Smokkr "Apron" Dress

One of the most interesting pieces of "Viking" cultural clothing is the smokkr, commonly called the apron dress. I recently decided to make one for my partner.
While I was familiar with the look of the apron dress, I'd never seen one in depth or studied the sources. So this was an opportunity to make my own interpretation based on primary sources! Shoutout to Hilde Thunem for her compilation article, which was a huge help in chasing down the right sources.

Most of this smokkr is based on Birka grave 464, which contained a fine wool dark blue smokkr with a top hem covered in a strip of silk, and linen loops sewn behind it. (Hägg, 1974). However, due to the size of the fragments, no real info on construction could be gleaned, so I looked at other finds.

The Hedeby harbor find of a smokkr fragment shows a piece of the top panel, the piece of a dart, and cut edges with stitch holes that once attached to other pieces (Hägg, 1984). Based on the asymmetrical shape of the dart, it seems most likely to me that this was a side seam.

The Køstrup find of a smokkr fragment of blue tabby wool, which shows pleats in the front at the top edge with a vertical seam along the side under the arm (Wieland, 1980).

I made this piece with fine blue tabby wool, a front and back panel sewn along the sides with added darts. The front has a few pleats, and the top hem is covered in vintage Asian silk. I chose to make the loops and straps made of the same silk, which is evidenced in other examples from Birka. This smokkr is hand-sewn with vintage wool thread-- undyed for construction seams, madder red for finishing seams.

The bead strand is made of Baltic amber, based on shapes found at Ribe, and five glass beads similar to finds from Birka. The brooches shown here are stand-ins for a more authentic set to be acquired.

After finishing this project, I was happy to find that my interpretation was very much alike those done by others based on the primary sources.

Overall I'm very happy with the outcome-- and so is my partner. It worked very well at our recent events. Just look at how cute she looks!