How to Make an Apron without a Pattern

How to Make an Apron without a Pattern: Taking Measurements

You can easily make your own pattern by using plain paper, newspaper or even a shirt. Be a bit generous in your measurements. An apron should fit comfortably over your clothing.

• Apron front. Use a shirt that fits you well as a basis for the top of your apron pattern. You could also measure across the fullest part of your chest and from the neckline desired down to your natural waist.
  Measure around your waist. To find your natural waist, bend to the side. Where your waist creases is your natural waist. Decide how long you want your apron to be and measure from where you want the apron to start on your chest to where you want it to end. Add 1/2 to 1 inch of ease for a comfortable fit.
• Neck tie. Determine what width of neck tie is comfortable. I prefer one that’s approximately 2 inches wide. For this size, measure the length and cut a piece of fabric with the grain 5 inches wide, plus your length and a couple of extra inches for adjustments.
• Waist ties. Decide how wide and how long your waist ties should be to comfortably tie in the back. Write all your measurements down – you likely won’t remember them later.
• Pocket. Freehand a pentagon-shaped pocket pattern. While the Simple Kitchen Apron pattern uses only one pocket piece, add as many pockets as you’d like.

After you’ve made your pattern, wash and dry your fabric. Lay your fabric out on a flat, clean surface, and place your pattern on the material on the grain. Pin into place. Cut out the pattern, leaving an extra 1/2 inch of fabric around it for your seam allowance.

How to Make a Simple Kitchen Apron

You’ll have six pieces for this apron: two identical fronts, two identical waist ties, one neck tie, and one pocket. If your fabric is very thick, cut out only one front piece.

Construct the Front

1. Pin the two front pieces’ right sides (the sides with the most visible print) together.
2. Stitch all the edges with a 1/2-inch seam allowance, but skip the bottom edge.
3. Turn the apron’s right sides out and press with a clothes iron.
4. For the bottom edge, make a 1/2-inch hem. Press flat with a clothes iron, and sew down.

If you’re just using one front piece, make a single-layer apron. Create a 1/2-inch hem all the way around the apron front, including the bottom. You could also fold 1/4 inch of the edges inward twice, pin or iron flat, and then stitch the edge down.

Attach the Neck Tie

1. Fold the wrong sides of the neck tie piece together, and sew with a 1/2-inch seam allowance lengthwise.
2. Turn inside out (right side out) to form a tube.
3. Press flat with the clothes iron. Attach one end to the top right edge of the apron with a French seam.
4. Place the tie around your neck and adjust to comfort, and pin the tie to the top left of the apron.
5. Cut off any excess length and sew the remaining tie end to the apron with another French seam.

You can repeat this method to form the two waist ties or try out the method below, which is excellent for narrow ties or heavy fabric.

Note: To make a French seam, place the two right sides together and sew with a 1/4-inch seam allowance. Turn it right side out and sew a 1/4-inch seam allowance, enclosing the original seam and the raw edges. Use this seam anytime you want to prevent fraying or when attaching ties to something reversible.

Add the Waist Tie

1. Fold the right sides of the fabric strip for the waist tie together so the lengthwise edges meet in the middle. Iron flat.
2. Fold in half again so the raw edges are enclosed. Iron flat.
3. Sew lengthwise with a 1/4-inch seam allowance.
4. Fold each end of the waist tie into a triangle, hiding the raw edge, and sew across each end three times.
5. Attach the tie at the waist of the apron front by putting one edge of the waist tie under the top, and sew across it three times.

Plus, a Pocket

1. Iron back 1/2-inch around the pocket and sew the top hem with a 1/4-inch seam allowance.
2. Pin the pocket on the apron, and sew it onto the apron with a 1/4-inch seam allowance, leaving the top of the pocket open.

Woodworker’s Apron

To make the woodworker’s apron, use a heavy-duty fabric, such as denim or cotton canvas. Cut out one apron front, one neck tie, two waist ties, one wide pocket for the bottom, and one pocket for the top.

If this apron will be used to hold specific tools, measure them so you can customize the size of the pockets.

To make the Woodworker’s Apron, follow the instructions for the single-layer Simple Kitchen Apron up to the point of adding pockets.

1. Sew a 1/2-inch hem on the top of the pocket, and iron back 1/2 inch on the other three sides.
2. Pin pockets into place.
3. Sew with a 1/4-inch seam allowance around the three sides of the pockets, followed by another line of stitching with a 1/2-inch seam allowance.

For heavier fabrics, sew double seams. You can make interior pockets in the larger pockets by measuring the desired width and sewing double seams.

Harvest Apron

This is an excellent apron for picking garden produce, such as okra or green beans, since it provides a built-in, hands-free “basket.” You’ll need two apron fronts, one neck tie, one pocket, and two waist ties. I’ve cut the front for mine to be 3 feet long.

After preparing the apron as detailed for the Simple Kitchen Apron up to the point of adding the pocket, measure 12 inches from the bottom of the apron. Fold the bottom of the apron up by 6 inches, and pin in place. This will be the basis of your “basket.”

Sew the “sides” of the basket into place, from the bottom fold to the top edges, leaving the “top” of the basket open. Then, add the pocket as detailed for the Simple Kitchen Apron.

Apron Variations

Personalize your apron with these simple variations.

Crisscross back straps. These will replace the neck tie. Measure from the top of your apron to across your back and the opposite side of your waist. Keep in mind you’ll have to pull the apron over your head.

With that new measurement, cut out and construct two ties with the same method for either the waist ties or the neck tie. Sew one end of a finished tie to the top left of the apron front and the other to the right side of the waist of the apron. Repeat with the other tie in the opposite direction.

Elastic neck band. Measure a comfortable length for your neck band and add an inch for ease. Cut this length from a piece of elastic. Cut a tie 6 inches longer than the length of the elastic, and make the tie into a tube using the method described in Steps 1 and 2 of “Attach the Neck Tie” above. This will be your casing. Make sure your elastic will fit in this casing; for example, 1-1/2-inch-wide elastic will fit in a 2-inch-wide casing.

Pin the elastic to one end of the casing and attach a safety pin to the other end of the elastic. Pull the elastic through the casing with the safety pin, and pin the elastic on the other end. Sew both ends of the elastic and casing to the top right and top left of the apron front.

Aprons are a great place to learn sewing while creating a useful item you’ll use over and over!

Tips for Beginners

• Straight lines are much easier to hem than curves.
• Line up the edge of the presser foot with the edge of the material to stay on target with hemming.
• If you’ve never sewn before, practice your seams on scrap material.
• Remember, you can always trim excess material, but you can’t add it back in!

Jenny Underwood is a homeschooling mama of four lively blessings. She lives on a fifth-generation property in the Missouri Ozarks. Follow her at Our Inconvenient Family.

Originally published in the May/June 2025 issue of Grit magazine and regularly vetted for accuracy.