I had never seen a crayon apron until I opened a catalog that came in the mail the other day. I was overcome by the cute, girlishness of the crayon apron pictured and the clever idea. But, the more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that it wasn’t really a practical idea. Crayons break constantly, immediately upon use. Then they wouldn’t work in the apron pockets anymore because they would be too short. I also didn’t think that little ones, of the crayon using age, would be all that interested in putting crayons back into little slots. I decided to make one as a gift that uses Twistables, the Crayola colored pencils that you twist up rather than sharpen. They will always stay the same height and are a bit more appealing than crayons to the preschool/kindergarten crowd.
After I made mine, I searched and noticed that they are all over Esty so the idea is hardly new, just new to me! I am guessing that there are several tutorials out there too. In case there are not, I will share the measurements that I used. My apron is appropriately sized for those age 4 and up.

1. For the main body of the apron, I cut a piece of fabric measuring 33″ wide and 11″ high.
2. The pocket piece measures 33″ wide and 6 1/4″ high. I finished the top edge of the pocket with a 1/4″ hem. I then sewed baby rick rack 1″ down from the finished edge.
3. I placed the pocket piece on top of the apron piece, right sides up. I located the center of the pocket and stitched straight down. I then made vertical, parallel rows of stitching 1″ apart to form the pockets.
4. Next I made a narrow hem on the sides and bottom of the apron. I think bias tape would have been a better choice but I was bias taped out from recent projects and didn’t feel like using it again! The hem worked fine as an alternative.
5. I then gathered the top of the apron to 14 1/2″.
6. To make the ties, I cut one piece out of the pocket material measuring 15″ long x 2″ high and two pieces from the main apron fabric measuring 22″ long x 2″ high. I stitched the narrow ends together with a 1/4″ seam, with the pocket fabric in the center.
7. I then pinned the center portion of the tie to the apron top and stitched (about a 1/2″ seam).
8. Then I pressed under 1/2″ all the way around the ties and folded it in half and pinned. Then I stitched close to the edge of the ties beginning at one edge and ending at the other.
9. Now for the fun part, I arranged the pencils!