A Gift For Father's Day

Before we can start talking about home projects, we need to take care of some Father's Day business. First off; let me begin by saying-- if you are my Dad, do not read the rest of this post. Close the window, walk away from the computer, and grab yourself a nice tall glass of mango juice.

source... for a great mango juice recipe! via yours truly g 

Still here!?! Daddy, I mean it!

Ok... now that he's gone, I'm going to share this quick and easy tutorial with you guys. I promise you have time to make it before Father's Day.

More apron's! Food is a family affair over at my parents house.  When we visit, my kids will go directly to the kitchen island and wait for the cooking to start. And now that mango season has started; my dad will start on his annual mango juicing/canning/preserving fest with lots of help from the kids. Since mangos are the messiest food; I thought some matching aprons would be the perfect accessory for all of them this summer.

These man-sized aprons are simple to whip up-- and are easy to dress up with applique, fabric paint or patch pockets. 

All 3 aprons are made with some lightweight denim that would work for both men and women. Here is a rundown of how to make the men's version. (for the kid's apron, check out the 20 minute apron tutorial).

1. Cut your fabric into a 24"x 28" rectangle. Fold the short side in half and position your ruler 6 inches from the fold, and 12 inches from the top of the apron. Slice off the resulting triangle (this will be the top of the apron).

 2. Now, hide the raw edges by turning all the straight edges under a half an inch twice. Press and topstitch these.

3. For the diagonal edges, turn under a quarter of an inch, and then a full inch to form the drawstring casings. Press and sew! (sorry about this distracting ironing board cover. I need to make a new one for pictures).

Now all that's left to do is to string the ties. Although you can make your own ties by cutting fabric, I dug into my trim and ribbon box for some easy no sew ties. Oatmeal colored braid for my Dad...

And hot pink flowers for my daughter!

To make the the kid's aprons, I followed the 20 minute apron tutorial after serging the edges of my denim fabric.

The aprons are a little plain, but I have plans to dress them up a bit...

I can't show you them just yet, because I'm pretty sure that my dad is still reading this post right now. But as a hint... it might just have something to do with this adorable Torva print I picked up at Ikea...

I just can't get enough of that hardworking leek!

If you want another quick gift-- you can also make a Handprint Tree to go along with the gift! The printable is customize-able, and can be used as often as you want. (for personal use only).  The image will be emailed to you with instant download.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week (including you, Dad...) Can't wait to see you back here on Friday for a confession from Dani-Kate Designs!