Denim Aprons
I made some aprons from the Blue Sparrow crew the other day and i figured id put pictures up of the process. I was watching a show on Netflix about a bunch of chefs competing, and they all had a really cool apron style on that I really liked. After searching for an hour or so, not knowing the brand name, I was able to find a them. To my surprise the cheapest one was selling for $85 and I found that to be ridiculous. I am not going to say the brand name because I totally stole their design and re created it myself, and this is how.
Sewing has always been a hobby of mine, usually about once a year I break out my Nana’s sewing machine and take on a task that inspires me. Usually this happens around midnight and I end up spending the whole night sewing and figuring out stitches from scratch. Last year it was a pair of jeans made from Thread International fabric which has its origins in recycled trash from Haiti. When I told people I was going to make jeans they asked why I was starting with one of the most difficult things to make, I responded with why not. The jeans took all night and were done with no patterns, just staring at an existing pair I owned and figuring out which panels to sew first. It was a successful venture and rather encouraging to see the finished product.
I have also made many t-shirt blankets for myself and family members as gifts. These ones are easy and a nice way to keep shirts that are meaningful. These I do take orders for if you are interested, you supply the shirts, usually 35 makes a good size, and I sew the blanket. Price varies on size and materials, but if you are interested please send me an email by clicking here.
Now to explain these Aprons. I had a few extra yards fabric left over from my jeans that would make a nice material for these aprons so i decided to use it up. All I had to buy was the buckles, some thread, the bright blue fabric, and the elastic for the neck strap. The neck strap with mechanical pieces was something I have never attempted before so it was quite a lot of staring at pictures on the strap online and figuring out how it was assembled. I did a trial run that worked well but I wasn’t fully satisfied with it, I redesigned it and was much happier with the second results. The ones pictures below are are final design which I feel turned out really nice.
The apron strings were also left over fabric that I had purchased from Thread International that make a nice soft behind the back strap. These were folded over 4 times and hemmed on the open edge to make a thick but soft tie for the apron. The final product was very comfortable with this fabric as the strings, and definitely makes it a unique item.
Attaching the neck to the apron was another challenge. It was a lot of fabric to get a needle through and had to be handled carefully as to not break the needle. The same was true with adding on the pocket to the front. Punching through 6 layers of denim means you have to move slowly with the needle and make sure the tension on the thread is correct or else you will get what they call ‘nesting’ below. Nesting is when the top thread isn’t pulled all the way back through the stick on the up stroke and leaves big loops of loose thread below the stitch. Thankfully everything was tuned in properly and I didn’t have that issue with these aprons.
The pocket on the front was more for a look over use, it will be a good place to put a pen, or thermometer when working in the kitchen. Again this was something I wanted to see if it was possible and thought it added a unique look to the apron itself. It did come in handy in use on the truck so I am glad I added it.
I made three of these aprons for the three of us that work at Blue Sparrow. It was an early Christmas present for my friends and I hope they work out well. This is Luke modeling the finished product and I think they turned out well. Again if you happen to want one of these aprons let me know and we can talk about a second run of them. They are starting at $40 each depending on material and such. I’m not starting a business or anything, but just enjoy sewing and would love to make you one if you would like. Contact me here and we can talk about what I can do for you!
So thats about all I have for this post, hope to see you around, and thanks for reading about the weird things I do from time to time.