Christmas Crafts #1

This year's theme for Christmas was Homemade. The siblings and I were all very busy sewing and making things for each other. I thought I would share a few of the gifts I've already given with you all. Crafting gifts is a lot of fun, and it can put you in a great holiday spirit to sit there sewing and thinking about how much the person is going to enjoy their gift.

Customized Towel Apron
I got this idea from one of Miss S's posts about towel aprons, and wanted to make one for a friend of the family. So I went to the store and got a large bath towel, took it home, and washed it. It was a good idea to pre-wash and dry, since the towel lost a lot of fuzz in the dryer.

I had my husband help me by holding up the towel to himself while I approximated where the neck string and waist string should go. I marked these using pins.

Then I drew the two curved lines between the pin marks using a chalk pencil. I added about 1/2 inch seam allowance to the line I had just drawn, then cut the fabric.

Next, I folded the seam allowances and sewed along the edges to create a casing for the string. This was a little bit difficult, because the towel was at double thickness while I was sewing.

To create the string, I sewed closed a length of double-folded bias tape and used a safety pin to pull it through one side of the waist to the neck, then down the other side to the waist.

I knotted the ends of the bias tape to keep them from slipping back through the casing.

Then I created the pocket. I made them kind of deep (to carry your favorite beverage, perhaps) and almost the width of the apron. I used some awesome flame fabric and cut two pieces, then sewed them, right sides together, leaving an opening to flip the piece inside out along the long top edge. I pressed the pocket, then took some double-folded wide bias tape and stitched that to the raw edge. I used a zigzag stitch to attach both the bias tape and then the pocket to the apron- it seemed to work better than a straight stitch through the thick fabric.

I made several lines for the pockets- these could hold your potholders, beverage, grilling spices, salt and pepper shakers, etc.

For a little extra decoration, I found a picture of a skull with barbeque implements behind it. I drew this design on a piece of paper. Mr. D helped color it, then we scanned it into the computer and printed the decal onto printable fabric. I then cut it out and ironed it onto the apron (after several test swatches, which turned out to be incredibly helpful- otherwise I would have ruined it!).

And tada! Easy towel apron, ready for grilling good times!

Stay tuned for more crafts and tutorials, coming your way soon.