Towel Aprons

So, if you've ever needed a towel while cooking only to realize there is not one in sight, and you decide to wipe/dry your hands on your regular cotton apron; well then you KNOW what I'm talking about when I say "an apron is NOT a towel!" So, because I had so much time on my hands Thanksgiving day this year... this is sarcasm if you don't recognize it... I decided it was necessary to make towel aprons for each and every one of my littles and of course, I needed one too! So, I grabbed a few vintage looking towels that my sweet grandma-in-law gave me a while ago, and got to work. It was a bit of trial and error at first but the basic concept was there. I first made a "mommy and me" set which I love- but the "mommy" one only went around the waist and didn't cover my shirt- which is where a lot of my baking ends up! So then I decided to maximize the towel and make an entire apron with one towel- no scraps! It is awesome, and let me tell you, you can dry your hands on it! Okay- so pics and directions- here we go!
This is the first one I made. I cut a full size bath towel in half, picked some coordinating material and went to town! I measured one and a half times the width of the apron and cut a strip of fabric that length.  You can choose any width for the ruffle you like- mine is about two inches. I ironed that piece in half and basted it. I gathered the fabric by pulling the basting thread until it was the right length for the apron. I sewed a straight stitch to connect the ruffle to the bottom of the apron. I then measured lengths of fabric for the ties- equal sizes, ironed in half long ways with the raw edges turned under and straight stitched to finish. I trimmed the waistline with fabric as well. For the waist piece I measured the fabric only about a half inch longer than the width of the apron. I ironed the raw edges under and then folded the fabric down on either side leaving the towel in the middle. I then stitched the fabric along the length. I sewed the ties on to each side right up at the top. If you wanted you could make the waist and the ties from one really long length of fabric and that would save you a few steps. Here are all the littles in their aprons. The little in the middle is wearing the apron that matches the "mommy" one above. For the other four littles I simply cut the towels in half and used each half per apron to make a full body apron in kid size. At this point I realized I cold use less fabric and more towel. so, I folded one half of the towel in half long ways. I cut a small half circle shape to make the chest piece smaller- essentially the arm holes, except there are no sleeves!- I opened the towel up and now had the basic shape of the apron, I sewed ties and a neck strap on and used the scraps from the arm cut outs as pockets stitched to the front.

Waste not want not! Okay, so now I've made seven aprons, all just a little different and now it's a science in my head! So for the full body Mama apron I used one bath towel and left NO scraps! I started by cutting the top 6 inches off of the towel- this would be used later to make the ties and the neck strap. I then folded the larger portion of the towel in half length wise. I cut the half circle shape to make the chest fit correctly and leave the waist larger. I used those cut out shapes- which actually look more like a "u" shape- to make pockets. I stitched them on evenly to the front on either side. (due to the pattern of this towel it's hard to see the pockets). I then cut the first 6 inch scrap in to three even strips. I folded each strip in half and hemmed. I attached one strap to the corner of the chest on each side to form a neck strap. I attached the two remaining strips to either side at the waist to make the ties. There you have it- one towel transformed into a multi-purpose apron and I didn't waste a single scrap of the towel! Another note about this apron- because I used the entire towel, I didn't have to hem the bottom or sides since the towel was already finished in that way. The only finishing I had to do was the arm curves and the top of the chest piece.

I know these directions may be a little hard to follow without step by step photos- so if anyone would like me to make another one and take pictures along the way- just leave me a comment and I will get right on it!