Quick and easy–Tea Towel Apron

Is it a tea towel… or is it an apron?

It’s both!!

We’ll just call it the Tea Towel Apron.

 

 

You already know I’m an apron wearing gal.

I often stick a tea towel in my waistband for when I want to wipe my hands…. which is quite frequently when I’m baking.

But the idea for the tea towel apron came about when I was looking at some tea towels I’d already made that were decorated with appliqué and free motion stitching.

What if I stuck a waistband/apron ties on the tea towel?

I’d have a pretty apron that was perfect for wiping my hands on.

 

 

This project was so incredibly quick, because I had already appliquéd the tea towel, but even that part of the project is pretty quick.

Now I’m thinking that a tea towel apron and matching tea towel would be a perfect gift for anyone who likes to bake…. so I’m sharing how I made this one. Maybe you are looking for a quick handmade gift for an apron wearing gal!

 

Materials

Visoflex or equivalent iron on appliqué paper,

Fabric scraps for applique,

Fabric for apron tie – I use a fat quarter,

Tea towel,

Iron,

Normal sewing supplies.

 

Applique template – right click to save to your own computer.

 

Instructions

1. Open the template design onto a Word document and enlarge to preferred size, then print. Trace the designs onto tracing paper. I use this as a template to assist with fabric placement on the tea towel.

2. So as not to confuse anyone, the pattern designs are shown here as they actually appear on the tea towel. They need to be reversed when drawing onto the Visoflex. The simplest way to do this is to turn your pattern tracing over so you are looking at the reverse side and place this underneath your Visoflex.

3. Trace the pattern designs onto the paper side of Visoflex with a pencil.

4. Cut out designs from Visoflex, allowing about one centimetre allowance around the outline and iron onto the back of fabric. Never use steam when ironing Visoflex on. Cut out shapes.

5. Lay your tea towel on the ironing board. Remove the paper backing from your fabric pieces and position them on the tea towel, using the pattern tracing as a guide.

6. When you are satisfied with the placement, press fabric in place with iron.

7. Free Motion Stitching: As the back of my tea towel would be seen, I used white cotton for the bobbin and a dark brown for the top stitch.

8. There really is no right or wrong with this stitching style. . . it comes down to personal taste whether you go around the outline once or twice and whether you prefer a neat stitch or a more creative stitching style.

9. I hand stitched the birds eye and the ‘TEA’ letters on the tea bag.

 

Assembling the apron

I removed some length from the tea towel as I’m quite short. Tea towel sizes vary, so I recommend accessing this on an individual basis.

I also added 4 small pleats in the top of my tea towel, but once again, this would be dependent on the width of your tea towel and the size of the person you are making it for.

 

 

To make the waistband, I cut 3 x 12 cm (5”) strips from the width of my fat quarter. I joined them end to end to make one long length. Press seams open.

Line up the centre of the waistband with the centre of the apron top and pin in place with right sides together, as shown below.

 

 

Sew a 1/4” seam across the top width of the apron.

Fold the waistband strip right sides together, matching raw edges.  Pin both sides but leave the center above the main apron piece open.

At the end of each waistband strip make a mark 2 inches up from the bottom. Now stitch your waist ties starting at the main apron piece.

When you reach the mark you made (2" up from the bottom) lower your needle, pivot, and stitch a straight line ending just above the corner where the fold meets the raw edge.

Trim the extra fabric away below your stitch line.

Turn your ties right side out and press ties flat. 

Fold the unsewn part of the waistband over so that the folded edge covers the stitch line (at back of apron).  Pin in place on right side, now stitch on the right side of the apron using either a small zigzag or straight stitch, all the way across the top where the main apron piece meets the waistband piece.

 

 

And there you have it… a tea towel that does double duty as an apron!

 

Happy Christmas crafting,

Kerryanne

 

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