Do you wear an apron when you cook? IF you cook? I'm the main dinner cook in our family, and I wear an apron almost every night, because otherwise..... Well, you know. I actually have two that I alternate between and one of them has just about been worn out. I realized writing this post, that I made it 10!! years ago. It began with a purchased Chef Works Unisex Apron just like the ones I used to wear when I worked in a bakery. I added patchwork pockets and it's served me well over the years.
SO well, in fact, I thought I'd do something similar again - embellishing a purchased chef's apron. So I bought the exact one again, got out my mostly blue and green scraps, and used the quilt as you go method. QAYG isn't something I've done a lot of, so I referenced a tutorial by Svetlana @sotakhandmade. I appreciated her mentioning that it's a good idea to sometimes piece a longer strip before adding it on - it gives a more patchwork appearance, than sewing a bunch of long strips would. You can see I did a little of both.
Of course, I was curious how much fabric I'd use in my patchwork, so I weighed the apron before I got started (5.6 oz.) and once I was done (9.5 oz.). That means just under 3/4 yard. For the edges, I turned under about 1/4", pressed, and pinned, and then topstitched. I think it might have been easier to make a big patchwork panel, and then line it with quilter's cotton and made the neck loop and ties. But I really like the fit and durability of the chef's apron, and my method worked well enough.
I didn't really worry about what the back looked like, with a few changes in bobbin threads to use up miscellaneous colors. The top I pieced and quilted with Aurifil 40wt [Medium Mint], as it blended with both the blue and green scraps. At any rate, it was a fun experiment, I used up some scraps, and it'll serve me well in the kitchen. Now back to quilt-making!
