Free Gardening Apron Tutorial

DIY GARDEN APRON

Our family are avid gardeners and find gardening lots of fun, but it can be extremely dirty.  A garden apron is a great solution to help protect your clothes. 

This year my daughter asked me to make her a garden apron.  She shared with me some pictures of gardening aprons she had pinned to her gardening board.   After seeing the pictures, I went to work designing a pattern and decided to share it with you.

This gardening apron pattern has two rows of roomy multi-sized pockets that keep small gardening hand tools, seed packets, a pencil and even a cell phone at your fingertips.  It's easy to make.  Whip it up in the morning and wear it out in the garden the same day.

Before we continue with this apron tutorial, you may be interested in checking out our Pinterest Gardening Board which has lots of fascinating gardening information and garden decor projects.

Learn how to make your own garden apron with this free pattern by watching our video or keep reading this post for a pictorial tutorial with step-by-step instructions.

how to make a garden apron:

STEP 1: FABRIC

When choosing fabric for the gardening apron find a sturdy material such as decorator or duck fabric in three complementary colors or designs.

100% cotton quilting fabric is not recommended because it is too thin.

STEP 2: APRON POCKETS

Let's begin the garden apron by making the pockets.

For the pockets cut the following pieces:

Large Pocket:
20" x 20" square

Small Pocket:
13" x 20" rectangle

Fusible Medium Weight Interfacing
19 3/4" x 9 3/4" piece
19 3/4" x 6 1/4" Piece 

At the ironing board take the large pocket piece, the 20" x 20" square piece, and fold the fabric in half aligning the raw edges.  With an iron, press along the fold.

After ironing, insert the 19 3/4" x 9 3/4" piece of fusible interfacing between the two layers of fabric and fuse the pieces together according to the manufacturer's directions.

Repeat the process with the second pocket piece.  Fold the 13" x 20" rectangle in half lengthwise, the piece will now measure 6 1/2" x 20".  Insert the  6 1/4" x 19 3/4" interfacing inside the folded fabric and iron to fuse together.

The next step is to edgestitch 1/4" from the fold on each of the pocket pieces.  Unsure how to edgestitch, check out our edgestitch video tutorial.

After edgestitch, place the smaller pocket piece on top of the larger pocket piece.

Now it is time to begin making the pockets - two large pockets and four small pockets with an optional pencil pocket.

With the small pocket on top of the large pocket make sure the raw bottom edges and side edges are lined up.  Start by making four pockets which would be three seams.  Draw a vertical line using your preferred marking tool (I used a pencil) exactly in the middle of the smaller pocket piece.  Since the fabric is 20" wide this line would be at 10". 

Then draw two more lines on either side of the 10" line.  The pockets can be of equal size or whatever size you would like.  If you would like a pencil pocket, draw a vertical line 1 1/2" from one edge.

Pin the two pieces together so they won't shift while machine sewing the pocket seams.  With a straight stitch, sew all the pocket seams except the middle one.  Why not also sew the middle seam?  This will be sewn when attaching the apron body forming two larger pockets.

At the sewing machine with a straight stitch, sew a pocket seam from the top (folded edge) down to the raw edge, backstitching at the beginning.  There is no need to backstitch at the raw edge since this will be enclosed in the outside apron seam.

Continue sewing all the pocket seams in the same manner except the middle one.

STEP 3: SEW APRON TIES

From apron ties fabric, cut:
2 pieces -  2 1/2" x 45 - 46" long

With one of the apron ties, fold under both long raw edges 3/8" to the wrong side and press.  Then, fold the fabric in half with wrong sides together lining up the two folded edges, press and pin in place. Repeat with the second apron tie.

Go to the sewing machine and using a straight stitch, sew together the apron tie by edgestitching about 1/8" from the folded edge.

One end of the apron tie will be going into the waistband, but the other end of the tie must have a nice finished look.  To do this, fold the end back on itself about 1/2", fold it again on to itself, place under the sewing machine presser foot and use a zigzag stitch, going forward and backward several time,  to tack the folded section down.  Please refer to the following picture to see an example of the finished end. Repeat the process with the second apron tie.

STEP 4: ASSEMBLING APRON

From apron body fabric, cut:
2 pieces - 20" x 15" rectangle

Lay one of the 20" x 15" pieces with the right side facing up on your work surface, put the apron pockets piece on top of it with the right side facing up.  Remember, we did not sew the middle seam on the pockets, so that is the first thing that needs to be done. Line up the raw edges at the bottom and sides of the apron body fabric and the pocket fabric and sew the middle pocket seam, beginning at the top of the larger pocket fold (backstitching at the beginning) and sewing to the bottom raw edge.   

After sewing the middle seam, put the second 20" x 15" fabric piece on top of the apron pocket piece with the right sides together, matching bottom, top and side raw edges.  Pin in several places to hold together.

STEP 5: ATTACHING WAISTBAND AND TIES

From waistband fabric, cut:
4" x 21" rectangle

To attach the waistband, turn over the apron body so the backside is facing up.  Position the waistband along the top edge of the apron, with right sides together, centering it in the middle.  The waistband is longer than the top of the apron and that is fine because we will be cutting some off later. Pin waistband to the apron. With a straight stitch, sew the two pieces together along the top with a 1/2" seam allowance.  You are only stitching from one end of the apron to the other end of the apron.

Press the seam allowance toward the waistband.

Next, lay the apron on the table with the backside facing up.  The waistband will be folded in half matching the folded edge with the seamed edge.  However, before doing that we need to insert the apron ties.

Referring to the following picture, center the apron tie on the waistband half closes to the seam extending it beyond the apron edge.   If you look at the picture you can see what I mean.

Fold the waistband in half matching the folded edge with the seam line.  Pin the tie and waistband together.  Repeat on the other side.

Now, attach the ties to the apron by sewing a line of stitch close to the apron edge.  Do not sew into the apron itself; you are only sewing the waistband.   The stitches should be 1/16" to 1/8" away from the apron edge. After stitching, trim the excess fabric leaving only about 3/8". 

Turn the waistband right sides out (the wrong side will be together).  Turn the apron so the pretty side (or right side) is up and line up the waistband folded end with the apron seam, press and pin. Finally, edgestitch 1/8" from folded edge of waistband.  Then edgestitch along the top of the waistband. This photo shows where to edgestitch along the waistband fold.

This is a closeup of the part of the waistband with the edgestitching.

The apron is finished and ready to put to good use. I was really surprised how fast this garden apron went together. And really, really happy with the color combination and the way it turned out.

When it’s dirty, simply empty out the pockets and put it through the washer and dryer. Easy peasy!

I gave the garden apron to my daughter and she has been using it every day that she works outside.

We hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  Come back and see us again because we are continually updating Needlepointers.com with new projects and tutorials.  Have a GREAT day!

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