This summer a friend asked me if I would be able to make an apron for her daughter out of a pair of her husband’s old bib overalls. While I had never sewn a bib overall apron I decided I was up for the challenge.
By adding a ruffle, ties, and a neck strap from coordinating fabric I was able to turn an old pair of overalls into a totally cute apron.
Thankfully, I took pictures of each step not only so I will remember what I did if I am ever asked to make another bib overall apron, but also so that I could share this tutorial with you. 🙂
Here’s how I made an apron from bib overalls.
Supplies
- Bib Overalls
- 1-2 Yards of Fabric
- Scissors
- Thread
- Pins
- Sewing Machine
- Chopstick (Optional)
- Rotary Cutter & Mat (Optional)
- Ruler/Yardstick
Instructions
1. Wash and dry the fabric you have chosen to use for the ruffle, ties, and strap.
2. Cut the bib overalls just above the legs. Measure and trim the overalls so there are about 2 inches of fabric below the zipper. Be sure not to cut the pockets (on the inside or the outside) because they will still work when the apron is finished, if you keep them intact.
You can use the front side of the bib overalls for an apron and keep the suspender clips for use in making the neck strap. You can also make an apron from the back side of the bibs as shown in the picture above on the right. The instructions for both are the same with the exception of the neck strap.
3. Cut the coordinating fabric to the following sizes. You will end up with 5 total pieces of fabric. You can use scissors or a rotary cutter and mat for this step.
- (Ties) 2 pieces at 36 inches by 3 inches
- (Neck Strap) 1 piece at 21 inches by 3 inches (This is the measurement if you are using the suspender clips from the overalls. If you are using the back side of the overalls, cut a piece that is 25 inches by 3 inches instead.)
- (Ruffle) 1 piece that is 38-50 inches by 11 inches (To determine the size take the width of the bib overalls, at the bottom, and multiply it by 1.5 or 2 depending on how full you want your ruffle to be. The smaller the width of the fabric, the less ruffly the bottom will be.)
Making the Ties
You will complete steps 4-9 for both ties.
4. Next, you are going to sew the ties. Take a piece of fabric that is 36″ x 3″ and fold it in half lengthwise with right sides together.
5. Sew along one short side and the long side using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Keep one short end open for turning.
6. Cut the tip of the corner off of the short side you stitched in step 5.
7. Turn the tie right side out through the opening you left in step 5 and start feeding the fabric through.
I like to use a chopstick (They do sell a turning tool for this purpose, but a chopstick works well, too.) and poke the short side that was stitched together towards the open end.
As you can see from the pictures you will eventually have all of the fabric on the chopstick.
Pull the fabric so that the ties are right side out. You should end up with two ties that look like the picture below.
8. Iron the tie.
9. Topstich along both long sides and the one closed short side using about an 1/8 inch seam allowance.
10. Repeat steps 4-9 for the second tie.
The picture below shows what the ties should look like when you are finished.
11. Pin the open edge of each tie to each side of the bib overalls at the waist.
12. Sew the ties in place on each side of the bib overalls.
I followed both lines of stitching on the bibs as you can see in the picture below. This made my stitching inconspicuous.
Making the Neck Strap
13. Take the neck strap piece (21″ x 3″) and follow steps 4-9 above for this piece.
14. On the short, open end of the strap piece push about 1/4 inch of the raw edge of fabric back into itself to make the raw edge be enclosed in the strap. Stitch the opening closed.
15. Use the suspender clips from the bib overalls and feed each short end of the ties through one clip.
16. Fold the fabric back on itself about 1 inch and sew along the edge of the strap as shown below.
The strap will now be ready to attach to the buttons on the bib overalls.
Here is a picture of how the neck strap should look when attached to the apron. The great thing is it can come off and on for easy removal when you are ready to take the apron off.
This is a picture of how the strap looks from the back side. I thought it might help you see what I was talking about in step 16.
Making the Ruffle
17. Take the ruffle piece (38-50″ x 11″) and fold it in half with right sides together.
18. Sew along the two short sides using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.
19. Turn the fabric so that the wrong sides are together. The long sides should still be open.
20. Iron the fabric.
21. Set your sewing machine to a long stitch length and sew two seams along the open, long edge of the ruffle piece. One row should be at 1/2 an inch and the other at 5/8 inch from the raw edge.
Be sure to leave the threads long at each end so you can pull them to gather the fabric.
I recommend using a different color of thread so you can see to remove any stitches that might show through when the apron and ruffle are stitched together.
22. Gently pull on the bobbin threads on one short side of the ruffle to gather the fabric. Ease the gathers along the thread until the ruffle is the same length as the bottom of the bib overalls.
Try to keep the gathers even. You don’t want the fabric to be smooth in one area and tightly gathered in another.
23. Pin the ruffle to the bottom of the apron on the front side of the overalls.
As you may have noticed I made the ruffle so that it looks the same on the back and the front. I did this because it looks nice on both and so I didn’t have to hem the ruffle.
24. Set your sewing machine back to a normal stitch length and sew the ruffle to the apron using a 5/8 inch seam allowance.
25. Cut all of the loose threads when you are finished and check the front side for any of the gathering stitches that might be showing through. Remove them with a seam ripper.
26. Overcast or serge along the raw edge of the ruffle and overalls. This will prevent the edge of the ruffle fabric from fraying.
27. Turn the apron to the front side. Make sure the seam is flipped up towards the overalls.
28. Stitch in the ditch. This means that you will be sewing on the front of the apron in the tiny groove where the overall fabric and ruffle fabric meet.
You did it! You should now have a super cute apron.
I really liked how the apron turned out. My friends daughter loved it, especially because it was made from her dad’s overalls.
I had Julia try on the apron and it fit her well.
I decided to use the back side to make another apron for my friend to either wear herself or give as a gift. The procedure was pretty much the same, except I made the neck strap longer and sewed it directly to the top of the bib overalls.
This is why I said in the cutting instructions to make the neck strap longer if you are using the back of the overalls. There will be no way to unclasp the neck strap if using the back side, so you want to make the strap longer in order to get it over your head.
This was a really fun project. I love the upcycling aspect of using old bib overalls but, more than that, I loved that it was something sentimental for my friend’s daughter on her 18th birthday.
