Apron Dresses

I pulled out the red fabric to cut a Danish 9-10th century apron dress.  I have discovered that I bought too much fabric (as if that's possible!) to make a single garment, so I'm wondering what to do with the leftovers.  Matching garments for my family?  I suppose...Lottie does need a new dress...  

I used this link (and many others) to get some ideas and settled on Vigdis's pattern, as I did with the green apron dress.  

So you lay out the fabric, with the fold on the right (in this case, anyway), and you mark the fabric with a colored pencil.  Yellow or white works well on these dark colors.  Double check your work before you cut...I almost didn't...measure twice, cut once.  Or you'll do as one guy I know who said, "Measure thrice, cut twice."

Once you get it all drawn correctly, you cut on the yellow lines and you'll have pieces that look like this.  The larger pieces (there are three--remember the fold) are the main body pieces--the narrow bit goes around your torso.  The triangles are sewn between the body pieces to create a fuller skirt.  The is the ultimate in fabric economy since the only thing wasted is the narrow bit along the selvage edge.  That could be used for shoulder straps or patching the dress later, or for applique work on another garment.  Maybe I'll cut out red boars and sew them onto the green dress and embroider around them?

Next, sew all the bits together, turn under the raw edges, and ta-da!  A dress!  (photo forthcoming)  Ornamentation, seam finishes, and brooches will have to come later.