Judy Roberson
I recently, made the cutest little birthday apron for my grandaughter Callie’s birthday party.  Please refer to an earlier article “Simple Birthday Apron” here:
http://www.designsbysick.com/articles/simple-birthday-apron/

Of course, her sister Emily also had to have one. So grandma made her a chef apron that turned out so cute I had a brain wave!  How about  turning the apron into a wearable Capri pants outfit?

It sounded cute, but I really wasn’t sure how to go about making it, so I got my 10 year old grandaughter Emily involved who loves to sew, to help come up with ideas.  In fact I could think of no one better to help me with my invention!

Emily thought it was a great idea, so off we went to my sewing room to pick out the perfect fabrics.  What fun and memories we made that day.  After she had gone home from her overnight stay, I went into my quiet sewing room and reminisced about the laughter and re-envisioned the fun we’d had with our project.  It was most certainly a very special time together.

Here are the simple instructions we created for you:

1.  First, Emily chose her main fabric, which was a Raggedy Ann and Andy print.  We decided on a blue chambray for the capris (note: you could also make long pants).  We then decided to add a third fabric which was a red and white gingham check.

2.  To begin, please refer to the instructions for the apron here (save for the exception listed in step 3):
http://www.designsbysick.com/articles/simple-birthday-apron/
We cut the front of the apron out of the Raggedy Ann fabric and made the lining out of the red gingham check.

3.  Using the instructions from the URL above, we made our apron but with one exception, we added a red check border to the top of the apron.  To accomplish this, we cut a strip of coordinating fabric that was 3 inches wide X the length of the top of the apron.  Fold under along one long edge 1/2 inch and press.  Now lay the strip on the top of your main apron piece, raw edges even.  At the top, stitch down the fold.  At this stage we decided to add rick-rack to ours, you may wish to do the same or add another type of trim of your own choosing.  Now finish the apron per the provided instructions.

4.  We found a simple commercial capri pants pattern that featured an simple elastic waist band.  We made those according to the pattern instructions.  We also added a red check border approximately 4 inches above the hem line; to do this, we simply cut 2 strips of the red check fabric 3 inches X the width of the legs.  We then folded down 1/2 inch on the top and bottom of the strips and pinned those to the bottom of the legs.  Note: It’s easier to add border trim if you do it before sewing the legs up (while still opened up flat).

5.  We then made Emily a matching headband using some of the red gingham check.

This cute little outfit could be made for children of all ages and sizes.  I have four grandaughters, ages 4 through 10.  I have now made similar outfits for each of them, and plan to make for for Fall & also some using Christmas designs.  There are endless possibilities.