Viking Apron Dress - The Plan

An Apron Dress is basically a tube of fabric that goes around the body from about the arm pit to a few inches below the knee.  It is held up by two straps that are attached in the back and held closed in the front by brooches.  I'm modifying this a bit by having the straps attached both front and back.

Here is the plan for the Apron Dress.

I'm going to cut two pieces for the body.  The top will measure 1/2 my bust measurement plus a few inches for wiggle room and seam allowances.  The bottom will be this measurement plus 10 inches.  The length will be the the distance from my arm pit to a little below my knee plus a few inches for hemming the top and bottom.

Next I'll cut two strips of fabric 41/2 inches wide and 22 inches long.  The length is the distance from the middle of where the top back of the dress will be to over my shoulder.  I just find that attaching straps in the middle of the back keeps them from slipping off the shoulder.

Sew the two halves of the body together.
Pin the top hem then place the straps where they belong and pin them in place.
Sew the top hem down and the straps in place.  I'm going to use two rows of stitches at the top.
Pin the trim on the bottom and pin up the hem.
Sew the trim in place and hem at the same time.  Again there will be two rows of stitches here, the top of the trim and the bottom which will also act as the hemming.

This is the fabric and trim.  The fabric is a cotton broadcloth so it will have to be ironed before I sew it together.  I'm using the same trim I used on the green kirtle.  One, because I really love this pattern and two, because they will be worn together.