Dish towels are inexpensive and washable. They’re also hemmed, a pretty handy dandy shortcut when sewing this easy to make apron.

You’ll need two towels: The first, placed vertically, serves as the bib of the apron (small checks), the second, positioned horizontally (large checks) across the bottom half of the first towel, provides the “skirt” of the apron.

The towel that is used for the bib can be cut and hemmed along one of its long edges so that it is not too wide for the chest of the wearer. This is pretty handy for those of us with more “chest” as it can be made as wide or narrow as the wearer needs. 🙂

Lay the second towel horizontally across the first, then sew the towels together along the bottom edge of the vertical towel. I ended up only using about 3/4 of the length of the vertical towel because I’m on the short side.  (This is also a great way to make a customized apron for a taller person… just leave the vertical towel longer)  I gathered my skirt, at the top, a bit to make it not quite so wide.  The towels I used are HUGE!

For the pocket I cut out a pocket shape and ironed a hem in it.  You can also sew the hem in after ironing if you choose.  Sew the pocket on in the desired place.

To create neck ties, cut two 12-inch lengths of 3/4-inch twill tape or ribbon and stitch one end of each to the top of the bib.

For the waist ties, measure around the wearers waist and add some extra length to tie with; or just take a length of ribbon or twill tape and tie it around the waist leaving tails to figure out how long a length you  need.

I used the polka dot ribbon, sewed to the apron all across the front and left long to make tails to tie the apron on with. You could also just cut two lengths of ribbon and attach to the back of the skirt instead of adding it all across the front but I liked the look of the polka dots with the checks.

This is the finished apron on a size ZERO mannequin so it looks too big at the top but actually fits quite well.  You could wear this apron every day if you wanted to and then use it for cleaning rags when it’s all worn out.  These are heavy duty dish towels though and it would take some work to wear them out!