Katalina Jewelry: blouse

In my post, Aprons for Art Camp, I shared a couple of the aprons I made using thrift store bargains. Since then, I've finished a third one. Now I will have one to wear for each day of camp! I also promised a tutorial for each one.

Today's tutorial is for this black & white apron.

I found a white blouse embellished with black embroidered detail

and a black and white skirt at a thrift store for $2.50 each.

Step 1 - Cut the back away from the blouse being careful to keep the sleeves and the top area around the neck in tact. (At this point I could have cut the sleeves away but not being sure how I was going to use them, I left them in place.)

Step 2 - Cut the bottom portion of the blouse away. Clean finish or zigzag stitch the bodice edge several times to prevent fraying.

Step 3 - Cut the back of the skirt away making sure to leave the waistband in tact. Cut the zipper from the waist band.

Step 4 - Clean finish the sides.

Step 5 - Pin the skirt waistband to the bodice and stitch to secure.

Step 6 - Trim away the sleeves and extra fabric on the bodice to create the apron bib/neck collar. Stitch a seam at the back of the neck collar for a better fit. Clean finish the raw edge.

Step 7 - Sew two rows of gathering stitches across the straps just above the bib. Gather and stitch to secure.

Step 8 - Cut the fabric of the sleeves close to the seam.

Step 9 - Iron the raw edges under.

Step 10 - Pin the sleeves into place on the skirt and stitch to secure.

Step 11 - Cut a strip of fabric from the remaining blouse front (from step 2). This strip needs to be a little wider than the pockets made from sleeves.

Step 12 - Clean finish the raw edges.

Step 13 - Sew two rows of gathering stitches along the bottom edge of the strip. Gather the strip so that it is the same width as the pockets. Pin the strip to the skirt on top of the pockets. Stitch along the sides and bottom to secure.