When I first scheduled the two sets of Craft Days (or #craftday, as known on Twitter), I wasn’t thinking that the second set would fall on the final days of my husbands semester.  And that I really wouldn’t have the time or sanity to do much crafting.

Or blogging.

But I managed, after two days, to finish two children’s aprons anyway!

(Nevermind that I haven’t done the dishes since the night before last.  And that I haven’t showered yet today.)

First, I measured both kids and found that, except for length, I could use the same measurements for both the two year old and the four year old.

Those measurements, by the way, are as follows:

If you can make sense of that.  (Click to make bigger)

After the measurements, I cut the fabric:

And then made lunch and changed diapers and cleaned up toys and did dishes and stuffed diapers and folded laundry and nursed a baby.

And when I came back, I saw that the fabric I’d chosen wasn’t as perfect as I’d once believed.

Turns out I’d used this fabric to make Olivia’s crown.  And had, er, snipped rather carelessly.

So I fixed that:

(Oh, and yeah, that’d be one of my hairs, if you look reeaaalllly closely.)

Then I cut out the accessories:  The rectangle for the front pocket, and two curved strips to help me defeat the dreaded rounded hem.

Then I cut it out again (sure hope I measured right!):

And I hemmed all the straight edges on the apron.

Now here’s what I did with the curved strips:

I cut 1/4″ slits in the outer (wider) edge, and ironed the hem flat.  Then I folded the 1″ sides in a couple times until it lined up with edge of the apron.  Then I sewed the 1″ edges so that the hem was permanently down.

Then I sewed the inner edge of the curved piece to the matching curved side of the apron, wrong side up (with the apron right side up), so the right side would be up when you folded it over.

Here’s a close-up of the tiny snips I made to make the rounded hem:

Then I ironed that curved piece down and sewed it, careful to keep a wide enough space inside for a strap, and to keep the sides open.

Then I made a strap, taking 60″ of 1″ wide fabric (more like two 30″ pieces for me, but you do what works, right?).  Fold and iron the long strip in half, short-ways.  Then open it up, and fold the top and bottom to meet at the crease and iron again.  Then fold it in half, short-ways, again, so that the unfinished edges are tucked inside all nice and neat-like.  Then sew all along the strap.

(I know that would have been easier to explain with illustrations, but I had two children tugging on my sleeves begging for their lunches at this point…)

Then I thread the strap through the sleeves like so:

And, as this one is Benjamin’s, I folded up 5″ and loosely sewed it down.  Now, when he’s four, I’ll be able to take that stitch out and this apron will still fit him!

Here is Olivia’s finished apron.  Note how I strategically placed the pocket so that all but one of the little Frankenstein stitches are covered up.

(For the pocket, fold up all four sides twice – first 1/4″, then 3/4″, and iron in place.  Hem one of the longer sides.  Pin in place on apron, then sew three remaining sides.  Then stitch down the middle to make two pockets.)

And here is Benjamin’s apron.  Note how I strategically placed the pocket so that it mostly covered the wide pink stripe.  I wouldn’t want him to get a complex or anything.  🙂

And yes.  That is a chip bag on the table.

What did you make for Craft Day?