Child's Ruffle Apron

I love children in aprons.  It may have something to do with my love for Montessori, and how they can be a great tool.  But then again, it could just be that they are just so stinking cute.  We have collected quite a few aprons and each one has a specific job associated with it.  One for baking, one for gardening, one for painting, and one for cleaning.  

Quite honestly, this apron hasn't been given a job yet, because it is just so lovely I don't want it to get dirty yet.  For now, it is for playing dress up.

 First up of course is to gather your supplies.  Since I was flying by the seat of my pants, I grabbed all things frilly, and ruffle-like and played around with various layers before settling on the final one.

Materials Needed:

1/2 yard of fabric of for the base of the apron
Various ribbons, ruffles, or strips of material to make ruffles
Lots of straight pins
Tape measure/ruler
Disappearing Pen

The material I used as my base was an old bed sheet--already hemmed, so I skipped this step.  I measured my little lady to determine the right size.  I made the apron 10 inches in length (from her waist to a little above her kneed).  Next, I made a trapezoid.  I made the top portion of the apron 24 inches in width, and the lower part of the apron 27 inches in width.

My goal for this skirt was to make it frilly and not just a rectangle with ruffles on it.  Those aprons are fine, but not the shape I wanted.  To give the apron some curve, I added two sets of pleats.  I folded the apron into thirds to get them equal distance apart and then ran an iron over the creases.  Next, using a few pins I made the pleats, iron them in place, and then stitched 3 inches down on each pleat.  Then I hemmed the sides of the apron skirt.

Some of my ruffles were made with material I had lying around, and some were pre-made ruffles.  To make my material into ruffles, I cut strips of material (those pre-cut jelly rolls would be perfect for this) 3 inches by at least 35 inches in length.  I hemmed three of the sides, and then basted the top.

After all the ruffles were made, I laid my ruffles on the skirt until it looked the way I wanted.

Next, I pinned them on one at a time, and sewed them on.

After the apron skirt was finished, I made the ties.  I cut out a piece of fabric 5 inches wide by 30 inches.

I folded the raw edges toward the center of the material and ironed it (it should look like a single fold bias tape).

I centered my apron skirt on the apron tie, pinned it in place, and basted it in place so I could fold the apron tie over and cover the raw edges at the top.  After it was basted, I folded the apron ties in half again (so it looks like double fold bias tape), pressed it, and pinned it over the top of the ruffles.  I sewed along the whole length of the ties, being careful to sew slowly over the ruffles because it is very thick.

Almost done.  Now to just finish up a few details....

Some of my ruffles were made with wide ribbon (the pink polka dot ruffle).  Rather than trying to hem that, I used a lighter to melt the edges so it wouldn't fray.

Also, you may have noticed my ties are not terribly long.  I added velcro to the ends, rather than making them long enough to tie because it is more child-friendly.  This way my daughter can easily put the apron on independently (again with the Montessori).

I also sewed a piece of ribbon loop in the center of the back side of the apron so it can easily be hung on a hook.  These little additions take just a few moments to add, and really help foster independence and I am not walking around my daughter 'fixing' her work to make it look neat.

All finished, and I think she is quite pleased with the results.  

So. Many. Ruffles!

I love, love, love this project, and rather enjoyed the bright cheery colors (especially with all the gray skies we've had lately).  I loved it so much that I wanted one for myself.  In a few weeks, I will show you the apron I made for myself.  It's complimentary to the child's apron, with less ruffles and some practicality to it.