Making a Workshop Apron
This last week I crafted a Workshop Apron for my YouTube Channel. If you haven't seen it yet you can watch it at the end of this post. Also, give a subscribe to the YouTube Channel so you can keep up to date. I post videos every week!
But here, I'm going to share a few additional thoughts and images of the process.
Crafting this Workshop Apron has been a big road block mentally for me. I have been wanting to craft one since I started Legacy Brand Leather over 7 years ago. Until now, I didn't feel like I held the skillset or confidence to take on a project with mixed materials of this size. I don't really work with fabric or garments so using the denim was a bit foreign to be, but I understand much of the same concepts. My wife, Rachel, was a huge help with some of the more set-up and things I just didn't think about as I was approaching the denim construction. "You just cut it and sew it on the machine, right?" She would just stare at me like... "yeah, good luck with that." But she helped a ton with things I just hadn't thought of: pin your stitch allowance and iron it to get a nice crease, making cuts to the rounded section to relieve stress in the denim to make the curve, and all things sewing machine related. So big props to her on this. She was the Yoda and I the overzealous Luke.
Sewing the leather accents was challenging, but manageable. I went with a 6-7oz Buck Brown Harness leather from Wickett & Craig because I though the color paired extremely well against the blue denim. Some of my main initial drawings of the apron included a patch with my logo, top pocket with pen holder, bottom pocket(s) for larger items, and a hammer/towel holder strap. I didn't want to go with canvas here because I really just liked the idea of a denim work apron. I don't anticipate spilling anything on the apron so I'm not worried about it not being waxed either. Eventually I think I will try a few projects with a waxed canvas, but not in the immediate future.
Things I learned... I'm really glad I just went for it and dove into a project where I wasn't sure of the result. Yeah, working with fabric when I don't really utilize fabric often is daunting, but if you understand the concepts, have a seam ripper and are patient, you'll be fine. I think a willingness to fail is always healthy. Otherwise you might not even try in the first place. Working with denim went just fine and I imagine I'll try a few other projects in the future with it.
Things I would change... firstly, I wish I was better at machine stitching fabric. That's something I imagine I would get better at over practice and time. Maybe I'll create a better 2.0 in the future using different fabric like a waxed canvas and change up the pocket design. Other than that, the slot for the hammer is a bit large, so there's a slight risk it could fall through, although I don't anticipate it happening.
Watch the “Making of” video below!
Thank you for stopping by. I hope you learned something and enjoyed a bit behind the scenes and my thoughts on the project.
xx
Ted