Tutorial: Alice in Wonderland Inspired Toddler Apron. This quick and easy playtime accessory has a bodice that is made to be fitted to a variety of kids quickly and easily!

My best friend's little girl turned two recently and she decided on an Alice in Wonderland theme for the party! My birthday present to her was to help with party decorations and sew her a little white apron to complete her Alice-esque look. I had a feeling it was going to be adorable so I took photos along the way and have made them into a tutorial for you guys! 

These two photographs were taken by her mama, Nadine of Birdy Boutique Photography.

This apron tutorial is special in that you can adjust the size of the apron to fit the child you're making it for, and if you leave some extra fabric like I did you can rip a single seam and resew it to make the apron last even longer! Kids grow so fast, and it's silly to get rid of something handmade if there's an easy way to alter it to keep it useful! I hope you all enjoy this one!

How to Make a Toddler Apron

You'll Need:

1/2 a yard of white fabric

2 yards of white eyelet lace trim

3 yards of wide white satin or grosgrain ribbon

White thread

Embellishment (optional)

1. Cut a 12 inch wide strip that is the length of your fabric from selvedge to selvedge. Fold all the sides in 1/4 inch and press, then repeat to create a small rolled hem on all sides. Stitch the hems in place all the way around with a 3/16ths seam allowance.

 2. Cut your lace trim to the same length as your strip of fabric plus 1 inch. Fold and press the ends of the trim over by 1/4 inch and repeat, then stitch in place to make a nice rolled edge:

3. Stitch the lace to the back side of the rectangle's long side. On the opposite long side, either machine or hand sew a loose running stitch all the way along, then pull the threads and gather the skirt until it has shrunk down to about 20 inches across. I like to start from the center and work outwards. Tie a knot at each end to keep the ruffles in place.

4. Cut your length of ribbon in half, and trim the ends into nice V's so they don't fray. Find the center points of both the piece of ribbon and the gathered skirt and begin pinning them together, with the ribbon covering the row of stitching used to make the gathers. Sew with a 3/16ths allowance from one edge of the fabric to the other.

Now, you could stop here and have a sweet little half-apron, but if you want the bodice here's what you do:

1. Cut a 12 x 12 inch square out of the remaining white fabric and make the 1/4 inch rolled hem on all sides just like you did for the skirt piece and press.

2. Cut your remaining length of ribbon in half and trim one end on each piece into the nice V's. Take your square of fabric and open up the last of the rolled hems you just pinned. Lay the cut end of the ribbon against the raw edge of the fabric and refold the hem. Pin in place with the ribbons trailing off the top of the fabric:

 Here's what it looks like on the front:

3. Cut two 10 inch pieces of lace trim and roll the edges as you did for the skirt, and stitch the rolled hems in place. Pin the lace along the outer edge of the ribbon ties, starting at the top of the fabric. Repeat on the opposite side.

4. With a 3/16th seam allowance, stitch all the way from the bottom of the fabric to the end of the lace trim.

5. Finish sewing down the top and bottom rolled hems. This leaves you with a nice bodice piece that can be as long or as short as needed to fit the child properly.

6. Layer the bodice behind the skirt and, with the skirt at waist level, decide how far up you want the bodice to come. Pin it in place and sew the two pieces together from one edge of the bodice to the other. There will be an extra length of fabric with finished edges hanging behind the apron's skirt. As the child grows taller, the seam connecting the bodice and skirt together can be ripped out and the fabric of the bodice can be moved higher and resewn to help prolong the life of the apron!

I hope you guys like this tutorial, it goes very quickly! If you make one be sure to share a photo in my Flickr group or tag me @ohthecuteness on Instagram! Happy Crafting!