Cowl Neck Apron Top - TUTORIAL

let me begin this post by saying...
use this how you like
don't care if you make to sell
DO care about acknowledgment (so if you repost, please add a link to this post :)

I (and a couple of readers) did search google after my last post and DIDN'T find anything similar, so here is a tutorial.

I bought , what is listed on the receipt as  a 'jersey knit'. 1 metre was ample for this. I am quite tall, and this gives me plenty of "apron" to cover the girly bits (not that I wear them without pants! OH, no, no. I just prefer my tops top sit at just below 'girly bits' height. Jersey knit doesn't fray when you cut it so there is minimal sewing involved. You need a fabric that will have a nice drape, and other tops I have seen like this have serged edges (if you are lucky enough to have a serger!)

 lay your fabric out, fold over the selvage edge about 5cms. You are going to cut this off and it will become one tie. When you have done one side, flip over and do the other. Now you should have two ties. If you dont want the little holes in the selvage edge, just cut off first, THEN do the above step to get your ties.
Once you have your ties, fold your fabric , right sides together, selvage edge to selvage edge (the edges you just cut!!)

cut while folded over. It will give you a cleaner line

circled is where you snip the corner off.
This will be sewn together to create the neck hole

next, cut out a section as shown.
Start at the bottom of the snipped off corner, and I use the very technical process of measuring the distance between my shoulder and elbow (takes you to approx waist height) to know how far down I want the cut out to end.
This cut reduces the bulk of the fabric under your arm. Because this particular fabric is non-fraying, you can cut more out later if you are still not quite happy with the look.

pin your neck seam

 Ok, so your neck seam is pinned.

Next pin the ties in place. Make sure the fabrics are facing the right way! I pin them at the top of the cut out so you dont have a random edge pointy edge flapping around.

Then you whip out to your sewing machine, and sew those three seams.

I use a straight stitch for the neck  and a double line of zigzag for the ties so they can handle the pulling and stretching. Speaking of stretching, I recommend a stretch needle.

Right, you are done! Hook the hole over you neck. Grab the ties. These will be quite low down, but just pull them up to waist level, wrap around you back, bring back to the front, and tie. You will probably need to pull the cowl neck out, and the readjust until you are happy with how it is all sitting.

Here is another one I made. I actually screwed up on this one  little, and the cowl neck is not as deep, and before this pic, there was far too much fabric under the arms, but I just re-trimmed, and its all good!



Edited to add: I just made one of these in cotton (non stretch). It was a little more fiddly, as EVERYTHING had to hemmed (but it certainly looked way classier), and I would recommend that curve cut out for under the arm is far more 'circular' (cuts in much more) than shown here. With the fabby having no stretch it pulled a little under the arm and behind the neck. It was only prototype one though, and I had plenty of compliments. Someone even said "bet that cost you about $200" ....uh, no. $3.50 actually!

Felt Snowflake Ornies - partie deux

Part II of this tutorial for you. Part I can be found here.

These have been so much fun to design and stitch. Have knocked out the 13 family ornies this week, and will start working on friends. So, here is how to complete your snowflake ornaments.

You will need some kind of fusible, double-sided  interfacing (adhesive medium). Use your original template to cut out as many as you need. I cut mine well inside the line (2mm), so they are slightly smaller than your stitched front. I like HeatnBond. I use it for my postcards to. When it cools it is really sturdy and stiff, great for this kind of thing. I have no experience of anything else, so can't do comparisons. From my knowledge of vlsioflex (sp) that is a far more softer finish for adding applique to quilts, so I am sure it would still work, but your ornie may curl or bend with time. With the Heatnbond I would expect an ornie that will sit and hang nicely for years to come.

Iron your fusible on. I ironed mine to the front. I have beads and sequins on the front and didn't want to give them to much "iron time + it will be easier to line up the names I stitched on the backs later (totally optional, so may not be an issue for you)

Here are all my fronts ready to go. I also used baking paper when ironing this on, just to protect the iron.

Peel off the backing....

I added in a hanging loop at this point (actually, the pic shows it added in under the first layer of fusiable webbing. Either way is fine.) This is where lining up the back was important to me. I wanted to make sure the loop was at the top of the name. How the front sits does not really matter as they are all symmetrical.
So put your hanging loop in -  I had hoped for something a little fancier, but this worked. I did try knotting the cord, but it didn't sit right, and this did. Place your back on, the right way up if necessary. Put your pressing cloth/baking paper down over everything, including the loop cording (you never know how it will react to heat), and press until the webbing has taken.

And Wa la! Finished. I had quite a little production line going.

 

You may find that the front is a little smaller due to the stitching (like the top ornie in the pic below). or your template is not 100% symmetrical, and the lining up is a little off. The beauty of felt is that you just trim it up all neat and tidy.

 

Have fun. And do let me know if you make any ornies. I would love to see them.

I bought some great metallic thread on the weekend, so I am doing the next lot with those. I could of finished these ones with it, but seeing as they are all for family, there would of been raised eyebrows about why they got sparkles and I didn't....