The clink of ice swirling in glasses, card tables in the living room, cut crystal bowls of white mints with green centers, ashtrays... yes, there were lots of ashtrays. I have clear memories of peeking around the corner, watching the 'grown-ups' holding cards in their hands and cigarettes between their lips, laughing, talking, playing bridge. And orbiting through it all, my mother, handing out appetizers, picking up crumpled napkins, and wearing a crisp hostess apron and high heels. Our own little episode of Mad Men and the inspiration for the first in a series of hostess apron tutorials. Today's Cocktails At Eight apron tutorial features rich taffeta and frothy organza with a sprinkling of tiny, shiny bows.

We purchased the fabric and embellishments for this project locally at Jo-Ann Fabrics. We also found good selections online at Fabric.com:  Taffeta at Fabric.com;  Organza at Fabric.com

Sewing Tools You Need

• Any Sewing Machine (we recommend the Janome DC2011)

Fabric and Other Supplies

• 1 yard of 44-45" wide taffeta fabric for the apron skirt and waistband; we use a copper taffeta
• 1 yard of 44-45" wide organza for the apron overlay: we used the palest of pink organza
• 1 yard of 1½" wide decorative ribbon; we used Pink/Gold Harlequin jacquard ribbon from Renaissance Ribbons; they only sell wholesale online, but recommended Patchwork Panda as a good place to order this ribbon online
• 2½ yards of ¼" ribbon to coordinate with the apron skirt fabric; we used a gold ribbon to match the gold in our decorative ribbon
• Dinner fork with four tines
• Fray Check or similar seam sealant
• All purpose thread to match fabrics and ribbons
• See-through ruler
• Seam gauge
• Fabric marker, pen, or tailor's chalk for marking fabric
• Iron and ironing board
• Scissors or rotary cutter and mat
• Straight pins
• Hand sewing needle

Getting Started

1. We designed the waistband to be solid ribbon, free of any machine topstitching. To create this look, your cuts need to be careful and exact along the quarter inch as listed below.
2. When cutting the taffeta, we strongly recommend using a rotary cuter and large cutting mat in order to use the mat's grids to get and keep your cuts straight. We also find it helpful to the fold your fabric in half prior to cutting in order to better see and align with those grid lines.
   
3. When cutting the organza, it is best cut as a single layer, and once you get it straight on your mat, tape it in place so it doesn't shift, because it DOES want to shift, believe me!
   
4. From the taffeta, cut the following: 
   ONE 16¼" x 37¼" rectangle for the skirt
   ONE 21" x 4" strip for the waistband
5. From the organza, cut the following:
   ONE 11¼" x 37¼" rectangle for the skirt overlay
   FOUR 31" x 5" strips for the ties, then layer all four pieces and cut one end of all four ties at a slight angle. I call this the 'sash slash.'
   
6. From the decorative ribbon, cut one 21" length.
7. From the bow ribbon, cut SEVEN 12" lengths.

At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board

Finishing the edges of the taffeta and organza

1. Part of the beauty of this apron is the finish detail on the two skirt layers. Special occasion fabrics, like taffeta and organza can be challenging to work with, but if you go slowly and carefully, the results are lovely.
2. Our go-to tutorial for tiny hems with mitered corners is perfect when working with crisp cottons that fold and press and stay where you tell them. Many of your have probably used our narrow hems with clever corners tutorial for napkins, placemats and more. For this project, we are adjusting the technique slightly in order to account for the stubbornness of the taffeta and organza.
3. You need to make a narrow hem on both sides and the bottom of both the 16¼" x 37¼" taffeta piece and the 11¼" x 37¼" organza piece.
4. Turn under each edge ½" and press in place. With tiny hems like this, it helps to pin and press over the pins, but keep the iron away from the plastic heads of the pins. Press one side, then the other side, then the bottom.
   
5. Unfold at each corner so you can see your crease lines.
   
6. Trim off the corner to ¼" and fold it down at a 45˚ angle.
   
7. First, re-fold the sides up to the original crease line (that's a ¼" fold) then fold again right along the original crease line (that's another ¼" fold). This second fold tuns under the raw edge to form the double-turn hem and forms the mitered corner.
   
8. The folded hem apart from the corner remains a single ½" pressed fold. Here is where this technique differs from our traditional narrow hem and clean corner tutorial. It's much easier to create a ½" fold in the tricky taffeta and organza than a tiny ¼" fold.  So in order to get your double fold, you will tuck under the raw edge. In other words, you are kind of rolling it in on itself so the raw edge rolls under and back and rests against the original ½" crease, making a ¼" double turn hem.
9. Pin like a crazy person to hold everything in place, but make sure you remove the pins as you sew, because sewing over pins in taffeta or organza can cause a pull, which can result in an unwanted pleat and sometimes, an ugly snag.
10. Edgestitch both sides and across the bottom, pivoting at the corners.
    
11. Repeat to create the side and bottom hems on the organza piece.
    

Making and attaching the teeny, tiny bows

1. Wrap, loop one way, loop back the other way and knot twice from the back.
   
2. This nifty little fork trick is one we found online, and it is much easier to see someone do it than for me to spend several paragraphs trying to describe it. Our favorite video was from My Pink Cricut. Check it out on YouTube.
3. I've suggested starting with a 12" length of ribbon, which is quite a bit more than you need, but the longer tails are easier to work with when you are trying to hold the fork and tie a double knot with just your two hands. With a little more practice, I'm sure you could start with a shorter length to conserve ribbon.
4. Tape your hemmed organza piece onto the cutting mat, aligning the bottom edge with a grid line. There are two rows of bows. The first row is 4½" from the top raw edge of the organza; the second row is 7½" from the top raw edge.
5. For the first row, place one bow mark dead center, one 10" to the right of center and one 10" to the left of center.
6. For the second row, place a mark dead center - but there is no bow there; you are just using the center point as reference. Place one bow mark 5" to the right of center, a second bow mark 5" to the left of center, a third bow mark 15" to the right of center and a fourth bow mark 15" to the left of center.
   
7. Trim the bow tails at an angle so they are just beyond the bow loops and hand stitch one bow at each of the seven marks.
   

Layer the skirt and overlay and gather the top edge

1. Place the hemmed taffeta piece right side up and flat on your work surface. Place the hemmed organza piece on top of it, also right side up. Pin together along the top raw edge. Edgestitch the two layers together with a zig zag stitch. This keeps both layers from fraying while you are gathering.
   
2. Run a gathering stitch along the top of the skirt. To do this, stitch one line of machine basting approximately ⅜" from the top edge through both layers. 
   NOTE: If you are new to gathering, take a look at our tutorial: Gathering & Ruffles Made Easy .
3. Pull the row of machine basting to gather the skirt to approximately 20". Adjust the gathers so they fall evenly. Set the skirt aside.
   

Make the waist ties

1. Find the four organza waist ties with the angled ends. Pair them up and match them right sides together so the angled ends align. Pin in place.
2. Using a ½" seam allowance, stitch together along both long sides and across the angled end, pivoting at the corners. Leave the straight cut end open.
   
3. Repeat for the second pair of ties.
4. Press the seams open.
5. Turn each sewn tie right side out and using a long blunt end tool, such a chopstick or knitting needle, push out the corners so they are nice and sharp. Press the ties flat.
6. Topstitch ¼" from the edge along both sides and across the angled end. The topstitching is optional, but a good idea as the organza tends to want to roll, so the topstitching will keep the edge of the ties looking nice.
   
7. Turn each tie wrong side out and trim the seam allowance close to the topstitching seam.
   
8. Run a line of Fray Check along all the cut edges. Because organza is so sheer, trimming back the seam allowance like this gives you a cleaner look from the front.
9. Turn each tie right side out again and press again.

Create the waistband

1. Find the 21" x 4" waistband strip. Fold it in half, wrong sides together, so it is 21" x 2" and press well.
2. Pin the waistband to the back of the skirt, taffeta to taffeta, so the raw edges of all the layers are flush. It should be centered on the skirt so there is ½" free on both ends of the waistband; in other words, ½" extending beyond the gathered top of the skirt.
   
3. Stitch together, using a ½" seam allowance. Stitch the seam with the gathers facing up so you can make sure the gathers stay even and don't twist and turn.
   
4. Finish the raw edges of the seam allowance with a machine sewn stitch, a serged edge or at least with Fray Check as both the taffeta and the organza will fray.
5. Press the waistband and the gathered seam allowance UP. The gathered edge will eventually be hidden by the ribbon.
   

Layer the waist ties and ribbon to complete the apron

1. Still working from the back of the apron, you should have two free "tabs" sticking out ½" at each end of the taffeta waistband. Measure ¾" down for the top edge (the folded edge) and mark this point with a pin.
2. On the raw-edged end of both ties, find the exact center and mark that with a pin.
3. Align the marked point on the taffeta waistband with the marked point on the tie. Pin the two pieces together at this mutual point.
   
4. Make two pleats in the organza tie, bringing the sides of the tie in to the center so the organza tie is now the same width as the taffeta waistband "tab."
   
5. Repeat on the opposite of the apron. The finished ends of the ties should be facing one another towards the middle of the apron.
6. Place the 21" length of decorative ribbon RIGHT SIDE DOWN across the back of the apron, creating a three-layer sandwich of: taffeta waistband tab, pleated organza sash, and ribbon. Pin the layers together at each end.
7. Stitch together, using a ½" seam allowance.
   
8. Fold this ½" seam allowance towards the center of the waistband and stitch the seam allowance in place with a scant ¼" seam. Trim the seam allowance back to this seam and put Fray Check on the trimmed edges.
9. Turn the ribbon right side out and over to the front of the skirt, which also allows your lovely ties to come out from each side just like they are supposed to.
   
10. Hand stitch the top and bottom edges of the ribbon/waistband together with a whip stitch.
    

Contributors

Project Design: Alicia Thommas  
Sample Creation: Debbie Guild

Other machines suitable for this project include the Husqvarna Viking Emerald 183 and the Babylock Grace.