An apron is not, by any means, essential to yard work - I know this.
Still.
It's nice to have a convenient place to dust off your hands, and a pocket for holding gloves and clippings and things. Plus, I am convinced that a festive apron can be the spoonful of sugar it takes to make gardening on a warm day feel like less of a chore. (Because as much fun as it usually is to take care of a garden, it can seem like a chore some days).
These garden aprons, made from dish towels, are super easy - I finished two in about 25 minutes and I bet you could do even better. It might be a fun beginner's project - all you have to sew are two straight lines.
I used a sewing machine, but it wouldn't be too time-consuming to hand sew. Alternatively, I think a blanket stitch around the edges would look adorable, and if you don't want to sew at all, fabric glue would probably work just fine.
You'll need: A dish towel (I got these citrus-y ones at Target); two 30-inch lengths of ribbon (Mine was 2.5-inches wide); sewing supplies.
Step 1: After ironing your dish towel smooth, fold it horizontally (so, short end to short end) with right sides facing inward. It shouldn't be quite in half - make one side extend about 3 inches past the other.
Step 2: Bring the bottom edge of the longer side up to the fold, making a pocket. Right sides should be facing out now.
Step 3: Sandwich your ribbon between the pocket and the apron backing and pin in place. Repeat on the other side.
Step 4: Sew along both side edges of the pocket. To keep things neat, I tried to follow the seams that were on the original dish towel. Tie the ends of the ribbons in knots, and that's it!
Alice wore hers for hours.
