Copying an Existing Vintage Apron

As you saw in yesterday's post, I copied a favorite vintage apron for a friend. How I went about it is discussed below.

First, I cut the apron apart before I had this blog, so I didn't think about taking a photo. I simply cut the apron on the seamlines, cut the darts off on the seam lines, etc. These photos show the disassembled apron.

I used these pieces to make the pattern. I copied each onto a piece of Freezer Paper. I like Freezer Paper for this because it is strong. Simply trace around the piece (folding anything like the front piece in half), mark any darts (this one had a large dart down the front body, and two small darts in the neckline on each side), then add your seam allowances to the drawing. You will see the completed pattern in the following photos.

Use a ruler to check lines that need to be straight, a french curve or another appropriate sized curve (dinner plate, etc.) to check a curve. The photo below shows a pattern piece (in this case the front), on the fabric. You will see that in this situation I use pattern weights to hold the pattern down.


Then cut the pattern piece out. I used a rotary cutter and a ruler to cut out three aprons at once.