I’m a Big Fan of Aprons
September 11, 2009 Gillian Crafts, Kid's Crafts No Comments
Blog Contributor, Crafty Mom and Writer, Gillian, from the Blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.
Once upon a time, when I taught elementary school, I spent a lot of time wearing an oversized denim apron with huge pockets stuffed with Kleenex, hand sanitizer and other flotsam and jetsam of life with kids. I still have that apron and the pockets are still filled with the debris of childhood, Playmobil flashlights, dolls shoes, you get the idea.
Lately my daughter has been asking for an apron of her own. Either she’s becoming finicky about keeping her clothing clean (not likely as she is three) or she sees me wearing it and, as is the way with three year olds, wants to mimic mommy. I made her an apron from some vintage tea towels which turned out beautifully. Too beautifully. I can’t bring myself to let her wear it while she grinds pink Playdoh across her belly. So this weekend we set out to make a sturdy, but still pretty, apron for my little dirty princess.
Apple Stamp
I picked up a canvas tool apron at the hardware store. The advantage of these is that they are relatively small, so are a good size for kids, and they are dirt cheap. But any canvas apron would work. We also picked out fabric paint (pink! of course!) and I dug out some fabric scraps and a package of rick rack from my sewing bin. Since it’s almost back to school time I chose to use an apple for making prints but you could carve shapes out of a potato, cut up dish sponges or pull out that stamp collection that’s sitting in your craft cupboard.
For the apple, I chose the most apple shaped apple in my fruit bowl and carefully sliced it in half, leaving the stem on and popping out an errant seed so I was getting a nice clean profile. The paint adheres better to a dry surface so we patted the apple half dry with a paper towel before dipping it in paint and stamping away.
Stamp or paint any design
Because the apron had an emblem painted on the front pocket, I also had my daughter stamp the fabric scrap which I cut to size with pinking shears and glued in place with fabric glue. As a final touch I also glued rick rack around the edge of the apron and the pocket. An adult sized version of this would make a great back to school gift for a new teacher and I have it on good authority that grandmas love them as well.
So quick and easy, yet so cute!
*If the neck of the apron is to big for your child, as it was for mine, cut the strap at the center point and tie a knot in the end to prevent fraying. This allows you to adjust the apron for fit and coverage.
My apron model
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