Candy Cane Couple: Create Festive Embroidered Aprons for the Holidays

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Searching for the perfect gift for your favorite couple? Coordinated holiday embroidered aprons make a playful, personal present that’s as practical as it is fun! With our versatile apron sewing pattern as your backdrop, you can customize each one with any phrase or embroidery design you like. Whether they’re baking treats or hosting holiday meals, these aprons bring festive cheer to the kitchen. Create them for your own holiday baking or as one-of-a-kind gifts, tailored for each recipient’s style and personality!

The Pattern

Aprons make fantastic gifts—they’re quick to sew, practical, and easy to personalize! Our Gingham Gourmet pattern makes it even better by including instructions for a matching hot pad and towel, creating a complete kitchen set that’s thoughtful and stylish. Perfect for adding a handmade touch to the holidays – read below to see how…

Materials

Cut

Print and tile the apron sewing pattern.

From the green fabric, cut two apron fronts, two 3 ½” × 13″ facing strips and two 9″ × 14 ½” pocket linings.

From the striped fabric, cut four 2 ¾” × 16 ½” side accent strips, two 3 ½” × 22″ neck straps, four 2 ½” × 36″ waist ties and two 9″ × 14 ½” pockets.

Embroider

Print a template of each design. Place the right-facing template over one apron front, centered horizontally and with the upper edge 2″ from the apron upper raw edge.

Pin in place. Hoop the apron front with cut-away stabilizer, centering the template in the hoop.

Place the hoop onto the machine. Align the needle with the template centermarks. Remove the template and embroider the design, changing thread colors as desired.

Trim the excess stabilizer close to the design perimeter. Repeat to embroider the left-facing design on the remaining apron front.

Construct

Create and attach the pockets to the apron fronts following the pattern instructions.

Fold one accent strip long edge ¼” to the wrong side. Align the accent strip right side with one apron wrong side along the curved side edge so that the upper edge of the strip and the apron are flush and the raw edges match.

The accent strip will be slightly longer than the apron — do not remove the excess. Stitch using a ½” seam allowance.

Press the seam toward the accent strip, then fold the strip to the right side of the apron, encasing the seam.

Edgestitch the folded edge of the accent strip to attach it to the apron. Edgestitch the outside edge. Remove any excess accent fabric that may be hanging over the edges of the apron.

Repeat for the remaining apron edge and second apron.

Construct the neck straps per the pattern instructions.

Fold back ½” on each short edge and one long edge of one facing. Position the neck strap so it aligns with the accent pieces, matching the raw edges.

Align the facing with the apron right sides together so that the raw edges are matched and the folded edges are even with the accent pieces.

Stitch using ½” seam allowances.

Fold the facing to the wrong side of the apron and edgestitch the sides and bottom edge in place.

Repeat for the second apron.

Construct the waist ties per the pattern instructions.

Fold the sides of the apron under ¼”, then again another ¼”. Place the raw edges of the ties inside the fold and stitch in place. Repeat for the second apron.

Sew the apron hems per the pattern instructions.

With a few stitches and a touch of creativity, you can craft a festive apron set that adds warmth to any holiday kitchen. Grab your Gingham Gourmet pattern, personalize with favorite fabrics, and spread some handmade cheer this season!

Written by Stacy Schlyer, this article originally appeared in the Winter 2021 issue of Creative Machine Embroidery Magazine.

Designs used in this project are: I’m Nice He’s The Naughty One Right & I’m Nice She’s The Naughty One Left by Bunnycup Embroidery.

Try out these other holiday designs…