How to Make a Denim Work Apron from Thrifted Jeans

Hi there! I’m coming into your mailbox twice this week because it’s time for another Thrifty Chicks event. This month our challenge is jeans, and we’ve got a bunch of great ideas for you. For my project, I decided to create a denim work apron from a pair of thrifted jeans that I hope to use whenever I restock and organize my antique booth.

It’s not a unique-to-me idea (just peruse Pinterest and you’ll find several versions), but I’ve made it my own with some cute embellishments. Other denim projects that I’ve created in the past that you may like: denim-covered footstool and denim bunting.

Materials to Create Work Apron

You can make this work apron out of shorts, capris, or full-length jeans–it doesn’t matter. However, you’re just going to use the “seat” portion that contains the back pockets, so buy whatever’s cheapest. I actually made three aprons altogether, one from each style, but always selecting worn examples to make the project more vintage-y. In this photo you see a pair of capris I picked up at Salvation Army when blue tags were half-off, so I paid just $2 to make this apron. Yipee!

A few other supplies you’ll want to have on hand include:

1. 1. Scissors
   2. Buttons
   3. Glue gun
   4. Needle & thread (not shown)
   5. Sewing machine (optional)
   6. Pinking shears (optional)

How to Make a Denim Work Apron from Thrifted Jeans

First things first, go ahead and cut off the legs from your jeans right at the “crotch” point. Don’t worry about being straight or even, you can tidy things up later on. Right now we’re going to deal with that middle-point that doesn’t want to lay flat and will make your apron all curly-wurly if you just let it go.

You’ll want to cut up, beside the center seam a couple of inches and then lay the seam side over on top of the opposite side. Use a tiny bit of hot glue to tack that seam side down, being careful not to place any glue near the edge where you need to sew later on. (You don’t want to have to sew through hot glue.)

Since you’re using the back of the jeans to create the apron, you want to cut the front of the jeans away from the back. You have two choices (1) cut  very closely to the seam and have nothing to hem or (2) can cut about a 1/2″ out from the seam, leaving enough to sew under and make a more finished edge. I chose the latter.

When you get up to the waistline you have another choice to make (1) cut around it, leaving it intact (like you see here) or (2) cut it off entirely and use a belt to hold the apron on.

Here you see what both styles look like in the back.

The tricky bit about cutting around the waistband comes when you hit a belt loop. Leave the end attached to the waist band as is for now, but cut out the other end as shown in my photo. Use a seam ripper to remove the waistband end and trim around the other with sharp scissors. Hang onto the belt loop cuz you’re going to need it later.

Now you can even out the hemline in the front, and then go ahead and iron a nice hemline to make it easier to sew. Since I was keeping things simple, I only folded the edge up once since I’m not too worried about some fraying on the back side.

Hem the front and sides by hand or with a sewing machine. I sewed the front with my machine.

And the sides by hand, because at some points I would have had to sew through several layers that were just too thick for my machine to make it through.

You can find all kinds of flowers at your craft store to embellish your apron with, but if you have a die cut machine and a flower-shaped die, then you can make your own, like mine on the left. Or if you don’t mind going simple, pull out your pinking sheers and felt (or denim) and create flowers like those in the center and right.

The red button adds just a bit of color.

And the black polka-dotted belt and felt flower add a nice contrast to the denim.

If you want to have a way to hang some tools from your apron, now’s the time to attatch that belt loop from earlier in the post. Just a few stitches on either end will hold it in place.

It’s perfect for holding a hammer. When I’m working on my booth, I usually have need of hammer, nails, scissors, a pen, and tape. My new apron will perfectly meet my needs.

I’m not quite done with the third apron, but here’s a look at the first two. Even my sweet 19-year-old daughter agreed that they’re pretty cute. Now you know that’s high praise.

I hope you’ll take some time to visit my Thrifty Chick girlfriends’ projects; their creativity knows no bounds!