Sew an Apron with HeatnBond and Windham Fabrics

It was a wonderful challenge to have Windham’s Meriwether fabric by Amy Gibson  come in a beautiful bundle of fat quarters to sew into an apron. The designs and colors were amazing in this line and reminded me of my great-grandmother and the aprons she always wore. I loved how her ties were long and she’d wrap them around the front to tie, so I did that with this apron. Appliqueing the bird to the pocket using Heat n Bond EZ Print Lite sheets as the adhesive and Aurifil thread for the stitching made this apron come together so sweetly. It will look so good on me when I wear it while I watch my husband cook. I wouldn’t want to do any cooking that might get it dirty and besides, he is a much better cook than me!

Fat Quarter HeatnBond Apron, by Carol Swift, Just Let Me Quilt

Sew an Apron with HeatnBond and Windham Fabrics

Supplies used for this apron:

HeatnBond Fusible Interfacing – Light Weight
HeatnBond EZ Print Lite sheets
Therm O Web Fabric Fuse Liquid Adhesive
StitchnSew Pattern Material
HeatnBond No-Sew Hem Tape
Oliso iron

Four buttons

10-12 Windham Meriwether fat quarters

Aurifil Thread, 28 wt, 2785, Aurifil Thread, 28 wt, 2226

An easy way to preserve paper patterns that will be used over and over is to trace them on to Stitch n Sew Pattern Material. The material is 58½” wide which is great for tracing large patterns like dresses, pants, and nightgowns. It’s especially helpful if you plan to sew several sizes of a pattern…no need cut the original pattern or buy multiple patterns!

Cutting instructions:

Cut out pattern pieces
Cut 1 – 6” x 18” fabric for waistband
Cut 1 – 3” x 18” fusible interfacing for waistband
Cut 1 – 7½” x 15” fabric strip for pocket
Cut 1 – 7½” x 7½” fusible interfacing for pocket
Cut 5 – 7½” x 18½” fabric strips for apron front
Cut 4 – 4” x 21½” fabric strips for ties

HeatnBond Apron Sewing instructions: (Sew all seams 1/2″)

Step 1: Fuse 3” x 18” interfacing to wrong side of lengthwise half of 6” x 18” waistband fabric. Cover with protective cloth and follow Heat n Bond’s directions.

Step 2: Fold in half lengthwise with wrong sides together. Press on the fold. Set aside.

Step 3: Fuse 7½” x 7½” interfacing to the wrong side of half of the 7½” x 15” fabric strip for the pocket. Cover with the protective cloth and follow Heat n Bond’s directions. Fold pocket fabric in half, wrong sides together.

Step 4: To applique with printable HeatnBond EZ Print Lite sheets use your inkjet printer to print out applique pattern piece following manufacturer’s directions. Iron adhesive pieces to wrong sides of fabrics with a medium heat iron, no steam. Press for 2 seconds. Repeat until all surfaces have been bonded to fabric. Let cool.

Step 5: Cut out applique pieces. Peel off paper liner. Place applique shape, adhesive side down, on top of the project. Press and hold iron for 6 seconds on each section until the entire piece is bonded. Let cool. Sew around edges using a straight, zig-zag, or blanket stitch.

Step 6: After appliqueing is finished, fold pocket in half, wrong sides together, and press on the fold.

Step 7: Lay folded pocket on bottom of 7½” x 18½” apron fabric strip with fold towards the top. Baste around all sides except on the fold.

Step 8: With wrong sides together, sew all the apron strips together. Press seams open. Sew a narrow hem on sides and the lower edge of the apron.

Step 9: Gather raw edges at top of apron to 17”.

Step 10: With right sides together, sew two 4” x 21½” tie strips across short ends to connect them into one long strip. Repeat with the other two strips. Press seams open. Fold one section in half lengthwise, right sides together, and sew along one short side and one long side (not on folded side); leave one short side open. Repeat with second section. Clip corners. Turn both tie sections inside out and press flat.

Step 11: Baste/pin raw edge of tie to right side of the fabric on the lower half of each side of the waistband.

Step 12: Fold upper half of waistband over the lower half of waistband, right sides together. Sew both sides leaving the bottom raw edge open making sure to catch ties in the seam. Clip corners; turn inside out and press.

Step 13: Baste raw edge of the waistband to the raw gathered edge of apron skirt, spreading gathers evenly. Set aside.

Step 14: To make the apron top, tape paper pattern sections together on dotted lines.

Step 15: Fuse interfacing to the wrong side of one neck fabric section. Cover with a protective cloth and follow manufacturer’s directions.

Step 16: With right sides together, sew fabric neck sections to shoulders on apron top. Press seams open. Repeat with lining.

Step 17: With right sides together, sew around apron top leaving bottom and neck top edge open. Pivot at corners and seams when sewing. Clip curves and corners.

Step 18: Turn inside out through neck opening. Use Heat n Bond No-Sew Hem tape to close neck opening seams. When using the tape on a curve, it helps to tear them into smaller pieces when applying.

Step 19: Overlap front sections 1”. Use Heat n Bond No-Sew Hem tape to secure overlap.

Step 20: Lay right side of apron top centered on the wrong side of skirt waistband. Stitch together. Press waistband towards apron top. Stitch along the edge of seam line on waistband’s lower edge.

Step 21: Add buttons by dabbing a little Fabric Fuse on the back of each button and place on overlapped fabric on top. Let dry. Sew buttons in place.

You can find the entire apron and applique PDF pattern HERE.