I absolutely love hanging laundry out to dry. Ever since I was a little kid I have loved doing this. Long before it was considered green and the right thing to do. Unfortunately, living in a cold climate, I’m forced to use the dryer for most of the year but when warm weather comes I am out there hanging wash.
This post is a tutorial for making a clothespin apron. Before I came up with this rather BRILLIANT idea I had a simple method for storing clothespins.
Yes, it looks like a regular old plastic container to some. To me it was an upcycled clothespins store-all that kept the pins dry on rainy days. Problem was that I was constantly bending up and down to grab clothespins.
Step by step here’s what I devised to make this apron.
- Measure from hip to hip so that the apron will fit nicely. That turned out to be 18″ and I figured about 12″ should do it for the apron height. I used some fabric I had leftover from my ironing board cover project and cut 2 pieces about 20″x14.” These 2 pieces will be sewn together right sides together and then turned right side out so that the inside and the outside of the apron are the same. To me this is easier than just using one piece and folding, pinning and sewing the edges. For the second piece (the part with the pockets) I cut that 20″x7.”
Cut 2 pieces, one 20″x14″, the other 20″x7″
2. Taking the smaller piece (the 20×7), fold over the raw edge along one of the longer sides and press and pin. This part is a little difficult to see as the ironing board cover is the same fabric as my project.
Fold over one of the longer edges, press and pin
Sew the raw edge you just folded over. This will be the top of the apron pockets.
3. Using chalk or fabric marker, draw a line along the centre of the small piece. I did this because I wanted my apron to have 2 pockets but it’s not necessary. You can still see the chalk line on mine but it’s not a garment so it doesn’t bother me that it’s still visible.
Draw a line along the centre of the small piece.
4. Pin the pocket piece to one of the larger pieces lining up the bottom and side edges and stitch along the marked line to form the pockets.
Sew along line to form pockets.
5. Next, pin the remaining larger piece to the piece you just made pockets on right sides together and sew all around leaving a gap in stitching at the top so you can turn it right side out. I do clip my corners a bit before turning right side out so I get a crisper corner. Don’t worry about the gap in stitching. It will be covered up later when you attach the ties to the apron.
Pin and stitch the pieces together.
6. Turn right side out and it should look like this.
Next, you’ll want to make ties. For this part, depending on how much fabric you have, you may need to cut and attach strips. You’ll want to measure how long your ties should be to comfortably go around the top of the apron and give you the ability to make ties at the back. I didn’t have a ton of fabric left over so I did end up connecting 2 strips. I didn’t bother cutting on the bias but you can do it that way if you want to. There are great tutorials on the internet on how to do them. This is just an apron so I wasn’t too worried about doing it the proper way.
7. To make the ties, I measure around 4″ or so. This project is a lot of eyeballing on the fly. Just make them the size you like, remembering that the ties will end up being half the width you cut once everything is stitched together. Place one strip vertically over the other (horizontal), right sides facing. Make sure the vertical strip is a little higher than the horizontal piece otherwise once it’s stitched together it won’t line up properly. Using a ruler, draw a diagonal line from the top of the horizontal strip to the corner of the vertical strip and pin in place. 
8. You’ll stitch along this line. Just like this:
See what I mean? When you turn it right side out, it does line up when you leave room at the top like I did in step 7.
9. Trim off the excess fabric along the triangle.
10. Line up the top edge of the apron with the edge of apron ties making sure to centre so that your ties are even lengths on both sides of the apron. Pin in place.
11. Sew along top edge.
12. Now that you have the top edges sewn together, you’ll fold the tie over to cover the raw edge and stitches you just made.
13. As you fold the tie over the stitches you just made, also fold the raw edge under and pin in place.
Fold over stitching and fold raw edge.
14. Stitch in place.
15. You’ll keep folding the edges in and stitching. I just eyeballed it at this point, trying to keep an even width but you could press the edges in as you fold and pin.
16. When you get to the end of the tie, you can cut them on an angle, fold, pin and stitch. Do this for both tie ends.
17. Try your apron on and go hang laundry. Yay!
Now my clothespins are within arm’s reach. No more bending!
When I’m finished, I put everything back in my handy bucket so that it’s ready to go next time and so that it all stays dry.
This project isn’t limited to clothespin aprons. You can use this method for regular aprons, aprons to hold tools, art and gardening supplies, you name it. This is a great way to use up old sheets or smaller pieces of fabric that you have lying around.
Let me know if hanging clothes outside is hip where you are or whether it’s considered old fashioned or even if it’s legal! I know some places have bylaws forbidding clotheslines. I can’t imagine…
Restyle4Life 