Keeping Our Minds off the House

We've been trying to keep ourselves busy this weekend! Waiting to find out if the bank accepts our offer on the house is absolutely killing us. We want this house so bad- it's impossible to not be thinking about it. We've been praying, "God, we really wan this house, if it's your will". If we don't get it, we know that God has something else planned for us. And we'll be okay with that, but not knowing is just torture! And they have until 5pm Tuesday to decide! Gosh!

Yesterday we kept busy- I had to go to a bridal shower (which was super cute.. why didn't I bring my camera?) and then we had Z's oldest sister and her little guy over for supper. Her hubby was working a 24 hr. shift. Surprisingly, hanging out with my new little nephew (he's almost 3 months) didn't give me baby fever! Loved it, but I've become totally okay with it just being us for the next few years. I'm really excited about these next few years- we have lots of adventures in real estate, travel, and homemaking planned & I'm looking forward to sharing it with you guys!

I know I'm working backwards, but Friday night I kept busy by working on a little project I've been wanting to get to- making myself an apron. I'm more of a whirlwind in the kitchen than a perfectionist, and I tend to get splatters of stuff on myself from time to time. So rather than shell out $30ish on an apron, I decided to take my own advice, and DIY!

How an Amateur Rebel Seamstress Makes an Apron:

As I've told you before, I don't do patterns. The rebel in me has always turned my nose up at them. I'd probably have better luck if I did, but they just seem too time consuming and restricting, so I take my own measurements and do it freehand!

Step 1: Purchase Fabric. I only needed 1/2 yard- I didn't want it to be too wide.

Step 2: Measure. I measured from my waist down to a little above my knee and marked the length on the back of the fabric. Then I measured the width I wanted it to be across my waist and chest. I decided to use the entire width of the fabric for around my waist and taper up to ~11 in. across my chest. Also measure the distance from your waist to the height you want it on your chest. I made little marks on the back of the fabric for each of these measurements, careful to leave ~1 in. for a hem. Draw a light dashed line ( - - - -) from the waist line to the chest line diagonally. This will be your guide for cutting the apron down to it's intended shape.

Step 3: Cut. First, cut along your dashed line from the waist to the chest. Then cut along the chest line at the top- I had to cut off several inches of fabric. It should come out looking something like this:
Step 4: Iron. I always do this step just because it makes hemming SO much easier. I folded the outside edges over ~1/2 in. and iron it down until it stayed flat. Then I folded over once more, ironed, and pinned it down. Then you're all ready to sew the hems.

Step 5: Hem. This one's pretty straightforward and easy. Although, you have to remember to sew a strap into the top chest hem to go around your head. I decided to use some ribbon I already had laying around. Make sure it's long enough that you'll be able to get it around your head & short enough that it doesn't sag further than you want it to in the front. Also, to make it look a little less home-made, I decided to make 3 little tucks at the top. You can do this while you're hemming the top, or go back and sew another strip across the tucks after you've hemmed. I decided to do this since I was planning on sewing a ribbon on top anyway.

Step 6: Add waist-tie & ribbon. I was planning on using stitch witchery to adhere the ribbon to the front of the apron, since I'd heard good things about it. Maybe it's because I don't really know what I'm doing, but I couldn't get it to work. So, I just reverted back to the tried & true way: sewing it! Once I got that done, I thought the ribbon along the waist looked a little lonely, so I sewed a strip along the top as well.

And... You're done! Voila! (This is a headless shot due to the bad hair day :) )

Not bad for $4 worth of fabric & ribbon! & in case you're wondering, it saved me from getting some tomato juice on myself last night!

Endnote: Giveaway only 2 posts away!!!