No-Fuss Child Apron – No Strings to Tie!

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If you scroll through Amazon to look at child aprons, 99% of them have one thing in common:  apron strings. I will confess to you right now that I am not a fan of apron strings.

“Come on, Stephanie…how long does it really take to help your kids tie their apron strings.  Like 5 seconds?!”

Now remember, my blog is all about saving AND savoring time.  And my ever-curious kids (especially as toddlers), loved to play with said apron strings, causing tying and retying delays throughout our kitchen time together.  Usually, it was when I was trying to do three things at once that I heard a little voice behind me saying “Mommy, can you tie this so I can help?” and then shortly after that, “Mommy!  It came untied!” After a while, I wasn’t saving time OR savoring time with my kids in the kitchen.

I set out to find the perfect time-saving child apron and I had a hard time finding one.  So I decided to improvise; I took a free child apron pattern that I found online and modified the ties so that the kids would be 100% independent in putting on and adjusting their aprons. {{{No more retying apron strings when my hands are covered in dough!}}}  So how did I do it?

Important Note:  I made a bunch of these aprons about five years ago, long before I started the blog.  I wanted to go ahead and share the idea with you, knowing full well that I don’t have the process well-documented.  Mini-Me will need a larger apron soon, so I will make sure to take pictures when I am feeling up to sewing again and update this post.  For now, I know that a lot of you awesome readers who sew could take this idea and run with it!

After cutting out the front and back of the apron using the pattern, I first measured my kids for the neck string of the apron (instead of using the instructions with the pattern).  Once I knew where I wanted the body of the apron to fall around the neck, I measured that amount of elastic (with extra for seam allowance and a little room to grow) and twice that length in fabric for a casing.  I threaded the elastic through the tube of the casing, did a quick seam down each side, and then attached to the apron as usual.

Then I replaced the apron ties at the waist with a velcro waist band.  I measured my kids for the right length, then created a fabric band (another casing but I didn’t put anything inside.  You could use interfacing to beef it up, but I didn’t think it was necessary).  I added a strip of velcro to the end of the band and a long landing strip of the fuzzy velcro to the front of the apron (this was one of my first aprons and I forgot to use the fuzzy size as the long strip.  It is best to use the fuzzy side where the excess will be hanging out, since their little arms could rub against it).  This longer strip of velcro makes the apron more adjustable but it also makes it easier for the kids to deal with the fasteners.  Once I had my modified pieces, I put the whole apron together.

Once I did a few of these, I realized that I could actually take bias tape and use it to edge the apron, create the casing for the neck band, the waist band and even the outline for a pocket in a super easy process (orange apron below).  I had that light bulb moment while I was creating the binding for the Mini-Me’s denim apron (pictured below) and realizing that there had to be an easier way.

Now when my kids hear me start cooking in the kitchen, I hear them hurry over and grab their aprons off the hooks.  They are decked out in their aprons and at my side without me ever having to skip a beat.

Would you be interested in a full tutorial on how I complete an apron or did this fuel enough of an idea for you? Let me know in the comments below!