After everyone hyping the Cris Wood Sews Envelope pattern for so long, I finally broke down and purchased it. Amazing. It's so simple but it just works and looks fantastic. I meant to poke around in my jewelry - i never wear any besides my rings - but of course I forgot in these pictures. The belt is also from Cris Wood and it's a free pattern. Both patterns are low/zero waste and are made to measure so there's really no upper bound for size.
The black fabric looks almost like a jacquard up close and it's probably a linen rayon blend. Not sure - Walmart bundle. The vinyl is something I picked up years ago from JoAnn on their remnants shelf. I think I had like a quarter yard but it was cut crooked.
BUT
... the dress has no pockets! I could have put patch or in-seam pockets on but I didn't really know where that would hit for my first one.
So I made a little belt pouch. Let me show you some Pinspiration:
Materials:
9" zipper
vinyl big enough to fit pattern pieces
snaps (optional, could be sew on or other)
thread (heavier would be better but I went with what I had)
Equipment:
Some way to cut - I had a rotary blade that was wearing out so I used that. I would not use good scissors on vinyl
Some way to measure.
Sewing machine (old heavy strong!)
special feet: teflon, zipper, button (optional)
Heavy hand needle, possibly thimble
clips (not pins for vinyl)
Steps:
My vinyl was thick, so I wanted to be sure to have enough room. I cut the length of my phone + 2" + 1/2" (1/4" seam allowance each end) by the 2x (width +1"). I cut it out of paper and wrapped it around my phone to make sure and it seemed fine.
2 loops: 1" by the width of the bag
I folded a loop in half (hamburger wise - bringing small ends together) and scotch taped the pokey part of the snap to where it would go. Then opened it back up and machine stitched it on using the button foot. I threaded the tails through to the back with my hand needle and tied a knot. I then refolded the loop and stitched down each side at about 1/8" and my longest stich (only 4mm).
Repeat for second loop. Place loops on bag - each about a third of the way in from the sides. Mark where the other half of the snap needs to go. Install the inny part of the snap the same way as you did the outty (hand sew or machine sew or press or whatever.
Snap the loops in place and line the tops up to the top edge. Baste at about 1/8".
take the zipper and lay it face down (right sides facing) along the edge with the tops of the loops. Make sure the zipper stop is just in from the side seam allowance. Switch to the zipper foot. Lower the stitch length a bit and sew the zipper on. (I did not top stitch - seemed too risky. See for yourself what makes sense)
Bring the other side of the body up to be right sides facing for the other part of the zipper, being sure the sides will still align. Sew.
Unzip the zipper!
sew both side seams. If you wanted to add a key hook or accessory, this would be a good time.
Trim the seam allowances on the corners so they are a bit more square and turn your bag right side out.
Enjoy!
There are neater ways to finish the zipper at the top, but I'm happy with how this turned out.
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