How to Sew a Gathered Half Apron With Pockets ~ Tutorial

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I love aprons. I have lots of them! My personal preference are the aprons that are full size, but I also love the half aprons as well because they look so pretty with their gathers.

I must admit that I also prefer to make a full apron because it is such a simple project. I need to give you my easy apron pattern one day, and do a tutorial on it… remind me!! 

There are plenty of simple half apron patterns out there, but not as many with gathers, so that’s why I decided to design this one.

One of the good things about making this diy half apron is that you don’t need to print out any pattern pieces – it is easy to cut out with a rotary cutter, or even with the Accuquilt Go! cutter. 

I originally made this project when I was working for Accuquilt Australia, but never got around to putting the tutorial here on my blog. So here I am finally writing it out for you!

If you would like a free printable pdf of this tutorial, you can get it on their website here.

I’ll give you the instructions with and without using the Acuquilt Go! Cutter.

Materials Needed Without an Accuquilt Go! Cutter:

• 1/2 meter Feature Fabric for the body of the apron
• 1/2 meter Contrast Fabric for the waistband pieces
• 1 contrast fat quarter for the main pocket fabric
• turning tool (optional)
• Rotary cutter, cutting board, and ruler
• General sewing tools and sewing machine

Materials Needed if you have an Accuquilt Go! Cutter:

• AccuQuilt GO! Big or GO! Fabric Cutter
• AQ55010 Go! Square-5” (4 ½” Finished)
• AQ55017 Go! Strip cutter 2 ½” (2” Finished) 3 Strips
• ½ Meter Feature Fabric for the body of the apron
• ½ Meter Contrast Fabric for the waistband pieces
• 1 Contrast Fat Quarter for the main pocket fabric
• Turning tool (optional)
• Sewing Machine 
• Matching Sewing Thread
• General Sewing Tools

Cutting Instructions Without an Accuquilt Go! Cutter:

From the contrast fabric cut:

• FOUR 2 1/2″ strips width of fabric
• ONE 5″ square

From the contrast fat quarter cut:

• FOUR 5″ squares

Cutting Instructions if you have an Accuquilt Go! Cutter:

• From contrast fabric:
  • Using AQ55017 Go! Strip cutter 2 ½” (2” Finished) 3 Strips
    • Cut (4) 2 ½” strips
  • Using AQ AQ55010 Go! Square-5” (4 ½” Finished)
    • Cut (1) 5” square
• From contrast fat quarter:
  • Using AQ55010 Go! Square-5” (4 ½” Finished)
    • Cut (4) 5” squares 

Sewing Instructions

Use a (1/4″) quarter inch seam allowance unless specified.

Prepare the Apron Feature Fabric

• Lay the ½” meter feature fabric on a cutting board. Place a quilting ruler on the fold and trim the edges of the fabric to straighten them up. 
• Turn the fabric around and trim off the selvages on the sides.
• Take the trimmed fabric to the ironing board and iron out the crease. 
• Fold the fabric in half again and make another crease. Press well. 

This center crease will be used when positioning the pockets and when gathering.

Hem the Apron Feature Fabric

• Hem the sides of the apron fabric (where the selvage used to be)
• Hem the bottom edge of the apron.

Use whichever width of hem you are most comfortable with.

Sew the Apron Pockets

• Take the 5” square of contrast fabric and cut (2) 2” x 5” strips. Discard the remaining 1” x 5” strip
• Take two of the 5” contrast fat quarter squares and sew them on either side of one of the 2” x 5” strips. Press away from the strip:

3. Fold the pocket piece in half, right sides together, and sew around the pocket, leaving an opening at the bottom to turn it right sides out:

Tip!

         Start by sewing a quarter of an inch into the pocket, swivel, and keep sewing around. Do the same at the end – swivel and sew off the edge of the fabric. This will help the seam fold in easier when turning the unit right side out. 

4. Clip the corners of the pocket and turn right side out. Gently push out the corners with a pencil or similar tool. Press well. 

5. Make another pocket in the same way.

Sew the Apron Pockets to the Feature Fabric

• Place the folded apron on the cutting board, with the fold on the right. 
• Measure 7” from the fold, and 7 ½” from the top of the apron. This is where the pocket will be placed:

3. Pin one pocket in place, making sure not to pin to both layers of apron fabric. Flip apron around with the fold to the left. Position and pin the second pocket in place.

4. Sew the pockets to the apron on three sides, (leaving the top of the pocket open)  using an 1/8” seam allowance. 

Gather the Top of the Apron

To gather the main part of the apron you need to make long gathering stitches. While you can make one row of these, it is neater (and stronger) to make two rows close together.

• Change the stitch length to a long one. 
• Sew ¼” along the length of the top on the apron. 
• Sew again ¼” away from the line just stitched.
• Starting from the right-hand side, gently pull both of the top threads to start gathering the fabric:

To avoid breaking the threads, only gather till the middle crease of the apron, then start gathering from the left of the fabric to the center crease.

The gathered edges need to be approximately 9 ½” on either side of the crease for a total of 19” finished gathering. 

* Remember to change the stitch length back to normal before going on to the next step! 

Sew the Apron Waist Band and Ties

Some apron patterns have the waist straps and tie strips as different pieces. I like to do it all in one long strip using a double fold.

• Take two of the 2 ½” contrast strips and cut off the selvages. Press them in half, right sides together, making a new center crease.  
• Cut one of the 2 ½” strips in half. You will now have one strip WOF (minus the selvages) and two half WOF strips.
• Sew the two small strips of fabric on either side of the WOF 2 ½” strip to form a long strip.
• Repeat this step with the remaining two strips.
• Taking the two long strips, place them right sides together and sew along the two short (2 ½”) edges and one of the long ones.
• Take the sewn strips to the cutting board and measure 11” from the center crease. Place a mark on the wrong side of the bottom of the strip:

Do the same measuring from the other side of the center crease. 

Sew from the marks to the edges of the strips. This will create a 20” gap in which to place the gathered apron piece.

7. Clip the corners and turn the apron waist band and ties inside out using a turning tool (like a knitting needle or something similar). Carefully push out the corners and press. 

Attach the Waist Band and Ties to the Arpon

• Match the center creases of the waistband and gathered apron and pin, right sides together. 
• Keeping the gathered apron as flat as possible, pin well from the center to the ends of the gap on the waistband:  

3. Using a seam allowance slightly wider than ¼”, sew the waistband and the gathered apron together.

4. Press the apron towards the waistband, with the gathers going up into the waistband:

5. Pull out the second line of gathering.

6. Turn the apron around and press the seams of the opening under to form a hem, covering the gathered edge and raw edges:

7. Turn the apron around again and pin around the entire waistband and apron ties:

8. Top stitch 1/8” around the entire waistband and apron ties:

9. Press the apron one more time.

​We now have a finished apron! 

Variations

• instead of making two small pockets, you could make a large pocket and center it in the middle
• some lace or ricrac would look pretty on the bottom of the apron
• instead of using a straight stitch to topstitch, use one of the many decorative stitches your sewing machine comes with!

I hope this tutorial and half apron pattern make sense! If you make your own half apron please let me know! This apron would also make a great gift…

Tell me, what type of apron do you prefer? Or maybe you are not an apron person… that’s ok too!