I bought enough to make THREE of these babies, so guess what I’m about to do? Cut another one out. May my machine survive this attempt! If not, I’ll revert back to my trusty no-sews!

A BBQ-style apron (can be easily purchased at a craft store or at Wal-Mart for pretty cheap)
Craft paint (I’m sure fabric paint would work as well)
Iron-on Transfer Paper (can be found at craft stores)
Painter’s Tape
Foam brush
An iron
Printer
Image of your choice

I bought my aprons at Sam’s Club. I think they were $13 for 3. Not too bad!

I wanted the pockets on the front. Make sure you check the pocket situation before buying your apron! You don’t want to end up buying something you don’t like (like a pocketless apron).
Unfold the apron, lie it on a flat surface, apply a long strip of painter’s tape down the very center of the apron -from bib to bottom. Apply one long strip to the left of the center strip and one long strip to the right of the center strip:

Take your time with this step, making sure the tape doesn’t overlap and there isn’t too much of a gap between strips.

Try to get the tape to lay as flat as possible.
Repeat, repeat!

…until you have 7 strips total.
Then peel away two strips on either side of the center strip:

Tape off the pocket! Very important!

Pull out your craft paint and foam brush and paint the spaces between the tape being extra vigilant about NOT painting the pocket… I almost did!


Let dry for a few hours (overnight is best, but I’m not that patient). Pull all painter’s tape off:

Now, I DID let it sit overnight before putting my iron-on transfer on it. When I bought my iron-on transfer, I bought the paper at Wal-Mart (no craft stores around these parts!) and I ended up not getting what I want! I got this:

I didn’t realize I was buying a fabric iron-on. I thought it was more of an ink-transfer paper. That’s what I get for shopping on my own with two independent kids who want to buy everything in Wal-Mart. Ha! So, while it worked it isn’t exactly what I want. What I want is simply an INK transfer, no extra fabric involved.
I went to picnik.com to create my image. You can use PicMonkey.com, though it doesn’t have nearly as many fonts. Hopefully it will have more soon! I simply uploaded a picture, whited it out using their “doodle” option and put my writing over it.
Another (probably easier) option is to go to dafont and download some free fonts and just type out your image in Word.
If you don’t want any kind of wording, feel free to download images from online. There’s some great vintage ones out there!
This is the image I used for my apron:

Using the instructions on the transfer paper package, I printed my image, trimmed the border off, and ironed it onto the apron pockets.
Now, if you’re using an ink transfer sheet like I wished I could have, you’re going to need to FLIP the image before you print it:

I would still trim the border off.

Iron it on and let it dry!

The paint on my apron is not even at all… there’s still some white showing through. I didn’t do it intentionally. I went over and over and over my paint to make sure it wouldn’t soak in, but it did. And I LOVE the look:

It gives it a sort of worn look and it matched the Farmer’s Market image perfectly. I did make plenty of mistakes:

So I’ll be extra careful next time. In the meantime, how much fun could you have with THIS?! I want to use the painter’s tape closer to the edges of the apron and paint one more smaller strip on each side.
I’ll also be picking up some white flour sack towels and ironing images on them to match.
If you like the look but don’t want to bother painting and ironing, just come to the boutique on Saturday on Main Street at 9 AM. I’ll have a few aprons like this to sell!!
Until I can get my hands on some ink transfer paper, I’m going to be oiling my machine and HOPING it will stitch for me! Pray, people. Pray!

I’m teaming up with Tickled in Love to bring you a line of vintage-inspired, Story Lady styled aprons. You’ve all seen my sheer aprons in the past. I’ve been making quite a few more these days, and they’ll be up for sale soon!
Here’s the lady you’re used to: Baby Doll

And here’s Frenchie in her debut:

Ain’t she sweet?

In the near future, I’ll be adding a bloomer and cami set to the line.  Stay tuned!

But they still didn’t look all that great.  So.

I chopped them up again.

Reason being: The BUNCO theme for tonight is COMFORT.  The little devil on my left shoulder pointed to the heap of sheer fabric sitting on top of my scraps and said, “How about whipping up something… a little more comfortable?”

I used the baby doll style apron I made a couple weeks ago as a pattern (ish) and went to work.  I was so excited to take it tonight, but I should know by now that anytime I get excited about BUNCO.  Yea, anytime I MAKE something and GET EXCITED about BUNCO, the hubsters will have to stay late at work.

I had to get a sitter for my children Tuesday so my husband and I could attend Stake Training.  I had to get a sitter for my children Wednesday so I could go to the doctor.  I’ll have to get a sitter for the kids tomorrow so we can go on a date.  Point in case: I’m staying home.

But yahoo for the bridal shower I’ll be going to on Saturday.  My gift is ready!  Hopefully she doesn’t try to cook in this apron…

However, it is maternity-friendly. I’ve always been very practical.

Here’s the apron I made when I finished Lacy’s apron:

I didn’t use a pattern and it ended up taking much longer than I thought it would. I was happy with how it turned out though. I just felt bad that my husband came home and the house was strewn with toys and apron embellishments.

I don’t usually choose black and white fabrics, but I really loved working with them.

The next day I made an apron for one of my Beehives who finished up a personal progress goal on cooking. I’ve told the girls that if they finish the goal to help their mothers plan a menu, cook and serve the food for TWO WEEKS that I’d make them an apron. I’ve made four aprons so far -and I’m so proud of my girls!

Today, I took the leftover fabric from the black and white apron and started piecing another one together -again, no pattern. I had no idea what it would look like, but as I worked I kept getting ideas.

It’s got the look of a baby doll dress, and it’s maternity friendly but it doesn’t scream “I’m pregnant!”
At least, I hope not. Does it? Don’t answer that…

I’m in love! I’ll definitely be making more of this style!

#1) It isn’t my “dream” apron.  Not that I have a dream apron, but this one just isn’t my supreme idea of, well, cute.  I’m proud of it, but it isn’t the cutest crayon in the box.

#2) I originally planned on selling it, but by the time I had finished it I realized no one would buy it on account of it’s not being all that adorable (as aprons should be) and also I made it out of my favorite pair of overalls that I literally wore thread bare.  No matter that they were hole-filled and thin as could be, I couldn’t seem to part with them.  Now that they’ve been repurposed into an apron, I still can’t seem to part with them.  I loved those overalls.

#3) I made this apron out of my overalls and the discarded curtains from my kids’ room.  When we moved in, there was some sun-bleached curtains hanging in the kids’ room.  They were really thin and worn.  When my husband took them down (it only took us a year), he handed them to me and said, “You could make something with these.”  Truth be told, I hadn’t thought ONCE about making something out of them, but since he said it…. Check out the waistband area of the apron -it’s the top of the curtain.  I used the casing that usually holds a curtain rod to hold the ribbon I used for waist ties.

#4) I hate projects made out of jeans. I do!  I hate them!  This probably accounts for my not thinking this project is all that cute.  The only thing I hate more than projects out of old jeans is western-print bandanas mixed into the project.  I don’t mean to bring any negative energy to this post, and I will say that some people manage the task of repurposing expertly.  I’m not one of those people.  I just love overalls to pieces.  Literally.  Anyway, I wanted to add some embellishments to the apron that looked a little more feminine and soft -something far from the bandana look which I can’t pull off at’all.

So I added some lace to the bib.
It turns out, the button holes I tied the lace through weren’t button holes at all. They were sewed up tight! I used my trusty scissors and cut through them, by jingo.
When I was done, I gathered a strip of lace and twirled it up to make a flower. I put a pearl in the middle and stitched it to the bib. Then I cut it off the bib and stitched it to the pocket.

But it felt a little naked and lonely. Bad combo.

I knotted up the ends of the ribbon and purposely frayed it. I wish I could have gotten a wider ribbon in the same color, but Wal Mart didn’t have any.

The finished product:

It looks much better live.
Not that it’s actually ALIVE.

Today I’m going to get to work on making Lacy a smaller apron that coordinates with mine. She loves matching her mama, and she loves cooking. I plan on one day making us cuter, froofier (what? it’s a word at our house) aprons, but that day probably won’t come until her bridal shower.