I saw another cool upcycling sewing hack recently on social media using a shirt to create an apron, and I couldn’t wait to share it with you! All you need is a button-down shirt (again, it could be a shirt you really love but can’t fit in anymore 🥹, or one that you can’t imagine ever wearing again but would look fabulous as an apron 🤪 (think funky, bright prints), or simply one with torn sleeves that’s not repairable) and your normal sewing materials and notions (machine or handsewing needle, suitable thread, pins, tailor’s chalk/marker).
Always stand by with a thread cutter and unpicker – every sewist should have these in their toolkit! Thimbles are optional if you’re sewing by hand. Do make sure there are no tears at the shirt front, as you’ll mainly be using that to make your apron.
Just 5 simple steps from shirt to apron:
Step 1
Draw a curved line from the shoulder to below the armpit on both sides. Cut off both sleeves.
Step 2
Cut open the sides (just follow the side seams) straight through from top to bottom (go ahead, be brave!).
Step 3
Cut off the excess parts (underneath the collar at the back) and preserve the front pockets if there are any.
Step 4
Using the discarded back piece (or the sleeves, if they’re not torn), cut out 2 strips of fabric 1-inch wide along the longest side to make the apron strings.
Step 5
Mark a point on the left and right sides of the shirt front where your natural waist would be. Pin 1 strip to each side on the inside (right side of the strip facing the wrong side of the shirt front) and sew them together.
That’s it, you’ve got a brand new apron in no time at all!
If you prefer a waist apron, at Step 3, unpick the front pockets first, then draw a line using tailor’s chalk or marker and just cut off the whole top (from the collar to the sleeve). Fold down the edge by 1/2 an inch twice and sew across the top. This makes a neater apron compared to the collared version.
If you want this to be even neater, you’d need to hem all the sides and the apron strips (a bit more work needed at Steps 3 and 4). The quickest way to hem all the sides is to fold the edges inwards by 1/2 inch and either use a straight stitch or a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine. For the apron strings, fold them into 2 length-wise, open them up, fold each long side into 2 (meeting at the original middle fold) and finally sew the strips up before attaching them to the apron body/shirt front as per Step 5.
Since this is a quick hack, though, if you’re ok with the frayed edge look, you’re all set! Enjoy your spanking new apron!
If you’re wondering what else can be upcycled from a shirt, why not try sewing a cushion cover next?