Medieval Waist Apron
June 2022
When I was at Gulf Wars 2022, I saw one of the ladies in my camp wearing a lovely little waist-high apron with a simple underdress, and she looked absolutely charming. I was also inspired by Linda at Handcrafted History, as I often am, who took some photos wearing a waist-high apron instead of an apron dress. When I got my hands on some nice nubbly natural linen from a Fabrics Store doggie bag, I knew just the project for it; a waist apron of my own!
I did a little research before I started to see if this style of apron fell more on the historical or the anachronistic side for my persona, a late 9th century Viking woman around the time of Aud the Deep-Minded (one of my favorite women in Viking history). I found a great article by Magistra Rosemounde on Aprons in SCA Periods. This particular style is seen more frequently in art from the 14th century onwards, so not as good a fit for me for maximum historal accuracy, but that's what anachronism is for!
I didn't take any pictures of this project while it was in-progress, because it didn't take me very long to finish. I spent one evening after work ironing, patterning, and cutting the fabric. I spent a second evening hemming, and then part of a Saturday wrapping up construciton and embroidery.
I watched Opus Elenae's Smocked Apron Tutorial for some good construction tips, even though this would not be a smocked apron. She gave me my basic structure and some ideas for how to sew together the apron ties. Here's how the whole piece turned out!
I wanted to try out decorative stitching on this project, so I did the hemming in oxblood red linen thread. I also wanted to try some linen embroidery stitches, so after seeing this image I decided on a double herringbone with decorative straight stitches. I tried to find the original creator of this sampler to give credit, but I had no luck, so thank you to whomever put this Viking stitch sampler together!
Here's a close-up of how the double herringbone stitch on the waist turned out. I'm extremely happy with it! I used oxblood red, cornflower blue, and bright yellow linen thread. Before I started I measured and marked the stitch lengths with FriXion pens, both for width and height. It's so hard to get herringbone stitch straight just by eye, and FriXion pens make it super easy to mark & then iron away any guidelines.
And here's a photo of me wearing the apron! I am pretty pleased with it, and it was a fun little project to build confidence in my construction and embroidery skills. It will be nice to have this apron for hot days, hanging in camp, and late-period outfits.
Sources and Additional Info
Handcrafted History's wonderful post How to Choose Viking Age Colours, which includes a photo of Linda wearing an apron that partially inspired this project
Magistra Rosemounde of Mercia's article on Aprons in SCA Periods
Opus Elenae's Smocked Apron Tutorial
•••Here are links to the items in this post that I did not make:
Blue dress from By Calvina, boots by Viking Leathercraft, silver pendant by Torfin, beaded necklace & cap from The Practical Viking
Gallery