Mother-Daughter Apron Project

I wanted to share the latest sewing project that I have been working on.  I just introduced mother-daughter apron sets to my Etsy shop, and this is the third that I have constructed.

Here is my mess when I started:

For the mother-daughter sets, I try to choose fabrics that will be appealing to little girls AND still be acceptable to the mother (i.e., not too childish!).  I think the main fabric fits the bill, with the scattering of lady bugs, butterflies and other garden critters.  Very cute.  That tangle of blue fabric in the corner will make the ruffle and ties.

The bibs and skirts sew up pretty quickly and look almost complete once I add the ruffle, BUT ...



The raw seam edges on the inside of the aprons leave a lot to be desired!  When I first started sewing clothing for myself, I never used to finish the raw edges.  I figured that it was too time consuming, and I was just sewing the item for myself, so why should I take the time.  But, whenever I would wear the blouse or skirt, I would notice a thread hanging down from my sleave or skirt hem.  Really embarrassing! 

So, let's finish up all the raw edges on the aprons.  I usually like to use a flat fell seam to finish my seam edges.  However, with the extra bulk from the ruffle, I have found this seam is difficult to make in this application.  I have also used a simple zigzac stitch in the past, but this didn't give me the clean look that I wanted.  I finally settled on enclosing the seam in a coordinating bias tape.  This is how it looks:

    After I finish enclosing all the raw edges on the skirts and bibs, I can assemble them together with the waist bands and waist and neck ties.  Done!  I am pretty happy with how they turned out.