Handmade Christmas: Kiddie Apron Set

I've decided that this year I am doing a semi-handmade Christmas. What does that mean? Well, the plan is that I am going to make as many Christmas gifts that I can. My hope is to not only save a little money along the way, but to be able to give out thoughtful, personalized gifts too! Of course, we will have to do some actual gift buying as well, but hopefully I can make a lot of the gifts myself. And there's no better time to start than now right? I know how busy we always get as the holidays approach, so my hope is to start these projects early on & not have to rush through them later.

First up-the Kiddie Apron Set! My girls are getting the super cute KidKraft Retro Pink Play Kitchen as their "big" gift for Christmas so I figured that they would need some super cute accessories to go with it. I decided to make each of them a matching apron, a chef's hat & a potholder. Does this black & white damask fabric look familiar? Yep, I'm still using it up! But I thought it was perfect for this girly apron set.

To make the apron I actually just traced about a 1/4" larger around a flimsy kiddie apron we already had-maybe from the dollar bin at Target a few years ago? Easy! The front is the black & white damask & then the back is the bright pink polka dot pattern. Then I added a cute ruffle to the bottom & a cute yo-yo flower in the pink polka dot fabric for some decoration. Then I used some black with white stitched belting to add the straps for around the neck & for around the waist. Pretty simple & I think they turned out pretty cute!

(Sorry it looks a little crooked in the photo, but I promise you it's not! It was just really windy outside!)

When I was first planning out the apron I had envisioned big, pretty bows tied around the neck & around the waist to keep the apron on. Then I thought about how I would be the one constantly tying them throughout the day & decided to go with velcro. Now the aprons are easy enough for my girls to put on themselves, but still somewhat adjustable too. Plus, I feel like this way is a lot safer for kids.

So here's a picture of how I attached the velcro to the apron & to the belting for around the waist:

And here's a picture of how I attached the velcro to the apron & the belting for around the neck:

I had found a free tutorial online for making a chef's hat & decided to try it out as well. I found it on the Making it Fun blog (of Kathy Miller who is co-owner & creative director of Michael Miller Fabrics) which has so many super cute free tutorials on it, by the way! And I was surprised at how easy these were to make! Honestly it only took me a couple of hours to make 2 of them!

Here's the chef's hat:

It's definitely a little on the big side, but the great thing is that it's adjustable so my girls can grow into these hats.

It's made adjustable by using velcro-such a great idea:

Then I thought they would like to have some little potholders to use in their kitchen too. I just cut a simple square from the black & white damask & the pink polka dot fabric, added some fleece interfacing in between for some padding, added a cute pink & white polka dot ribbon loop & sewed it all together! I know this isn't how a traditional potholder is made, with binding, etc., but I think it's still pretty cute & I know my girls won't know the difference!

Here's the final piece in the set, the potholder:

Overall I am thrilled with how these turned out! And, I am so excited to have a start to some Christmas gifts! I wish I could have had my older daughter model these for you so that you could see the size, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise of the gift, ya know? So wait until after Christmas & hopefully I will remember to post some pics of my girls wearing & using their new little apron sets!

P.S. If you have any great projects that you are willing to share for some handmade gift ideas please leave a comment or email me with it!

Also, I linked this up at Creation Corner today so go on over to Tasha's awesome blog & see what everyone's been making this week. Oh, and while you're over there, check out her super cute new Baby Shirred Skirt Tutorial-LOVE IT!