Why hello there fabriholics! We couldn’t think of a better way to start pattern reviews for 2019 than with this fabulous zero-waste dress from Milan AV-JC. This delicious wrap style from French patternmaker/ designer Mylène L’Orguilloux feels like a breath of fresh air – it’s super simple to wear, could be made in a variety of fabrics and features some very cute detailing. With a wrap front, patch pockets, short sleeves plus a tie at the waist, this dress is the perfect introduction to zero-waste patternmaking!
Pattern Review
Zero Waste Brumer Wrap Dress from Milan AV-JC
Zero waste garments are produced with little to no textile waste thanks to some clever pattern manipulation. There are loads of handy articles about how this type of patternmaking works available online, including this one from our friends at Seamwork Magazine.
Zero-waste patterns are typically slightly different to assemble than a traditional pattern due to the shapes of the pieces and their lay plan and this one was no exception. Luckily for us, Milan AV-JC include links to Youtube video instructions with their patterns! The videos are in French with English subtitles and were super easy to follow. Milan AV-JC suggest this pattern is an ‘easy’ skill level, which we would agree with. We’d recommend watching the tutorial videos all the way through before you begin sewing, particularly if this is your first zero-waste project. We made our dress up in a size 34 for Briar and it’s definitely a relaxed fit, making it nice and breezy for warm sunny days! We ended up using 1.4m of our beautiful Mustard Heavyweight Linen (140cm wide) and only had a tiny strip of waste along the selvedge.
The Brumer Dress pattern is available as a print-at-home download from the Milan AV-JC website here.
Fabric Recommendation
Milan AV-JC recommend a range of different fabrics such as cotton, viscose, linen or tencel for the Brumer Dress. We decided to make ours up in our popular Mustard Heavyweight Linen, which has recently come back into stock! This dress would also work beautifully in a soft rayon crepe, classic linen chambray, crisp Liberty cotton or perhaps a printed silk for evenings and occasions.
Check out our suggestions featured below from top to bottom: Linen – Vintage Blush, Liberty Tana Lawn Juno’s Garden / X, Linen / Cotton Check – Navy / Ivory, Chambray Linen – Indigo and Rayon Crepe – French Blue
We added a small snap fastener to the front of our dress to ensure a secure closure when wrapped up!
This beauty is an ideal addition to any #memade wardrobe and the perfect introduction to zero-waste patterns! Check out the fab versions of this dress from Vida and Megan. We’d love to see your zero-waste makes, share with us @wearethefabricstore using #thefabricstore
p.s. Thanks to Briar from our HQ team for modelling!