Oxford Aprons

Warning--this has the potential to be a TLDR post! I didn't take pictures along the way so there's a lot of text. I'm sorry! I'm still new at craft blogging. :( 

So anyway, with being a newlywed and trying to get settled into our apartment, I haven't had much time to do a whole lot of crafting. We're also on a pretty tight budget so my ability to purchase supplies is limited. However, I've started participating in craft swaps via Facebook. SO MUCH FUN! :) It just occurred to me that those are totally blog-worthy projects! And I am now kicking myself for not taking pictures through the process of my first swap project. The theme was "Spring," and I decided to work with an idea I saw on Pinterest to make an old Oxford shirt into an apron!

Here is the post that gave my my inspiration. The blog is called In My Apron Pocket. Love it! And since I don't have any pictures of the process, you can get a better idea from her post. :)

I started by getting the shirts...I had to make two for the swap, so I waited until a Monday when our local Goodwill stores have a 50% off clothes sale. I grabbed 1 for $4 and the other for $3.50. 

I followed her instructions pretty closely...cutting up and across the back, removing the sleeves, pinning the strip with the buttons and button holes (I really recommend pinning...I tried just leaving it buttoned and it wouldn't lie flat...rookie mistake!), and tracing the basic pattern from another apron I already had. 

She did a lot more than I did with binding, trim, and ruffles. I had a pretty tight deadline on this since my wedding happened in the middle of the swap and my life was crazy, so I kept mine pretty simple. I picked two fabrics (I already had some fat quarters on hand from another project...but you can get them for a couple of dollars at any fabric store, and probably any Wal-mart) for each apron and created a small pocket with a border, and then I made a little removable flower pin. The pocket was just a simple rectangle that I stitched onto the right side with a zig-zag stitch. I made the flower by cutting a circle of fabric and cutting it into a spiral then gathering one edge all the way around (starting from the inside of the circle) until it looked flower-like. I then stitched them onto hair clips that I had gotten a couple of years ago when I was really into making my own hair bows. You can get them on Amazon. I clipped the flowers onto the chest pockets. I then just used some ribbons I had on hand and stitched them on as apron strings. 

So in short, I spent less than $8 out of pocket. However, if you want to copy these exactly and have to purchase everything new, you're still not probably not going to spend more than $20-25. And it's a unique, cute apron!

Luckily, one of the swap requirements is that recipients have to take pictures of the crafts they get. Here are the aprons I made:

I was extremely happy with how they turned out, and I'm already brainstorming on my next swap project and a couple of home projects so hopefully I'll have a couple more posts soon (and with more pictures)!

Love you all!

-Kittye