How To Make Your Own Work Shirt Apron
By Sally Anderson, Niagara Falls, NewYork
Recently it coincided that my husband needed new work shirts and I needed new aprons. I use full aprons because while I am a good cook, I am not a tidy cook. Pondering it a bit I realized that his old work shirts could quite handily—and at no cost—supply my aprons.
STEP 1: Hang an old work shirt on a hanger and place apron over it with the front of the apron on the back of the shirt. Carefully lay shirt and apron flat and smooth on a table and chalk around the neck and sleeve lines. If you aren’t working from an old apron you can just approximate it freehand.
STEP 2: Cut along lines. I prefer a double thick apron so I repeated this with a second work shirt. At this point open the back shoulder seams. I also removed the buttons and pockets. (If you are going with a single thickness apron, leave the shoulder seams intact and fold over and sew neck and arm edges, skip to Step 4.)
STEP 3: With right sides facing together sew the two work shirts together across the neck line and the two arm openings, leaving open at the shoulders. Trim seams and flip right side out. Iron flat.
For the shoulder seams, I folded in the back edge, stuck front into back and sewed across. When you’re looking at yours, which way it will lay flat better will be obvious and go with that. Then sew the two work shirts together on the right side starting at one lower back edge, up and along the neck line and down the other back. Sew edges of both armholes. Leave open along the bottom as the apron will hang smoother.
STEP 4: Put the apron on and go see where your tummy hits your sink. Mark it and put your pockets along that line for extra absorbency and wear. I measured off the bottom edge to keep the line of pockets straight. Sew along pocket edges. I reused the large button from my old apron rather than the small buttons from the work shirts, as it is easier to grasp and manipulate. Make a button hole on the back top corner and sew button on opposite it. (Save those buttons though. That’s a lot of matching buttons for all sorts of uses.)
Voila! There you go. An incredibly sturdy functional apron for kitchen or barn use for the cost of a bit of thread.
