12 Unique Ways To Repurpose An Old Apron In Your Home

Kitchen aprons are one of those household items that you may think only serve one purpose — to keep your clothes clean while cooking or baking. But if there's anything that DIY enthusiasts realize by now, it's that you can repurpose almost anything to use around the home in creative  and useful ways. Whether it's unexpected things you can do with a Swiffer or surprise ways to incorporate cinnamon throughout the home, don't underestimate the uses you might have for old objects from your pantry. A tatty, used apron is no exception.

There are several ways to repurpose and upcycle an apron that you're thinking of throwing out. In fact, you can extend its life far past the kitchen. From crafting homey decorations like quilts and curtains to creating more practical items, like garden tool belts, there are a number of ways you can reuse aprons throughout the garden, yard, and inside the home. An old apron is surprisingly versatile when you get creative, and in the end, you'll have a unique piece.

This is a sentimental upcycling idea for your vintage aprons. Make a quilt from the fabric for a cozy and warm decor piece in your bedroom or living room. While a quilt with patterned squares is a technique best reserved for advanced quilters, beginner sewers can attempt an easier version by putting together simple squares from apron fabric to craft two sheets (a front and a back). Layer in some batting, and tack the edges closed. This method can be done with a sewing machine or by hand. If you don't want to hand-sew a large quilt, try using smaller squares for a baby blanket.

You can either make a simple tote bag that utilizes the body of the apron and shows off the fabric's cute pattern, or — for more advanced crafters — you can try a more complex version that recycles the pockets of the apron as front or interior pockets to make the tote even more user-friendly. Either way, you'll have a spacious, unique tote bag for all of your farmers market hauls, grocery runs, or even for daily use as a commuter bag. This is an easy beginner sewing project, with lots of easy tutorials available on YouTube for hand-sewn totes.

The pockets of an old apron can be some of the more versatile parts of the piece, and for this upcycling idea, you can transform the pockets into traveling pouches or table setting pieces for cutlery. For the former, use the pockets and add some useful touches, like velcro to create a closure, for a nifty to-go utensil carrier for camping or picnicking. For the latter, reform the pockets into silverware pouches in lieu of pocket fold napkins, as a part of your next dinner party tablescape.

If you have several junky aprons and other fabric scraps sitting around, you can repurpose the textiles into an unexpected curtain feature. A rag curtain is a cleverly colorful, sewing-free way to brighten up a room while also creating a private space where there previously wasn't one. Using a wooden dowel or shower curtain rod, tie strings of the old fabric together. Continue to add fabric until it is the length you want for the space. Don't be afraid of mixing and matching the different scraps to create a fun, mixed-and-matched curtain.

Transforming a kitchen apron into a garden tool belt changes its purpose entirely, bringing it from the indoors to the outside. This belt can serve both as a utility pocket that can house your gardening gloves, clippers, seeds, and trowels as well as protection for your clothing. Shorten your existing apron with scissors, and repurpose that excess fabric for pockets at the front of the apron to make it suitable for outdoor activity. You can attach the pockets with a glue gun if you are not comfortable with a needle and thread.

There are many ways to repurpose aprons into a pin cushion, and many of them involve wrapping fabric around an existing shape that's permeable, yet firm enough to hold needles in them. One of the simplest pin cushion hacks is to upcycle another unexpected household item, a dryer ball, by wrapping it in the apron fabric and setting it into a bowl or other vessel to stop it from rolling — an easy craft for an extremely usable piece!

There are several ways you can approach crafting a pillow case from an old apron. One way is using a quilting technique for a patterned piece, while another way is to cut out two identical squares and sew them together. While the quilt option will be a statement, you'll be able to see more of the original apron by using two identical cutouts for your pillow. A pillow cover is one of the easiest beginner sewing projects, but here's a hint: you can use a hot glue can to secure the edges if you are not a fan of sewing.

If you're one of the millennials who recently adopted the hobby of needlepoint or cross stitch, you're probably looking for fun fabrics to practice your stitches on. Grab a beginner needlepoint kit from Amazon for all the basics, then cut a single layer of fabric from your old apron, and put it into your hoop. You can use a sentimental old apron to create an entirely new work of art to display in your home or gift to a friend. 

What can you do with rag balls? They make for fun, decorative touches to a decorative bowl or faux floral arrangement that can be swapped out periodically to match the season or changing color palettes. This is a simple DIY that doesn't involve sewing, just a pair of scissors and a soft ball to wrap the fabric strips around. You can use a plastic baseball or a Styrofoam ball — you'll just need to continuously wrap the fabric around the ball until it feels soft to the touch. As an added bonus, rag balls make colorful, safe toys for young children.

While a single apron likely won't provide enough fabric for this craft, you can repurpose several old aprons to piece together a fun patchwork table runner. For a 5-foot-long table, you'll need approximately two aprons. Simply stencil out and then cut two long, rectangular pieces of identical size, then stitch them or hot glue them in the center. Either tack down the edges to create simple, finished ends, or add lace or another fabric trim for a more decorative flair. 

You can make a mug rug out of apron fabric in a few different ways. First, you can make a coaster mug rug. This involves two squares of apron fabric and a square piece of batting; sew or glue all the pieces together for a fun coaster. The other option of a mug rug is much like a mug sweater. Put two longer, rectangular-shaped fabric pieces together with the batting, and add a button and a fastener to either end for a useful way to hold hot mugs.