The Zero Waste Envelope Dress from Cris Wood Sews is a simple, effortless piece and a quick and easy make for sewists of all levels! The downloadable PDF instruction manual allows you to grade for any size using a simple formula to help you calculate your personal fabric requirements. Read on our review, kindly modelled by Lisa from our Online Store team.
Pattern Review
Envelope Dress by Cris WoodThe Envelope Dress is a versatile loose-fitting caftan-style dress that would work well as a beach throw, casual day dress or layering piece. There are no pattern pieces to print or cut, but rather a set of instructions are provided to allow you to grade for any size using a simple formula. This may sound a little complicated, but it's actually super simple! Our dress for Lisa took 1.3 metres of our Ink Stripe Rayon Crepe - Blue, which is 130cm wide. We also cut a 10cm wide strip along the straight of the grain for the tie, which took the total width of the fabric down to 120cm. We would agree with the Beginner level rating on this pattern, as once you have worked out how to cut your pattern pieces, it is a very straightforward sew!
You can download the Envelope Dress on the Cris Wood Sews website here.
Looking for more zero waste pattern ideas? Check out our review of the Brumer Dress by Milan AV-JC here.
Fabric Recommendations
Ink Stripe Rayon Crepe - Blue
After spotting Stephanie's Envelope Dress, this striped version and many more over on instagram, we thought the Envelope Dress would be perfectly timed inspiration for our Half Price Stripe sale*! We love the subtle inky stripe in this Rayon Crepe pictured, but can also imagine this in soft Vintage Finish Linen, drapey silks and lightweight cottons. The pattern instructions suggest anything woven with nice drape, keeping in mind the dress is cut across the grain (weft) and has a centre front seam running down the length of the dress (if you are considering a patterned fabric).
Check out a few stripe fabrics below:
Chalk Stripe Linen - White Carbon, Lightweight Linen Two Stripe - Blue, Silver Stripe Linen - Light Maple and Silver Stripe Linen - Navy.
The options are endless for a simple style like the Envelope Dress, we can't wait to see your versions - tag us or use #thefabricstore to share your creations!