how a machine basting is used. Amy put pleats in the "skirt" and pinned them, but if you want to "gather" fabric to create pleats like she has, you would machine baste on the seam allowance along the edge where you want to gather the fabric, (you usually sew two basting lines about 1/2" apart to make it easier to gather the fabric) then gently pull the threads to form the pleats. When you have the fabric gathered like you want it, you can either sew it to hold the gathers where you want, or if you are attaching it to another piece that is not gathered, you "fit" it (pull the threads to make the gathered piece the right length to match the ungathered piece) then machine baste them together so you can check that the gathers are even and look nice.
YouTube has tons of instructional sewing lessons to help you to see how things are done. I typed in "sewing machine basting gathers" in the YouTube search engine and got lots of videos showing how to do it. Some are better than others, but I think YouTube would be a great resource to help you as you are learning to sew. Can't wait to see how your second apron turns out!

Reply
Gina
2/9/2013 06:57:21 am

YouTube is a great idea! I've been getting lots of online help, but I never thought of YouTube. Thanks!

As for the basting, that would've made some sense, huh? Thanks for the feedback. It's through this sort of trial and error (and feedback!) that I think I'll end up getting halfway decent at this. :)

<3!

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