Summer top Guest posting

Since I had some time to spare I took up my favorite hobby of sewing and this time I made something for myself.

It is a 3-in-1 asymmetrical spring or autumn top

Since we have longer spring and autumn days I wanted to have a top applicable for the 2 seasons hence this idea of an asymmetrical top made from 3 patterns. 

I used 2 technical skills for this pattern :

- 1 pattern made from 3 different patterns ;

- 2 different fabrics.

I drafted pattern N° 91 (MMXIV) to form the upper part of the top (collar and yoke) using a plain cotton fabric for the collar and a printed cotton fabric for the yoke. The middle part of the top (body and sleeves) were drafted from pattern N° 136 (MMXIII) and made from a printed cotton knit fabric. The bottom part of the top (skirt) was drafted from pattern N° 232 (MMXIV). But I used only the bottom half of the skirt, making it from the same fabric as the yoke and cuffs.

The 3 different parts were stitched separately and then all assembled together. First I made the collar and the yoke. Then I made the body with the sleeves and the cuffs. At this stage my mannequin came handy to attach the yoke first to the body  and finally I attached the skirt to the body.

Important tools used : Converted cutting table, sewing mannequin, serger and sewing machine. I’m getting used to my serger as it gives a very good finish and very motivating to do quicker work.

Difficulties : After drafting pattern N° 91 I tried to fit it on my mannequin but the back and the front neck lines didn’t correspond so I drew new necklines to meet at the shoulder line and drew a new neck line adjusting it to the top part of pattern N° 136. The neckline of N° 136 was made a little deeper to show the yoke and collar.

I took great pleasure in realizing this top. Though it was difficult and time consuming I was able to get through, mainly because of my sewing mannequin. Now I have 3 patterns drafted to use, as and when I choose, to make a full length top or a full length dress or a full length skirt.

I sincerely hope and wish we all find time to use our skills.

Yours sincerely,

Bernice

Thank you for sharing your summer top!  Bernice is an adventurous Lutterloh pattern maker. 

A Lutterloh Frankenpattern

Using pattern 254 from Supp. 282, pattern 202 from Supp. 292 &
pattern 229 from Supp. 287 

Hello Folks,

I know that it's been ages since I posted any new sewing. I have been working more than I ever intended to since being employed again. I've actually been wearing this dress for weeks already but have been trying to find the time to chronicle it.

The pattern for this dress was really born out of necessity. I looked through all my Lutterloh patterns, more than once, but I could not find a pattern for a basic T-shirt type dress with no bust darts. I know, I could just rotate the bust darts as Fonnell explains here. However, why not use some patterns that I already have drawn and combine them to create my simple pattern? With this style of dress once you have the pattern and fit worked out it's so easy to use it again and again. 

Here are the patterns that I combined to get my one simple T-shirt dress pattern. I have reviewed each of these patterns separately in the past. Here are the links to those reviews:
http://sewingnhumming.blogspot.com/2016/03/lutterloh-patterns-come-alive.html
http://sewingnhumming.blogspot.com/2015/09/supplement-292-model-202-spring-2014.html
http://sewingnhumming.blogspot.com/2015/03/lutterloh-patterns-come-alive.html 

Combining the Patterns:

Now this may sound like more trouble than it's worth but bear with me and you'll see it's not that complicated. The only real challenge was to combine the top of the shirt with the skirt of the dress pattern. You'll see in my photos below that it's not really a challenge after all. 

Copying the skirt:

I first laid out the two patterns with the dress pattern on top. Since they are similar shapes and both drawn to the same size you can see that there isn't a great deal of difference until you get to the neckline. With the center back lined up and the waist line matching on the two patterns there's just a slight flare at the bottom of the shirt pattern that needs to be folded in. Of course when I drew the pattern these pieces were on top of a new piece of paper but the dark background gives a better contrast. I folded in the extra shirt pattern and started copying the skirt but only up to the waistline.

Copying the shirt:

Once I got the whole skirt drawn to the waist I then folded the dress pattern at the waistline and anchored it with a huge pattern weight. I needed to be sure the center backs stayed aligned while I copied the shirt on top. I had already used this same bodice and sleeve pattern together so I knew there would be no issue there. I repeated this same procedure for the front pattern pieces, blended in the waistline areas, and PRESTO I had front and back pattern pieces for a dartless T-shirt dress!

The Conclusion:

The original dress pattern has darts suggested, both front and back, but I knew from my experience with the first dress that with the right fabric I may not need the darts. Sure enough, the stretchy, heavier weight knit I used, much like the original dress, did not need the darts. I do think a lighter, clingier knit would still need darts but I'll cross that road when I sew another version of this dress. Now that I have this worked out I'm sure this will become a staple pattern for me and with the pattern drawn to my measurements it will fit better than any commercial pattern out of the envelope. 

See, that wasn't that difficult. I'm sure there are many more applications for combining your Lutterloh patterns if really necessary. That is one of the beautiful features of this pattern system. Oh, and if anyone comes across a Lutterloh T-shirt dress pattern without darts, I'd really like to know. 

Happy sewing everyone,

Ann in Calif.