Up-Cycled Apron from a Thrift Store Dress

One of the three categories for the Miss Biscuit Competition that I entered was "sportswear", which at Biscuitfest meant an apron. I had a cute apron covered in tea and coffe cups, but I wanted something new and cute and it needed to match my biscuit plate hat!

The picture above shows my outfit, next to my competition. I don't want to brag (OK maybe just a little) but I think I look GOOD! Consider that I have yet to stop eating like a pregnant gal so NOTHING fits, and I am very proud that I made an apron that was figure flattering. It was so pretty, easy, and inexpensive to make. Here's what I did!

I went to Goodwill during lunch. I wanted a dress that could become an apron. I had no idea what I wanted my apron to look like so there were LOTS of possibilities. It was fun just to look at colors and patterns and not worry about the size. Basically, you want a skirt that has some fullness and a top that can cover your top in an appropriate way for an apron. The picture above shows my dress after I cut up the back seam. It was simple white cotton with large woven dots and a built in lining.

Once I had my dress, I went to the Internet for ideas and drew a simple sketch to guide my sewing. Below is the apron after I cut the dress into 2 parts at the waistline. If the dress had been any longer in the waist, I would have just left that part connected and sewn a waist band with straps right on top of the dress. This dress was small and the top was fitted, so I needed to move the top part up some.

I also wanted a scalloped hem. The first attempt had too few scallops, so I changed that later. I also added a yellow trim. At $3 a yard x 3 yards, the trim cost TWICE what my thrift store dress did, but it was SO worth it. I loved the detail AND the trim folded in on top and on bottom so I just inserted the raw edge of the apron and top stitched the trim, saving a lot of time and trouble.

Here is the new, improved scalloped hem with the yellow trim. Below is the apron top getting attached to the waist band sash.

You also can see the black piping detail that I added. This was in my original sketch. I didn't have any trim when I first dove into this project, but I did have a black t-shirt!

I cut strips of the shirt lengthwise. Then pulled on them until the ends curled in a bit.

Then I stitched them in place. Below are some different views of the finished apron. Not bad for a thrift store dress and a few hours during lunch!