Gingerbread Apron

SUPPLIES & TOOLS:

• White apron
• Rit® Dye - taupe & dark brown
• White rick rack trim - 3 yards
• Fabric glue
• Bias tape, assorted colors, 1/2yd each
• Striped cotton fabric - 1/2 yard
• Fabric paint (optional)
• Paintbrushes (optional)
• Cricut® iron-on vinyl (optional)
• Basic sewing supplies

DIRECTIONS:

1. Prewash the apron with warm, soapy water and follow the Rit® Dye instructions. Add mostly taupe dye with a small amount of dark brown. Keep submerged in dye for about 10 minutes or until preferred dye saturation is achieved. Allow to dry.
2. Add rick rack trim along the edge and secure with fabric glue. Allow to dry.
3. Add a face to the apron with Cricut® iron-on vinyl. If you do not have a Cricut® machine, cut the simple facial feature shapes out of vinyl by hand, or paint the face on with fabric paint.
4. Measure the various colored bias tapes to about 1" longer than the apron neck and waist tie pieces. Fold the edges in 1/2", iron and sew edges and length together with a sewing machine.
5. Cut the neck and ties off the apron and replace with colorful bias tape ties. Attach with a sewing machine.
6. Fold the edges of the striped fabric in 1/2", then 1/2" again. Press and sew.
7. Set the sewing machine to its longest stitch setting and stitch two rows at the top of the fabric, about 1/4" from each other. Leave the long thread tails hanging off the side. Pull the thread tails to gather the fabric together. Gather the fabric until it is the same width as the apron - from tie to tie, then distribute the gathers evenly across the fabric.
8. Place the gathered skirt on the apron, right sides together, so that the bulk of the skirt is facedown on the top of the apron and the gathered edge reaches from tie to tie.
9. Sew in place. Remove gathering stitches if visible.
10. Add any additional imagery to the skirt either with Cricut®, hand-cut iron-on vinyl, or by painting it on.

JOANN HACKS:

• You can make the striped fabric for the skirt yourself by taping white fabric to a flat surface, taping the stripes over the fabric with painter's tape, and painting the fabric with fabric paint.