Make a Refashioned Apron -- Two Ways

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Knowing how to refashion a piece of clothing into something else is a crucial skill. Everyone has ill-fitting, unworn clothes languishing in their closets. With a few snips and clips, a turn with the seam ripper and a few stitches, you can turn that misbegotten frumpy button-down into something fresh and useful. Here, you can check out two different refashioned-apron tutorials, and follow step-by-step instructions to make your own.

But first, a few advantages of refashioning:

1. Ecologically speaking, it’s much better for the planet to make your own rather than buying new. Even making an apron from scratch, out of brand-new fabric and thread isn’t as green as re-purposing an old item.

2. Refashioning is a lot faster and easier than sewing from scratch, too. Details like hems, collars, and buttonholes can often be left intact, which means less fuss and effort for you.

3. The price is appealing, too. For this project, I picked up a few thrift store items for $4, and finished out the projects with maybe another two dollars’ worth of thread and notions. Four dollars would barely buy a single yard of new fabric.

4. Lastly, there’s the knowledge and satisfaction that comes along with doing things yourself. It’s creative and empowering, and the only real way to make something just the way you like it.

Click on the left-hand photo for a tutorial on making a skirt into an apron. Click on the right-hand photo for making an apron out of a button-down skirt.

For those of you interested in purchasing a already made apron, we have a nice selection of organic cotton and hemp as well as guatemalan hand made aprons.

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