Let’s say you have irresponsible friends like I do and they spill red wine all over your heirloom tablecloth from your great grandma. What to do? Repurpose it! Just before I get into explaining this easy project, let’s give a shout out to linen. I confess, I’m a linen snob. Does that mean I would only wear linen? Quite the opposite. I thought linen was for high-falutin’ folks who had nothing to do but iron their clothes. I wouldn’t go near the stuff. Wouldn’t buy it, wouldn’t touch it. I guess I’m really more of a linen snub. But I have a neighbour who loves it – can’t get enough. So much so that she has foisted on me linen tablecloths, linen curtain panels and linen off-cuts, which, I guess, meant that she finally got enough. So, I did a little research on linen, and lo and behold, it’s pretty much a miracle fiber. Linen is a natural fibre, and the more it’s used and washed. the softer it gets. it does shrink, so if your tablecloth has never been washed, wash it and put it in the dryer or your apron may not fit! Linen is extremely durable – it’s 30% stronger than cotton, moisture wicking and fast drying. Plus, linen is made from the flax plant, which requires far less water than plants such as cotton. Linen fabric is also fully biodegradable, eco warriors! And speaking of warriors, the ancient Greeks glued layers of linen together with animal fat to use as battle armour. Note the clever call-back to the eco-person-that-makes-the warriors-armour thing (back on the home page if you’re skimming).
What if your great grandma gave all her linen tablecloths to your sister? Well, there are two problems there, but let’s focus on the lack of linen in your life. Linen cross over aprons on ye olde inter-web are selling for between $60 and $150 dollars. Your local thrift store may have some linen tablecloths or, if you want to make a trek to that flat pack, particle board store (o.k., it’s called IKEA), you can buy a linen tablecloth for about 20 bucks. If those relics of the past (sniff!) fabric stores, still exist, you could always try that method too.
Why this style apron? It looks great and there are no strings attached – literally! Which means no more pesky apron strings in the soup. However, if you make this and have kids, you’ll need to find a different method than cutting the apron strings to get rid of them. Whew, that was a long way to go for that one!
There is a lovely Japanese style apron complete with FREE pattern (did I mention I’m cheap?) at www.japanesesewingbooks.com. There are both kids and adults sizes available. For the adult size, you’re going to need about 2 yards of fabric (for you new kids out there, 1.85 m.), at least 60 inches or 150 cm. wide. The pattern only has 3 pattern pieces and is easily sized by moving the apron front away from the fold for a larger size (make sure you size the facing piece an equal amount) and adding to the side seams. For smaller sizes move the piece the other direction. The one thing the free pattern doesn’t have is pockets. You could add discreet side seam pockets or big patch pockets in the front like I did. God forbid any of us actually has to put our phone down on the counter or something. Pockets are a great place to use a design element from the tablecloth. I used the fancy edge and incorporated that into the pocket. If there was embroidery or a stripe or a print that you can use on the pocket, it adds a little pizzazz. And nothing says pizzazz like an apron, am I right?
Linen will fray (every miracle fibre has its Achille’s heel), so I serged the side seams. Oh, but what if that Achille’s heel had been covered in linen! He probably would have been o.k. (sorry, I can’t get away from that linen/armour imagery).The pattern also uses bias tape around the sides and hem for edge finishing. The only bias tape I had on hand was metallic, and the tablecloth was green, so in my desire to NOT look like a Christmas tree, I decided to make my own. There’s a nifty YouTube video on how to make continuous bias tape here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrJhNlJVLo8. And if you don’t have a bias tape folding tool, just use a piece of folded paper. Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR7sWFwo48g Sew the straps in place. The last piece on is the facing and voila! Easy peasy, pretty and very durable.