Made a Lily - Step 13

Step 13 - Lily's Apron

After a wonderful day out yesterday (thanks for the well wishes!) I was up bright and early this morning to make good on my promise of a tutorial!

The day ahead looks to be nearly perfect weather wise so let's get right to work on that apron and leave some time for fun this afternoon!

First things first, you're going to want to trim down the width of the apron to be that of 1 inch. Don't included the crochet lace in the inch but rather measure up from the bottom edge of the fabric and cut off the extra from the top raw edge.

You should have two pieces like this. Toss the top portion and take the bottom to your ironing board.

Make two pleats on one end of the apron. Once formed they should measure approximately 1/4 inch in total. Pin them in place and. . . . .

. . . . .do the same on the other side.

Give a quick press down on the pleats. Don't think you need a little iron like this one to do so, I was just too lazy to drag my big one down out of the nook this morning but most often that's what I use.

Remove the pins and set it free!

In order to keep the pleats in place thread up your needle and take a row of tiny stitches along the top edge so it looks like. . . . .

. . . . .this!

Position the apron so that the middle panel is centered under the buttons and pin it in place.

Make a series of whip stitches to secure the apron piece to the waist line of your Lily.

These stitches will not be seen so neatness is not a prime concern. It's more important to make sure the fabric edge lies as flat as possible against the torso.

Time now for the apron ties. Cut your selected seam binding or ribbon to a length or 20 inches.

Press lightly to remove any wrinkles.

Find the half way point of the binding, fold it in half lengthwise, and press down a one inch segment. Only this very middle portion should be pressed in half, leave the rest of the binding as is.

Position the folded section in the front of the apron and hold in place. . . . .

. . . . . while tying a single knot in the back.

Tie the ribbon tails into a bow. At first it will be to large like this but. . . . .

. . . . .by gently pulling on the tails and re tightening the bows you will eventually be able to create a smaller version of it like this.

In order to keep the bow as is take a stitch up through the center knot.

When you take the needle back down through the center knot angle it so that it can them emerge slightly to the left and directly above the ribbon edge.

Working your way around the doll's torso make a series of itty bitty whip stitches all along the top edge of the ribbon.

Once the top edge is completed continue in the same manner along the bottom edge of the ribbon.

Next I like to secure the bows in place against the back of the doll. Using the same needle and thread emerge out from the back of the shirt slightly above the waist.

Pick up a tiny portion from the under side of the ribbon's bow and then take another stitch in the back of the shirt.

When you draw up tight on the thread it will pull the bow flush against the back.

Repeat with the left hand bow. Tie off and clip your thread.

I like to have the apron ties cascade down the back. If you want the same first spent some time playing around with the positioning of the ribbon, folding it back and forth over itself works great. Once your pleased with the layout hold the sections in to place with straight pins.

Starting with a freshly threaded needle make a stitch up from beneath the yo-yo in order to hide the knotted end. Come up through one of the folded sections of the ribbon.

Work your way along the length of the ribbon taking a tiny stitch in each ribbon overlap.

As you do so be sure to catch a bit of fabric from the Lily pad cushion underneath so that the ribbon stays firmly tacked into position. Tie off and clip the thread once both apron ties have been secured in place.

The ties will be longer than needed at this point. Before clipping them to the desired length, fold the ribbon in half lengthwise. Position the scissors to cut from the matched edge side up diagonally to the folded edge.

This method will give a bit of a "v" to the end of the tie. A bit of fray check along the cut edge will keep it from fraying in the future.

Not much more to do now!

Next week we'll finally attach the head so have a glue gun handy. And if your interested in giving her a kerchief (which I am) a few snippets of leftover fabric will be needed.