How to Sew a Waist Apron

Having something to wear that helps you carry all your stuff is handy. Here’s how to sew a waist apron.

It’s back to school for us here on the west coast. Not only do I need to wear PPE (mask and either a face shield or goggles), but I have found that a waist apron is a handy accessory to have.

As I will be travelling from classroom to classroom to teach, I need to carry stuff with me all the time. In addition to my teaching materials, I need to have on me things like hand sanitizer, my sanitizing spray, my own writing utensils, as well as my phone. A waist apron is handy for all that.

Waist aprons are aprons that are only around your waist – there is no bib like a full apron you might wear while cooking. Waist aprons are used by servers, bartenders and woodworkers as it keeps things handy. Who would’ve thought they’d be the latest teaching accessory as well?

Sure you could easily purchase one off of Amazon, but looking through my stash of fabric, I knew I could sew one easily. Using my trusty serger and coverstitch machines, this waist apron came together quite easily and quickly.

Fabric Choice

You’ll want a strong, twill-type fabric that can withstand a lot of washing. I found some dark grey fabric in my stash. I don’t even know what it was originally used for, but I had just enough to make a waist apron. Home Decor fabrics would also work well.

Get my free
sewing project sheet

when you join my newsletter.

Basically, you’re going to cut a rectangle. It’s going to be big because we’re going to fold it horizontally to create pockets.

1. Cut your fabric so that it measures 19×24. Now there is some flexibility here. If you are using fabric from your stash, you may only be able to cut 18×24 or 19×22. Use what you have. Put the measurements against your body and see if it is wide enough or long enough.

2. Finish the top of the pocket part. This is one of the horizontal edges.

You can do this in a variety of ways:

fold over twice and sew (be sure to press to make it easier)
serge the raw edge, fold over, press and sew
use a binder attachment. I used this attachment on my coverstitch machine.

3. Fold your fabric horizontally, wrong sides together, leaving 2 inches at the top. Press.
This will form the pockets for your waist apron.

4. With wrong sides together, sew the side seams. Do this for both sides.

Fold over those side seams you just sewed and secure. This will hide your side seams. Do this on both sides.

Top stitch to secure. I used the cover stitch for this step.

4. Sew Your Pockets. Measure 7.75 inches from each side edge and draw a line using chalk.

My math was off not once, but twice.
That’s why you see so many lines!

Topstitch this down to create 3 pockets. Again, I used my coverstitch for this step. This especially helps reinforce the top of pockets which will see the most stress.

Optional: using a sewing machine, you could reinforce the tops of the pockets with a bar tack.

5. Make the ties and hem the top of the apron. This will be done as one and so you will need a really long piece of binding.
I made my 96 inches long as I prefer the ties to reach around me to the front so that I can tie them. Make whatever length works for you – either longer or shorter.
This can be one in a couple of ways:

cut binding strips and sew them together to get your desired length and attach using the binding attachment on your coverstitch machine
use double fold bias tape

Find the centre point of your binding, as well as the centre point of your apron. Mark each with a clip or chalk.

Now line up the sides and mark again. This will let you know when you need to start attaching the binding to your apron. Keep in mind, that if using a binding attachment like I did, this will just be an approximate guide. Once it feeds through you can’t really see it. So this just gives you an idea. If using double fold bias, it’ll be easier to see.

Start at one end. You will just be sewing just the tie. When you get to the clip, remove it. So now you know you’re getting close. As mentioned, you can’t see the marking when it enters the binding attachment.

Once the binding is about to enter the binding attachment, I know I’m close.

Now, I line up the clips that marked the centre of both the binding and the apron to figure out the approximate time I should start feeding the apron through. This is not an exact science – it’s just an approximation.

Continue along and keep going until you are sewing the other end of the tie.

If you wish to have both ties exactly the same, fold the apron in half, including the ties and you can trim them so that they are equal.

I knot the ends to prevent fraying.

There you go! Here’s the latest teaching accessory!

Fast forward to a good couple of weeks since school has started, I can honestly say that the waist apron has become surprisingly useful. As mentioned, I work in various classrooms and have to carry everything with me. I have gotten many compliments on the waist apron, stating what a good idea it is. It’s much more flattering than a fanny pack and holds much more. I can easily access what I need as well.