For a long time, I thought there was nothing I disliked about baking. Baking is a science, much like chemistry and, being a geek, was one of my favorite subjects in school. I love mixing things together and seeing them react to form a compound substance, I think it's fun to calculate how much I need of one ingredient to get the perfect consistency, and so on and so forth. However, when I attempted to make cookies with my niece, I made the mistake of letting a 4-year-old mix dry ingredients with a hand mixer. By herself. Flour had gotten all over our clothes and, right then and there, I discovered my first gripe. The mess. The mess is what I hate. I decided it was probably time to start wearing an apron to avoid such situations. And since then, I have been slightly obsessed with them.
I now present to you my coveted, retro Marvel Comics apron:
First things first, I am not a seasoned seamstress. Truth be told, the last time I'd worked with a sewing machine was in my 8th grade Home Economics class and I was fully supervised. This apron was not as easy as I'd thought it would be. Instead of using double-fold binding tape, I thought I could get away with using linen tape for the trim. I was so, so wrong. It made the fabric bunch in the weirdest places and made it look all sorts of shitty that I finally took it apart and bought the double-fold binding tape. Then, when I started sewing with the correct tape, my seam wasn't catching on the back, so I had to start over. Again. But the third time was a charm and this picture was the finished product. I swear, I am probably never going to let anyone wear this thing because of all the blood, sweat, and tears put into it.
Some important things to note (aside from the emphasis on using double-fold binding tape) are to choose heavier weight fabrics, invest in LOTS of pins, and practice turning corners. I also found that when using a printed fabric whose pattern you'd like to maintain (in my case, the Marvel logo), it's best to choose a more narrow binding tape than a wide one. I originally used a 1/2" wide tape, but then went with the 1/4" so it wouldn't cover so much.
After showcasing it on my tumblr the other day, I got a message that there was an actual pattern available for free from Susan Branch. I checked it out and it seems like her version would end up being just slightly smaller than the one I got from CP, but it's not a big deal. I wish I would've known about it sooner rather than trying to "wing it" with my own pattern.
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