An Embroiderd Drop-Front Dress

The dress without the bib. The linen lining extends past the muslin and pins into place. The bib, which is attached to the skirt (or will be in this picture!), is then pinned to cover the flaps.

The bib is made of two tucked pieces of muslin. I ironed the tucks into the fabric first, cut the pieces and then sewed the tucks into place. It was easier to do it this way, since there was no guess work as to the size of the panels before tucking. The picture on the right shows the next fold being measured.

After the intiial fold, I folded it and ironed it again to finish the tuck.

The finished panels from the front and back.

The finished panel, showing the shape of the edge before the tucks were sewn.

The embroidered strap from the top of the bib. I embroidered it, then cut it twice as wide and folded it in half. I folded the seam allowances in and whipstitched the tucked part of the bib to the band.

The embroidered band that goes around the back of the neckline. I folded the edges under and topstitched it to the bodice, which already had finished edges.