Hey, Mom -- could you sew me a...??

I'm taking a brief DVM in NYC break to get back to sewing...well, kinda.  To be honest,  my life is all about the FRANKENsewing...

************
Since Ross bought his house last fall, we rarely see him.

So I was delighted when he called recently and said, "I'm coming out tonight if you're going to be home..."

I should have been suspicious, eh??

Ross brought me a big pile of his old jeans.  He purchased most of them when he was in high school -- and paid $58 a pair at Younkers. (nowadays, he buys his jeans for $28 at Kohl's)

Ross wanted me to make "shop aprons" from his old jeans.

See -- he has taken up wood-working as a hobby. And a decent shop apron costs about $34.

My heart sank a little bit...because IT IS SO DIFFICULT TO SEW ON OLD DENIM JEANS. All those welted seams and metal rivets...ugh...

Although, after looking at about a dozen examples of SHOP APRONS on the internet...I decided the important thing was to TAKE MAXIMUM ADVANTAGE OF THE GOOD WORK MR. LEVI already did.

I cut away the parts that would be impossible to sew over (those inside welted seams)

The zipper...

Then, I cut around one back pocket, leaving enough extra fabric to topstitch it, and fold a pencil holder...

The bib of the apron is the bottom of one leg.  I stitched around the pocket, and then, stitched it to the second pair of pants...(I basically just cut out the zipper, and the front pockets become the back pockets -- get it?

Humm...this sturdy buttonhole might come in handy later on...

The biggest challenge for me was to make this heavy-duty apron, and make sure it did NOT tie at the back of his neck. I find that style so uncomfortable -- I won't even buy a swimsuit of that style.

THEN -- IT CAME TO ME...I asked my brother-in-law Ned, to model for me...

I used a long piece of recycled t-shirt fabric to create the "apron string". I had two long pieces. I tied them into the buttonhole on each corner of the big...then, the ties crossed over in the back (creating an X)...

And here's the magic -- then, the loops went through the EXISTING BELT LOOP on each side...

So, they come over the shoulder, cross to the opposite side, go through a loop, then -- THE APRON TIES IN FRONT...

I could hardly wait to give Ross his new shop apron.  THIS IS GENIUS.  There is NO WAY I'M GETTING ENOUGH MOTHER/SEWS/POINTS FOR THIS...