Sewing: Woodworking Apron

My husband loves woodworking and I found this awesome apron on Pinterest, however, I couldn’t buy it anywhere…so, I made one. It’s waxed cotton with leather straps and pockets. Don’t know how to wax cotton? Check out my next post and I’ll walk you though all the steps. It’s easy…time consuming, but easy.

For this project, you can use any colours you wish or even heavy blends instead of leather – it’s all up to you.

What You Need

• 1 yard of heavy cotton
• about 30-35 inches of leather strapping (mine is 1 1/2 inch think)
• about 1/8 of a yard of leather for pockets
• a rivet set – 8 rivets total (and tools to put in place)
• leather punch
• 4 D hooks
• knife
• sewing machine
• matching thread

Waxing Supplies

Sewing the Apron

First – cut out your apron. I didn’t have a pattern but I knew roughly how long and wide I wanted it. My finished apron measures 30 long and 20.5 wide (just before it goes in at the top).

You’ll also notice that my first leather is light – once I waxed the cotton I didn’t like the look anymore, so I went out and got some darker leather to match the straps.

Next – time to serge all the edges and then create a 1/2 inch hem all the way around. Then waxing time. Check out the waxing tutorial if you’ve never waxed cotton before.

Once it’s waxed, measure out where you want your pockets to go – I practiced first with some scraps, that way I didn’t make a mistake cutting my leather.

Time to sew up. Again, I practiced. This time I took a scrap of leather to be sure I liked the look of the thread I was using – and also to see if there would be any puckering or pulling…it was my first time sewing leather after all. Moreover, I didn’t have extra material incase I messed up – I got one shot.

Rivet the Apron

All the pockets are in place. Now, time for the rivets and the straps.

This was also my first time doing rivets and I didn’t practice – just went for it.

Since I wanted the neck strap and the back strap to be adjustable I needed some D hooks. I cut 2 leather pieces that measured 6 inches. They would fold in half over the right side and the top right containing the D hooks.

I started, however, with the left side. Each strap (including the small ones) are 1 1/2 inches in onto the apron. The rivet holes measure 1/2 inch form the end of the strap and then 1 inch from the end – they are all the same.

First – punch your leather strap. Then, line it up on your apron. Make a mark where to punch on the waxed cotton. Use a knife (or your leather punch, depending on the thickness of the waxed cotton) to cut out the smallest hole. Match up the holes and set the rivet in place. Punch away – it should be easy.

My straps are long – the neck one is around 12 inches and the waist one is about 15. I doubt they need to be that long, however, I made them long that way when I give the apron to my husband as a birthday gift I can cut them to size and they won’t be too short.

Done – one rivet, 7 to go.

Time for the sides.

On the sides, measure the same – 1 1/2 an inch in. If your sides are 6 inches, that’ll leave you 1 1/2 inches of overhang. Punch the holes in the leather and in the waxed apron.

Notice that one piece of leather has a mark on it? I put that spot on the back. The apron will most likely get beaten up over the years, but I want it to be nice on day one.

Okay – time to rivet the sides. One – put the rivet in the hole, then into the apron. Two – make sure the D rings are in place. Three – put the other end of the strap over the rivet. Four – hammer in place.

All rivets in place?

Done!

Happy apron wearing! PS – my husband loved his apron…the waxed cotton will help it last a very long time. Stiff at first, but it’ll ease with time.

Create something today – you’ll feel amazing.