Apron Sew-A-Long Part 2

Are you all ready for part 2 of the apron sew-a-long?  My apologies for not posting two weeks ago like I was supposed to.  We went camping and I forgot about my post – oops.  Love those long holiday weekends, but it messes with my mental calendar and makes me think that Tuesday is really Monday.

If you need a refresher of where we left off, please peek at this post.

Now that the apron is all cut out, we get to start sewing!  First up is tackling the pockets.  Remember I’m using McCall’s 2947.  The instructions for McCall’s 5358 should be very similar, but I didn’t check them out so I have no idea if they follow exactly.

On the front page of your instruction sheet you see the bottom is titled “Sewing Directions”.  It shows the first step is attaching the pockets.  I honestly don’t follow the directions exactly.  I do my own thing with pockets. You’re welcome to follow their directions of you can follow mine.  My are a little simpler and that is the beauty of sewing, you can construct things how you want to.

First I fold down the top raw edge of the pocket 1″ and press to crease.  If you use your eagle eye, you can see this is actually the top of the apron and not the pocket.  I went ahead and did the pockets and apron top in all at the same time (apparently I don’t follow directions very well).  So you might as well just press the top of your apron over 1″ at the same time as you’re working on the pockets and get that part done too.

Next you need to finish the raw edge so it doesn’t unravel in the wash.  If you have a serger or some sort of overlock function on your sewing machine you can finish the top edge of your pocket(s) and top of apron that way.  I chose to use my pinking sheer blade rotary cutter to treat these edges.

Next you stitch down the top fold so it stays in place on both the pocket(s) and apron top.

Set aside your main apron piece and we’re going to focus solely on the pockets.  You need to fold the remaining three edges to the inside using a 5/8″ seam allowance (aka fold your raw edges in so they measure 5/8″ on your little seam gauge ruler).  Press.

Now place your pocket(s) on the front of your apron using the pattern piece as a guide.  Remember the pattern piece is only a guide so if you like your pocket(s) placed differently (i.e. higher, lower, closer together, etc) do what you like.  Afterall this is YOUR apron! 🙂  Also a reminder that I made two square-ish pockets because I personally like two pockets.  This is the reason I sew, so I can do what I want. 🙂  When you have your pockets just right, pin them in place on your main apron piece.

The pockets are now ready to be stitched down.  For a professional look, stitch close to the edge of the pocket (about 1/8″).  I use my edgestitching foot as you can see in the photo.  The edgestitching foot makes it so easy to sew in a straight line.  My stitch length is a 3 on my machine.

Next stitch about 1/4″ away from your first stitch line again at a stitch length of 3.  If you used an edgestitching foot, you’ll need to put your regular foot back on before completing this step.  You’ll end up with two lines of stitching about 1/4″ apart.  This makes a nice, durable pocket.

Viola, the pockets are finished!

Let me know if anything is unclear, until next time…Happy Sewing!