DIY Apron w/ Fabric Rose & Obi Sash Tutorial

Remember this fabric that I snagged from the Red Tag section at JoAnn's?

Well I've been on a sewing kick with a little push from my gardenweb forum friends.  I decided that the bright, happy, lemon fabric would look great on an apron.  I started by cutting out my apron pieces using an existing apron as a template.  I then cut a long 2" wide strip of fabric for the neck strap.  I pressed the edges of the strap in and folded it in half and stitched it up with just a top stitch.

I sandwiched the strap between apron front cut out,



and another piece of fabric cut to the apron shape but only the top part, and pinned them all together.  I like a double layer on the top part of an apron, because it helps to protect myself from the heat of the stove.  Plus as a typical asian girl, a little extra fabric up top is always welcome.

After sewing the sandwich together, I turned it right side out and top stitched 1/4" in, all the way around where they were sewn together.

I then turned, and pressed the hem around the bottom section of the apron, before sewing the hem.

I wanted this apron to be really girly.  I thought about doing ruffles, but thought I'd lose too much of the vibrant pattern in the ruffles.  So I ended up grabbing some coordinating satin from my fabric stash and making a fabric rose and ruched obi sash to girl things up.

I sewed the sash in place with my machine and hand stitched the rose on with the tail end of the thread I used to make the rose.  I made bunches of fabric roses years ago for our wedding and stitching together the rose for this apron brought all of those memories back.  I'll post a fabric rose tutorial later today.  Here's the finished apron.

Thanks for popping in and sewing with me.  I'm linking this up to Sew Woodsy's What's Up Wednesdays, DIY by Design's Winter Blues Wednesdays, and My Romantic Home's Show and Tell Friday.