1 Yard Magic Free Apron Pattern

Sew an easy beautiful apron with this free apron pattern that only uses one yard of fabric! Aprons are perfect beginner sewing projects because you’ll make something that you can use every day. And it’s fast and easy!

Whether you are sewing for yourself or for a friend, an apron always comes in handy and makes a great gift. This blog post includes a link to a free template that I digitized for you. The step by step tutorial is included below too.

This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The blog post below is totally free to read, print, and sew! Just hit CTRL +P on your computer to print. The PDF download is inexpensive and optional.

This full apron pattern is particularly perfect to me… it’s simple, functional, and beautiful. I sewed 2 different versions in Flower Sugar Maison Oxford fabrics. The Oxford cotton from Lecien is heavier than regular quilting cotton so take note – it’s comparable to home decor fabric. You can also make this apron with just a yard of quilting cotton if you like.

This is the second 1 Yard Magic Pattern from Lecien Fabrics that I was granted permission to share. Earlier this year Yoko from Lecien Fabrics gave me permission to share some of their 1 Yard Magic Bag Patterns here on my blog in exchange for also sharing step by step photos of how I sewed them. See all of the ones that I’ve made so far on this 1 Yard Magic Pinterest Board.

This is one of the striped fabrics in the Flower Sugar Mason Oxford collection – I thought I’d make one that a guy could wear – but it’s still turned out beautiful. 🙂

Laying Out the Pattern Template

Some of the Flower Sugar Maison Oxford fabrics have coordinating striped sections along the selvage edges. This pattern takes advantage of that so you can have cute stripes at the bottom of your apron and on some of the ties. The pattern works with one yard of fabric, whether you lay the pattern piece widthwise (as shown) or lengthwise.

Free Pattern Template

DOWNLOAD THE 1 YARD MAGIC APRON TEMPLATE (CLICK HERE)

You will need:

• 1 yard of 44” wide fabric (canvas, sateen, twill, or quilting cotton)
• matching thread
• sewing machine
• cutting tools: scissors, rotary cutter, cutting mat

Instructions for putting the pattern piece together:

The pattern piece prints up on 8 pieces of paper but as you can see from the image on the above left, page 2 doesn’t have anything important on it, so you can choose not to print it if you want.

Print the pattern at 100% scale. There is no overlap. You’ll need to cut off the margins. I suggest putting page 8 at the top of the stack and using a clear ruler and rotary blade to cut off the top and left side where the printed lines end.

After that it should be pretty easy to match up the lines and tape the pages together.  Don’t stress about making it perfect – your apron will look great.

Cut:

• 1 from the pattern piece on the fold of fabric
• 2 strips 2 1/2” x 24” (for the neck straps)
• 2 strips 2 1/2” x 35” (for the waist ties)
• 1 rectangle 9” x 7” (for the pocket)

Hem the Apron:

The first step is to hem around all of the apron’s edges. I started with the curved edges, which can be tricky.

My favorite way to hem a curved edge is to stitch 1/4” from the edge…

Then it’s easy to press the curved edge to the back along the stitching (first picture above).

Fold it over one more time and press (second picture).

Stitch close to the fold (third picture).

I decided to sew 1” hems at the top and bottom of the apron because I love the look of a nice wide hem.

I pressed and stitched 1/2” hems on the sides.

Sewing the Apron Straps:

Sew all of the straps the same way with a 1/4” seam allowance. Fold each strap in half lengthwise and stitch across the short end. Pivot at the corner and stitch the long edges together.

Clip across the corner where you pivoted without cutting the stitching.

Push a chopstick or turning tool into the short sewn end to help turn it right side out.

Press the strap flat and then press the raw edge end over by about 1/2”.

Repeat these steps to sew both neck straps and both waist straps.

Pin the neck straps to the top corners of the apron with the folded raw edges against the apron.

I like to pin and stitch this part from the front so that I can make sure it looks neat, but you could pin and stitch it from the back too if you’d rather.

Secure the end of the strap in place by sewing in a square.

Sew both neck straps to the top corners of the apron.

Then sew both waist straps to the side corners of the apron in the same way.

Pressing and Sewing the Apron Pocket:

Press the side and bottom edges of the pocket rectangle to the back 1/2”.

Then fold and press the top edge to the back twice.

Stitch the top edge close to the fold.

Pin the pocket to the front of the apron on the side that you prefer

Mine is on the right about 3” from the side edge and 3” from the curve. You can really put your pocket wherever you want. 🙂

Stitch the pocket in place along the sides and bottom edge. Be sure to backstitch securely at the top corners.

Then enjoy your new apron! Or give it as a gift… wouldn’t this be cute with some matching potholders sewn from the scraps?

Big thanks to Lecien Fabrics for letting me share the free apron pattern here on SewCanShe.

Let me know what you think in the comments!