Try This: Button-Down Apron Made from Recycled Shirts

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Photo Courtesy Lark Crafts

The following is an excerpt from Sewn By Hand by Susan Wasinger (Lark Crafts, 2011). 

A little creative cutting and stitching allows you to “borrow” seams and buttonholes from a pair of recycled men’s shirts to make a fetching and functional apron that gets down to business in the kitchen.

Materials 

2 large or extra-large men’s long-sleeved, button-down shirts
heavy-duty white thread

Fabrics 

For the apron: light- to medium-weight cotton or linen button-down shirts, preferably with pockets and sewn plackets. Oxford stripes, small plaids, or chambray solids. Flannel shirts in stripes and plaids could make a handsome–and cozy–apron too.

Notes 

Nice quality men’s button-down shirts are a-dime-a-dozen at thrift stores and yard sales. Due to the relatively conservative color palette that is in favor, it’s pretty easy to find two shirts that look natty together. To make an apron as nice and functional as this one, both shirts should have sewn-down front plackets. The shirt for the top bib of the apron should have a generous breast pocket–preferably with a button.

1. For the apron bib: Cut out the entire front panel of the buttonhole side of the shirt (including the buttonhole placket). This side should have a pocket. Look for a buttonhole on the placket that is an inch or two above the top edge of the pocket. Measure about 1½ inches up from a buttonhole (this should be about 2 or 3 inches above the top edge of the pocket). Cut straight across to make the top edge of the bib. Then measure down about 12 to 13 inches and cut straight across to define the bottom of the bib. Now measure across from the edge of the placket 10 to 11 inches for the width of the bib. (You can fudge these measurements depending on the size of your shirt’s pocket.) On the top and the right-hand side edge, fold the raw edge in ¼ inch, then over ¼ inch more. Pin and sew with a running stitch to finish the edge.