How to Make an Apron Out of a Flour Sack

Transform a vintage flour sack into a bib apron.

Antique stores and flea markets have an abundance of antique textiles. These natural fabrics from the past can add to a collection or be used in a variety of sewing projects. Years ago, feed for livestock and dried foods for human consumption were packaged and sold in durable cotton fabric sacks. These sacks were often a natural color, printed with the mill's logo on the front. Make an apron using a vintage flour sack. Position the logo on the front of the apron as a nostalgic reminder of days gone by.

Things You'll Need

• Vintage flour sack
• Seam ripper
• Iron
• Scissors
• Straight pins
• Sewing machine
• Yardstick
• Pencil

Instructions

1. Open the flour sack seams using a seam ripper. Flour sacks have one long seam on the side, bottom and top. Iron the flour sack and steam the edges to remove the creases of the folds. Your fabric will be one large rectangle with the logo on one end.

2. Fold the end with the logo in half, with the fold running vertically from the top edge of the sack to the bottom. Note: The top and bottom edges of the sack are the long edges of the rectangle. Cut along the vertical raw edge of the fold. Open the folded logo. This is the center front of your apron.

3. Cut the remainder of the flour sack fabric in half from the top edge to the bottom edge. These are the side panels that will widen the apron front.

4. Lay the apron front on your work surface with the logo side facing up. Place one side panel on the apron front and match one long edge of the panel with one long edge of the apron front. If there is a right and wrong side to your fabric, place the side panel with the right side facing down. Pin the edges and sew using a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Place the remaining side panel on the apron front. Line up a long edge of the side panel with the remaining long edge of the apron front and sew.

5. Press the seams open. Lay the stitched panel on your work surface. The logo is now been positioned in the center of the rectangle. Cut a 3-inch wide strip from the top to the bottom, on each short edge of the rectangle. These strips will be used to create your apron ties and neck strap.

6. Fold the rectangle in half with the short edges matching. Measure down 12 inches along the short edge from the top. Mark with a pencil. Measure 5 inches from the folded edge, along the top edge. Mark with a pencil. Lay a yardstick from one pencil mark to the other. Trace along the yardstick. Cut along the pencil line through both thicknesses of the apron. This angled cut is the side edges of the apron's bib.

7. Lay the apron wrong side up on your ironing surface. Fold one angled edge of the bib 1/4 inch to the wrong side and press. Fold another 1/4 inch, press and pin. Sew the pinned edge. Repeat on the other angled edge, the two side edges and the bottom edge of the apron.

8. Fold the top edge of the apron down 1-inch and press. Fold another inch, press and pin. Stitch along the pinned edge of the bib.

9. Cut a 26 inch length of one 3 inch wide strip for the neck strap. Fold the strip in half, matching the long edges. Press the fold to crease. Open the strip. Fold the two long edges to the center crease and press. Fold the strip in half again, matching the new long edges. Press and pin. Sew the pinned edge as close to the edge as possible.

10. Cut the length of the remaining long strip in half to make two ties. Fold and sew them in the same way as the neck strap.

11. Pin a 1/2 inch of one end of the neck strap to the wrong side of one top corner of the bib. Pin the other end on the opposite corner. Sew across the pinned ends to secure.

12. Pin a 1/2 inch of one end of a tie to one top corner of the apron side, just before the angle of the bib. Pin an end of the other tie to the other side of the apron. Sew across the pinned ends to secure.