DIY Kids Aprons

Good morning friends, and happy Monday. We did a fun play day at our house last week and I thought I would share it with you all. There's a few different things I want to show you, so I'm going to split it up.  Be sure to come back later in the week to see the other parts of our Cooking Play Day. 

Kids Cooking Play Day Part I:

 Dress the Part

The other day I was shopping the clearance aisle at Target and I found this tablecloth for $3.48. I liked the pattern, but I thought it was a little busy for a full table cloth.

So I decided to turn it into a bunch of adorable aprons. 

The only materials I used were the tablecloth, some 5/8 or 7/8 inch ribbon (which I bought at the dollar store), and some 3/4 inch rectangle d-rings. Do you want to make one? ...or nine? Well it's easy, here's how:

I made a pattern for the aprons from an apron that Thing One already had. You can find my pattern at the end of this post. If you cut them along the outer edge you don't have to hem the bottom. I was able to cut nine aprons out of this round table cloth. I'm also a big fan of "waste not, want not," so save the middle (or whatever is left after you cut as many as you want) and I will show you something fun to make with the rest of the tablecloth someday. : ) Anyway, back to the aprons.

Snip the arm curves twice on each side. Then hem the sides with a 1/4 inch seam, and the top with a 1/2 inch seam.

Cut the ribbon into the following lengths.

Fold the 3 inch piece over the d-rings and sew it seam side down on the inside top left of the apron. Hint: only fold one end of the ribbon over the other; sandwiching the other end. This will keep it from being too bulky. Hopefully you see what I mean below.

It will actually be sewn a little lower than the picture below because I used a shorter piece at first and then realized it should be longer so that the top band of ribbon covers up the place where it is sewn. (Aren't you glad I make the mistakes—and learn from them—so yours can just be pretty?)

Folding under 1/2 inch of one end of the neck strap, sew it to the inside top right of the apron.

Then line up the top band of ribbon about 1 inch from the top of the apron. Be sure it covers the two spots you sewed for the neck strap and d-rings and sew 1/4 inch from each edge of the ribbon, folding over the ends. At this point it should look something like this.

Finally, fold under 1/2 inch of each of the "tie ribbons" and sew to the inside of each side of the apron just below the curve corners. Ta da! Cute apron.

 I really love the bright colors in contrast to the black and white.

These make perfect kid aprons because since they are made of vinyl they wipe right off. I almost didn't use the d-rings, but I'm so glad that I did. Making the neck strap adjustable means you can comfortably get it on your kiddo and still tighten it up so that it actually covers their little chest.
Happy cooking, little chefs!

 Come back later this week to see what we made once everyone was apron clad!

Thanks for reading.

- Haley

*Updated*
Here is the link to the apron pattern.