Aprons are awesome even though they might be considered old fashioned!  I don’t know about you, but, there’s no sense ruining your nice clothes when you are cooking or cleaning. Remember that spatter of oil that seems to work itself very well into poly cottons or that little bit of bleach that you thought you would get away with!  Not good.

That’s why I came up with this idea of a quick donning apron. Easy to use. No tying involved.  Quick to slip on and off.  Easy to make because the basis is a tea towel which is already hemmed.  One size fits all.  Not suitable for children.

So get to it. You can whip this up in no time 🙂

Choose a regular tea towel. Some even have a motif on the bottom at the ready. Cut 2 x 2 1/2 ” width of fabric strips.  Do not cut off the selvage edges.

Turn in the longitudinal edges, almost to the middle for each of the 2 1/2″ fabric strips, then fold in half at the centre so that all the raw edges are contained.  This can be done by pressing or pinning.  I find it easier to pin.

Take to the sewing machine and carefully sew down each side of both straps.

Find the centre point of the top of the tea towel by folding in half and mark that point with a pin.  Make 2 small pleats on each side of the pin marker so the the pleats are meeting at the centre point and are even on each side and pin in place.  The top edge should now measure about 8″.

Carefully sew the pleats down, go slowly as the fabric is a bit thick.

Position the fabric straps at the back of the top corners of the tea towel. Allow about 3/4″ of the end of the strap.  Pin in place.  Machine or hand stitch in place neatly.

Now lay the towel on a flat surface, wrong side facing toward you.  mark the 12″ point from the top on each side of the towel.  Bring each strap up and then ensuring it is not twisted cross over the towel and pin on the 12″ point.  Do the same with the other strap.  Pin.  Put the apron on and test fit.  The straps may need to be shortened.  Mine finish at 36″.   Pin again.  Test fit.  When you are happy then sew in place.

Now you have an apron!

This is also a great little travel apron.  Folds up nice and small.  Great if staying with friends or family when you would like to help in the kitchen without staining your clothes.