How to Make a Dish Towel Apron

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This little Dish Towel Apron is a fun project to try if you need a new apron for yourself, or if you are looking to make a cute and inexpensive handmade gift for the upcoming holiday season.

This little Dish Towel Apron is a fun project to try if you need a new apron for yourself, or if you are looking to make a cute and inexpensive handmade gift for the upcoming holiday season. #dishtowelapron  #apronsewingpattern #freesewingpattern #easysewingtutorial 

Dish Towel Apron

Have you ever wanted to learn how to make an apron? This tea towel apron only takes about 15 minutes, start to finish, to make so it can be made up very quickly and it’s very easy to make. So if you are a beginner sewer, or you have a budding seamstress in your house, this would be a good project for them.

–Looking for different apron pattern? Try this No Pattern Apron

Supplies for Dish Towel Apron

How to Make a Dish Towel Apron

Ready to get started on your towel apron pattern?

Here’s what you need:

-2 new dish towels

-some thick ribbon

sewing items (scissors, sewing machine, thread, etc.)

–New to sewing? Check out my 7 Sewing Must-Haves List before you get started!

Pinning Dish Towel Apron

Start by taking your 2 towels and laying them like this, front side to the floor. Place the top towel vertically about 3/4 of the way down the other towel which should be horizontal. Pin the two towels together like this.

Front of Dish Towel Apron

Just for reference, here’s what the apron should look like in the front at this point.

Measuring Dish Towel Apron

If you are making the apron for yourself, now is a good time to measure and make sure you have the size right. Hold the top of the apron up to your chest slightly further than it will actually sit (you will fold over about an inch of the top). The bottom towel should be sitting right at your hips, if it doesn’t you will need to adjust.

If you are making the apron for someone else you will have to make an educated guess on the size. As I mentioned above, I placed the top towel 3/4 of the way onto the second towel. I’m almost 5’5″ and have a long torso.

Sewing Dish Towel Apron Together

Once you check that the towels are where you want them, you start sewing! Sew around the edge of the towel where you pinned so that the 2 towels are sewn together. Only sew on 3 sides of the towel, not across the top where the 2 towels meet so you will create a large pocket. If you want 2 pockets you can sew another line of stitches up the middle of the pocket to separate it into 2. I leave mine with one large pocket.

–Need an apron with more pockets for collecting produce? Learn How to Sew a Gathering Apron

Sewing Top of Dish Towel Apron

Next, you are going to sew the hem on the top of the apron. To do this, fold over about an inch of the towel (depending on how large your ribbon is). Sew near the actual hem of the towel to form a little tube in the fabric that you will be able to pull the ribbon through.

Sewing Ties on Dish Towel Apron

Cut 3 lengths of the ribbon, 36 inches long each. Sew 2 of the ribbons onto the bottom towel, right where the two towels meet, to create the tie back for around your waist.

Sewing Ends of Ties on Dish Towel Apron

To make sure your ribbon doesn’t fray, fold over the ends and sew. Do this on both of the ribbons for around your waist and on the 3rd ribbon that will go around the neck.

Stringing the Top Tie on Dish Towel Apron

Take the 3rd ribbon and use a safety pin to help you thread the ribbon through the tube in the top of the apron to create a gathered neckline.

apron10

That’s it! This is such a cute little apron and I love that they can be made with any kitchen towels in any patterns. I like to use the ones that are a little more absorbent because I am quite the mess maker in the kitchen.

If you enjoyed this simple sewing project, you might enjoy these other projects:

Snowman Pot Holder Sewing Pattern
How to Sew Placemats Quickly and Simply
Easy Bag Holder Sewing Pattern
Simple Sewing Pattern for a Christmas Stocking
Homemade Hand Towel
Soothing Lavender Eye Pillow Pattern
Easy Fleece Hat Pattern

Check out this post on Free Printable Sewing Patterns and Even More Free Printable Sewing Patterns and Tutorials for more project ideas.

What do you think? Will you make this Dish Towel Apron? Will you make it for yourself or someone else?

merissabio

This Dish Towel Apron Tutorial was originally published on Little House Living in November 2014. It has been updated as of November 2019.

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25 Comments

  1. This is a really clever idea! My daughter’s 10 yr. old son wants to sew a gift for his mom..this will be it! I always love your posts,Merissa..Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!!

  2. Well that’s freaking genius! They have such cute towels these days, and it would be absorbent. Now I need to go to town.

    Pinning!

  3. I hope this isn’t a duplicate..I posted this am. I said that this is a clever idea and that my 10 yr.old grandson wants to sew his mom a Christmas gift. This will be perfect! I love your posts,Merissa!! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!!

  4. Sooooo cute! They have some adorable red and purple dish towels at Sam’s Club in a 12 pack right now. I think I will get a pack when I go again to make aprons for my girls and I for Christmas cooking! Thank you for sharing!

  5. This is a great idea because I am always wiping my hands on a tea towel and this would be right where I need it. Thanks for this!

  6. What a darling and easy idea! When I first saw the picture I thought “there is no way a dish towel would fit around this bod!” but adding ribbon makes it one size fits all! Genius! Thanks for sharing. I found you on Project Parade. So glad I did!

  7. This is just fantastic! It would make a great little Christmas present for sure 🙂 I’m pinning to my All Things Sewing board! Thanks for linking to Twirl and Take a Bow xo

  8. Love a quick and easy project! I need to do this because I don’t have an apron and like that this one has a pocket. Featuring you tomorrow at Show Me Saturday! Hope to see you there.

  9. I bought Christmas towels and green ribbon today to make a Christmas apron! This is genius and I think I’m going to get a lot of use out of this pattern! 🙂 Also pinned it!

  10. Thank you so much! My son wanted a “real” cooking set his size for Christmas, he’s 8. I wanted to add an apron, but couldn’t find a decent, reasonably priced one. This pattern is excellent! I bought 2 towels at the dollar store and already had some ribbon. Then I used rainbow yarn to stitch it together by hand, whip stitch around the whole thing and stitch his initials on the top. I love it, I hope he does too.

  11. thanks for sharing this idea with us. I sewed up 3 of them this evening and it took me less than 45 minutes, just like you said. I haven’t added anything to the towels, just sewed them together. Easy, practical and not expensive at all. Mariane.

  12. Thank you Merissa. I will try this for sure! Its so cute and i need an apron and i love the towel idea. Happy Holidays to you and your family!

  13. I love the way you’ve designed a pocket onto the front! Love this. I collect tea towels I like from the thrift store to wrap wine in for hostess gifts. I can add this to my tea towel upcycled ideas list. Thank you!

  14. Hi! Such a good idea and easy. Many thanks! One suggestion – in your list of items needed you include “thick ribbon”. After reading instructions I think you mean “wide” ribbon. Ribbon has width and length. And with about an inch hem (tube) ribbon would have to be less than an inch wide to fit thru tube/casing created. At least this is my interpretation reading your instructions. … enjoy your site. Ginny.