The Creative Imperative: ruffles

Someone please tell me whose idea it was to have Mother's Day and Teacher Appreciation Day in the same week??? Plus we have 3 birthday parties to go to this weekend... I don't want to have to wrap or plan another gift for at least a month!

I was tempted to just buy something for my son's teachers, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. These women are AMAZING and I wanted to do something a little special for them. Seriously, my son absolutely loves them and he has learned so much this year. I never imagined he would be doing so well by age 4; Miss Angie and Miss Katie are like preschooler whisperers!

I decided to make them craft/utility aprons.

Last year Miss Angie commented on the crayon apron I made for my best friend's daughter. I filed that away in my memory bank for such a time as this!

You can find the tutorial here. The dimensions on this one are for an adult, so you can adjust the other tutorial accordingly:
cut waistband to 4" x 60"
cut main piece for apron to 12" x 24" (gathered to 17" at top)

I also changed the pocket width to accommodate the various items stored in the apron. You'll see these are all the "must haves" for a preschool teacher!
-antibacterial wipes
-glue
-scissors
-glue stick
-marker
-hand moisturizer

And there's a loop for scissors.

I have to give a shout out to Mr Creative Imperative for his help! He turned all the "tubes" that make up the waistband and tie for me. It is a tedious job and he did it gladly.

Here is the one I made for the other teacher

And I slipped in a little treat "in case of emergencies"...

chocolate, of course!

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Jamie

This post is linked here: Today's Creative Blog Blue Cricket Design Kurtz Corner Mommy by Day Crafter by Night Cherished Bliss Lines Across My Face Southern Lovely Bear Rabbit Bear French Country Cottage Craft Junkie Too DIY Home Sweet Home Saved by Love Domestically Speaking Funky Junk Interiors Homemaker on a Dime Eisy Morgan The Answer is Chocolate Making the World Cuter Craft-O-Maniac lolly jane 504 Main I Heart Naptime Singing Three Little Birds mad in crafts House of Hepworths Somewhat Simple Chic on a Shoestring Keeping it Simple Be Different Act Normal Sew Can Do Sew Chatty Pinkapotamus The Girl Creative Flamingo Toes Tatertots and Jello Sisters of the Wild West Reasons to Skip the Housework Giggles Glitz and Glam Tip Junkie The Trendy Treehouse Ladybug Blessings Night Owl Crafting Tea Rose Home My Girlish Whims Allie Makes Gluesticks Thrifty 101 Momnivores Dilemma A Little Knick Knack Miss Mustard Seed Freckled Laundry kojo designs A vision to remember Primitive and Proper 733 Rook no 17 Home Stories A to Z Naptime Crafters Whipperberry delightful order blissful and domestic elizabeth and co diy by design gingersnap crafts>my repurposed life

I have absolutely fallen in love with all the ruffle tree skirts out there. I wanted one for myself but I really really really don't have time to make one right now. No really, I don't have time. I made one anyway!

I started with some heavy duty canvas that I had. Let's be honest, the stuff is almost 10 years old and I haven't stretched my own canvas in years. It's time to put this stuff to good use.

I folded it

Marked it with my teacher style big fat blackboard compass

And cut it with my rotary fabric cutter

I seriously can't believe what a nice circle I ended up getting doing it this way! Are you admiring my circle as much as I did? It's OK if you don't get as excited about circles as I do. It's about 50 inches in diameter; I snipped a cut that was 25 inches from one end straight to the center so I had a way to get it around the tree.

Then I went all Fraulein Maria on some old curtains

I cut them into 8" strips

And hemmed them. I know there are all those beautiful shabby chic ruffle skirts with their raw edges out there, but I couldn't help myself. I wanted it hemmed