Maybe you have noticed my Zesty green apron that I have been rocking for many of our recipe posts.  As with most Zesty things, it began as a thrift store find that quickly turned into a DIY.  I mean can you blame me?  Who could resist playing with flax colored linen and lime green honeycomb?  In fact, my little project turned out so easy and cute that I thought it was a must to share with you for a Thrifty Thursday.

Sewing, easy?  Yes!  If you have the basic abilities with a sewing machine, you can whip this cutie up in no time!  I will let you in on a little secret: I loathe sewing machines!  I think that about half the time I use one is spent in growling at it and getting more than a little frustrated.  Yep, I am that nerd who will sit down to do something that should take only 5 minutes and then waste 30 because I break the needle and have to re-thread the darn thing four times because the tension gets weird and I snap the thread.  No joke, I sometimes get the cold sweats when I know I have to use one.  I have even been known to bypass the menacing machine and opt for the tediousness of hand-sewing,  because at least then I would not have any stress.  So, I am basically saying that if I can do this…then so can you!

A major perk is that there is no complicated pattern needed.  I just kind of threw it together with some basic elements.  Remember, my goal was to not have to tame the beast for too long 😉

Check it out:

To keep things simple, I grabbed another apron to measure out how wide I needed to cut my fabric.  Just remember to leave an inch and a half on either side to allow space to make your seam.  As a personal preference, I chose to make my apron longer than this shortie Zest apron.  It is kind of a pet peeve of mine.  I hate short aprons because they never protect me….seriously, I am one of the world’s sloppiest cooks.  It is just the way I roll…

Picking my length, I grabbed some scissors and cut the dimensions I craved 🙂

Perfect!

Now to deal with all those raw edges that I do not want to have fray.

Folding the edges over twice, I pinned them in place and did a simple running stitch with the sewing machine.

So far so good, no machine problems!!!

Now that the practical part was done, it was time for the cuteness factor.  I decided to give my cool linen apron a honeycomb pocket and tie.

Cutting a simple square, I used my seam folding to create a cute little shape.

Basically, I did a double fold on all the edges and then folded two corners up so that my pocket had a half-hexagon shape.  A simple running stitch all the way around and it was ready to be sewn into place on my linen apron.

Last bit of cuteness was to measure out a strip of fabric for my tie.

Folding it in half lengthwise with the wrong-side of the fabric showing, I did a simple running stitch along the raw edge.  I am not going to lie, having to sew that long of a seam had me holding my breath!

After it was sewn, I used a crochet hook and my fingers to turn my little snake right-side out.

Last step for the tie was to fold the ends down inside of the tube and then sew the edge shut.  Done on both ends, I now had no more raw edges left on my project.

Time to pin it down to my linen apron and sew it into place.

I actually sewed it in place with two parallel lines of stitches.  I thought that it not only looked cuter and helped it to lay down nicer, but that it would also give it more strength.

It turned out so sweet!!

I adore the movement of the linen and the casual wrinkled texture against the bright and clean mod print!  So adorable!

This project is so simple and quick that you could easily make one for yourself…AND one for your sweet mama this Mother’s Day!  Hint, hint 🙂

Happy cooking and baking y’all!

xoxo

Chanda

Photos Credit to: Jessica Helton