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Home » DIY & Crafts

How To Make Aprons From Tea Towels

Modified: Oct 22, 2024 · Published: Apr 28, 2012 by Dannyelle Nicolle-Ramjist · This post may contain affiliate links · 3 Comments

Jump to How-To

Tea Towel Apron: easy step by step instructions on how to make an apron out of a tea towel and ribbon for kids or adults.

How to make an apron from of a tea towel.
Jump to:
  • Materials:
  • How To Make A Tea Towel Apron
  • The Perfect Gift
  • More Sewing Project Inspiration

Tea towel aprons or dish towel aprons are inexpensive to make and easy to sew.  A tea towel apron is perfect for a baking birthday party, or just for any baking and cooking at home.

This past weekend we celebrated our baby turning 5! She loves all things sweet so we went with a cupcake and bakery theme for the party. Weeks and weeks before the party I started hunting for cupcake fabric to make aprons for all our little guests.

 

cupcake tea towels

I stumbled upon some cupcake tea towels. These were perfect! They weren't expensive, and already had some of the sewing done for me. I am not a great seamstress by any means, but with my Grandma's old sewing machine, and a few straight seams I managed to make ten sweet little aprons for all the party guests.  I would say that if you can sew a straight line with a sewing machine, then this easy apron should be no problem for you.  It's a great beginner sewing project.  If you're looking for quick projects that you can personalize, this is a great one.

how to make an apron out of a tea towel

Materials:

  • tea towel
  • ribbon
  • ruffle
  • frey stop
  • pins
  • sewing machine
  • thread

How To Make A Tea Towel Apron

Cutting The Tea Towel Apron Shape

1. I started out cutting off the top of the kitchen towel to make the aprons short enough for little ones, and create the apron shape. If you were making this for an adult, then you don't need to trim down the top of the towel.  You want to create the classic apron shape at the top, by cutting about a 45 degree angle at each side to create the arm holes.  You want to have a straight top to the apron, which is approximately ⅓ of the towel, and the angle the sides down to the waist.  Mark your pattern with a disappearing maker and cut off the sides.

Sewing The Edges

Next use an iron and the ironing board to fold over the raw edges a ¼ inch seam allowance, and then another ¼ inch to create a nice folded edge.  Use straight pins to hold the edge of the towel in place, and sew the edges with a straight stitch using the sewing machine and white thread, or whatever matches your apron.

DIY tea towel apron

Tea Towel Apron Neck Straps and Back Ties

2.After the basic apron shaped was sewn, I added on a neck strap, ties for the back, and a little ruffle at the bottom.  

To make the neck strap and apron ties I used some pink polka dot ribbon.  I sewed it on to the apron and finished the ends with a little fray-stop to ensure the length of ribbon doesn't unravel.  Using a pretty ribbon for this part is a cute little apron detail.  

We also found ready made pink ruffles at the fabric store.  This made adding this detail really easy.  I just turned in the raw edges and used a top stitch to add it to the bottom seam.

For the little boys I used cream coloured twill tape for the fabric ties and didn't add the ruffles to the front.

tea towel children's apron
How to make an apron from of a tea towel.

Aprons made from Tea Towels

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Print Pin Rate
Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes minutes
Author: Dannyelle Nicolle-Ramjist

Equipment

  • pins
  • Sewing Machine
  • iron
  • scissors

Materials

  • tea towel
  • ribbon
  • ruffle
  • frey stop
  • thread

Instructions

  • I started out cutting off the top of the kitchen towel to make the aprons short enough for little ones, and create the apron shape. If you were making this for an adult, then you don't need to trim down the top of the towel. You want to create the classic apron shape at the top, by cutting about a 45 degree angle at each side to create the arm holes. You want to have a straight top to the apron, which is approximately ⅓ of the towel, and the angle the sides down to the waist. Mark your pattern with a disappearing maker and cut off the sides.
  • Next use an iron and the ironing board to fold over the raw edges a ¼ inch seam allowance, and then another ¼ inch to create a nice folded edge. Use straight pins to hold the edge of the towel in place, and sew the edges with a straight stitch using the sewing machine and white thread, or whatever matches your apron.
  • After the basic apron shaped was sewn, I added on a neck strap, ties for the back, and a little ruffle at the bottom.
    To make the neck strap and apron ties I used some pink polka dot ribbon. I sewed it on to the apron and finished the ends with a little fray-stop to ensure the length of ribbon doesn't unravel. Using a pretty ribbon for this part is a cute little apron detail.
    We also found ready made pink ruffles at the fabric store. This made adding this detail really easy. I just turned in the raw edges and used a top stitch to add it to the bottom seam.
    For the little boys I used cream coloured twill tape for the fabric ties and didn't add the ruffles to the front

The Perfect Gift

I just love how our diy apron turned out, and the kids seemed to really like them too. There were three different patterns to choose from. The aprons were also part of their party favour at the end of the party.  These are a great idea for handmade gifts.  You could personalize them for any family member with a color and pattern they'd love, and add neck and waist ties in a ribbon or fabric that they'd love.

When the kids arrived for our party the aprons were hung over the backs of the chairs, ready for the little bakers to decorate their cupcakes and cookies with.

quick and easy children's apron

This simple sewing project was a labour of love.  It was fairly time consuming to make this many aprons. but pretty simple, and worth the effort in the end.  Making them was much cheaper than buying them, and they turned out so cute and matched our cupcake theme perfectly.  It took a little bit of planning to find the tea towels and get the matching ribbon and other supplies, but it was a lot of fun to add the creative side to the party prep.  I also loved how they played double duty as part of our party activity and then part of the take home goodie bags afterward.  It was really such a cute look when all the kids were in their matching aprons to decorate their cupcakes.  It really was a great way to made them feel like little bakers.

tea towel apron

Our two have all the chocolate frosting washed off now, and they're ready for future baking adventures!

With a  tea towel apron this cute, life really is a party!

More Sewing Project Inspiration

You might like our Felt Cookie Play Food here.

Felt Chocolate Chip Cookies -easy to sew, and the perfect play food for kids to enjoy. The little faces with their different expressions are adorable.

Also check out our Bunny Treat Bag here.

You might also like our DIY Velvet Mushroom Craft here.

DIY Velvet Mushroom Craft: make your own Anthropologie inspired velvet mushrooms perfect as decor, or as an ornament.

More DIY and Craft Project Ideas

  • Everlasting gingerbread houses made from gingerbread salt dough.
    Easy Gingerbread Salt Dough Recipe for Houses and Ornaments
  • Cricut gingerbread decor felt gingerbread house banner and gingerbread canister with vinyl gingerbread houses
    DIY Gingerbread Decor Ideas To Make With Your Cricut
  • DIY paper Christmas cloche cricut
    DIY Paper Christmas Cloche Lantern with Free Cricut Pattern
  • DIY velvet acorn
    How To Make DIY Velvet Acorns

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Melissa @ Loving this {crazy} life! says

    May 06, 2012 at 9:40 am

    What pretty aprons! And the party looks like it was a sweet one! Found you through TT&J.

    I'd love for you to link up to my party: http://lovingthiscrazylife-melissa.blogspot.com/search/label/POC%20LINKY%20PARTY

    Hope you're having a great weekend!

  2. Hollie says

    May 05, 2012 at 11:02 am

    Lovely aprons!

  3. Brittany says

    May 05, 2012 at 12:18 am

    Darling aprons!

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