Supplement 299 - Model #56 - Winter 2015
Princess Seam Knit Dress
While shopping for a dress to wear to a Christmas party last month I was reminded why I sew for myself. I found a bunch of dresses with a nice hounds tooth print as an inset but none of them fit quite right. If they fit on top they were too loose in the waist. When I found one that fit everywhere else it was too tight across my bust. If I'm going to spend good money on a party dress I don't want to have to alter it too. Then my Lutterloh supplement arrived in the mail and I knew just what to do with that great hounds tooth knit I'd been saving!
Pattern Drafting Hints:
This particular pattern is a shoulder seam princess cut. I have tried other princess seam patterns that end at the arm hole but always felt they drew too much attention to my bust. I have found the princess line ending at the shoulder to be more elongating and generally more flattering for me. I still use both my high bust and full bust measurements to enlarge the pattern so I need to remember to mark the dots on all the pieces to remind me where to switch numbers on the Lutterloh scale. For a visual of how I mark my dots see this post here.
Fabric Used/Suggested:
I was fortunate to buy the last 3 yards of this hounds tooth print Ponte knit from Girl Charlee Fabrics last Summer. Along with a solid black Ponte I was able to make this dress from just a little over 1 yard of each. If I hadn't needed to lengthen the pattern I probably could have made it with just one yard each. This pattern could probably even be made from a woven with stretch as long as there was a high percentage of spandex included and a nice long zipper to get into it.
Design Changes:
The first thing you likely noticed is that I left the collar off this pattern. I did make a collar piece but when I tried it on it reminded me of a schoolmarm and that was definitely not the look I was going for. I removed the collar altogether and cut the neckline down by about 1/2 an inch. My usual satin edge elastic treatment cleaned up the look to my satisfaction. Besides omitting the zipper my only other change was to fold the pattern a little longer than the pattern #56 view. The pattern has you draw the length out to the length of view #55 and then fold the pattern up a certain number of cm for view #56. I just folded it about an inch and a half longer and ended up with my perfect length.
Closing Tips:
I do believe this could turn into a TNT pattern for me. The shape is right and the panels lend themselves to options for color blocking or an allover print fabric. I can even see this shortened as a tunic over leggings or perhaps with godets added to the seams for more flair at the bottom edge. Of course with the Lutterloh System's ability to switch out sleeve patterns you end up with even more options. Uuugghhh, so many ideas, so little time!
If a princess seam pattern is what you're looking for I would wholeheartedly recommend this one! Here's hoping you can find some time for sewing with your Lutterloh patterns.
Happy New Year and Happy Sewing from,
Ann in Calif.
Bernice left a comment below and here is her lovely outfit
Best wishes for the year 2016 ! I like your dress very much moreover
because it has the princess cut from the shoulder. Using the Lutterloh
pattern N° 41 of 2013 I too made a princess cut dress for a friend in
December 2015. This pattern fascinated and challenged me because of the
raglan Magyar sleeves with a seam in the center. But I changed the front
opening making a double breasted front with soft folds at the waistline
on the left. After drafting it, I realized that it was for a very tall
figure so I had to adjust the waistline and remove a couple of inches
between the bust line and the waistline. The rest had a perfect fit. I
used a shiny dark blue lace for the front panel and black double knit
fabric for all the other panels. I'm enclosing a photo of my gift.
Pattern Drafting Hints:
This particular pattern is a shoulder seam princess cut. I have tried other princess seam patterns that end at the arm hole but always felt they drew too much attention to my bust. I have found the princess line ending at the shoulder to be more elongating and generally more flattering for me. I still use both my high bust and full bust measurements to enlarge the pattern so I need to remember to mark the dots on all the pieces to remind me where to switch numbers on the Lutterloh scale. For a visual of how I mark my dots see this post here.
Fabric Used/Suggested:
I was fortunate to buy the last 3 yards of this hounds tooth print Ponte knit from Girl Charlee Fabrics last Summer. Along with a solid black Ponte I was able to make this dress from just a little over 1 yard of each. If I hadn't needed to lengthen the pattern I probably could have made it with just one yard each. This pattern could probably even be made from a woven with stretch as long as there was a high percentage of spandex included and a nice long zipper to get into it.
Design Changes:
The first thing you likely noticed is that I left the collar off this pattern. I did make a collar piece but when I tried it on it reminded me of a schoolmarm and that was definitely not the look I was going for. I removed the collar altogether and cut the neckline down by about 1/2 an inch. My usual satin edge elastic treatment cleaned up the look to my satisfaction. Besides omitting the zipper my only other change was to fold the pattern a little longer than the pattern #56 view. The pattern has you draw the length out to the length of view #55 and then fold the pattern up a certain number of cm for view #56. I just folded it about an inch and a half longer and ended up with my perfect length.
Closing Tips:
I do believe this could turn into a TNT pattern for me. The shape is right and the panels lend themselves to options for color blocking or an allover print fabric. I can even see this shortened as a tunic over leggings or perhaps with godets added to the seams for more flair at the bottom edge. Of course with the Lutterloh System's ability to switch out sleeve patterns you end up with even more options. Uuugghhh, so many ideas, so little time!
If a princess seam pattern is what you're looking for I would wholeheartedly recommend this one! Here's hoping you can find some time for sewing with your Lutterloh patterns.
Happy New Year and Happy Sewing from,
Ann in Calif.
Bernice left a comment below and here is her lovely outfit
Best wishes for the year 2016 ! I like your dress very much moreover because it has the princess cut from the shoulder. Using the Lutterloh pattern N° 41 of 2013 I too made a princess cut dress for a friend in December 2015. This pattern fascinated and challenged me because of the raglan magyar sleeves with a seam in the centre. But I changed the front opening making a double breasted front with soft folds at the waistline on the left. After drafting it, I realised that it was for a very tall figure so I had to adjust the waistline and remove a couple of inches between the bustline and the waistline. The rest had a perfect fit. I used a shiny dark blue lace for the front panel and black double knit fabric for all the other panels. I'm enclosing a photo of my gift.
ReplyDeleteWay to work that pattern Bernice!
ReplyDeleteI was trying to access "#7a bust adjustment in a pattern" to understand this key concept I need to add to my arsenal, but I keep getting sent to "Step By Step – Sewing together a simple top pattern". Can the link be re-established for access to this blog entry?
ReplyDeleteI love this blog! It is my Lutterloh Bible!
Belinda I'm not sure what is happening for you. I clicked on the link and it went right to it. Step By Step is a bust adjustment. If you are looking for a large bust adjustment we have not posted one and you can find many good directions on the internet. Here is the address
ReplyDeletehttp://sewingnhumming.blogspot.com/2009/07/step-by-step-sewing-together-simple-top.html
Dear Fonnell,
ReplyDeleteI just stumbled upon this site and enjoy reading other people post. I have owned the Lutterloh system for at least 20 years without being able to make the vest pattern to fit me perfectly. I think its because of my measurements and not having anyone to help fit it on me. From what I have been reading all patterns are designed for a B cup and I have a D+ cup. I am waiting to try making the vest pattern again, until I have confidence that it will come out correctly. When I try to make the vest pattern in the past I would wait months to years in between, I don’t want that to happen again. I have at least 25 years of material to use my sewing room is busting at the seams. High bust measurement is 95.5 and Lutterloh bust measurement is 111. Is there a way to use different numbers on the tape, to always come up with a pattern that will fit without doing a FBA. on all patterns.
Dear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain! I too have a D+ bust. We have several things we can do with lutterloh or any commercial pattern. Good for you on making the vest it really is our key to fitting the Lutterloh patterns. Here is my favorite method I find using a cardboard cutting board and sticking pins straight in will hold the pieces while I measure and tape in additional paper. Each step is important so don't skip any of them. Once you get the width you must make the item longer. http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2014/09/a-full-bust-adjustment/ You ask if you can use different numbers on the tape and the answer is mostly yes. I find it's not enough for my bust. you would use a smaller number for upper bust and a larger number for lower bust. you may need to tidy up some of the side seams to match. It's fast and easy to draw up a couple of test patterns. Then paper fit in front of a mirror. http://sewingnhumming.blogspot.com/2015/03/if-you-dont-understand-paper-pattern.html Let us know how it goes!
Thank you for your quick response, this is my first form post. I have been kicking and screaming not wanting to belong to the 21 century, what a mistake.
ReplyDeleteThanks again, Kathy Greenville, NY
Hello Belinda and Kathy,
ReplyDeleteWhat you may be looking for is directions for my cheater FBA. You can find it at #4 on the links at the side or here:
http://sewingnhumming.blogspot.com/2009/07/common-marking-mistakes-and-how-i-fix.html
I added some wording to make this a little more clear. Thanks for pointing that out Belinda.
Thank you, so much Ann. That was the info I was trying to get to. I had run across it once before but did not write it down. I loved and used the blog's shoulder slope fitting advice to fit and tailor tops for my 94 yo grandmother with promonant sloping shoulders and widows hump. Worked like a charm. now I want to fit outfits for myself but a 36F bustline throws a lot of things out of line... I look forward to using this wonderful resource! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome Belinda. That cheater FBA makes all the difference in fitting the shoulders in my patterns. I hope the links to our posts are a little more clear now.
ReplyDeleteSuper cute dress, Ann, and classy at the same time. I really like it. I'm working on a pair of jeans right now. Haven't sewn jeans in ages and decided to try a Lutterloh pattern first.
ReplyDeleteThank you Annette. There's something about a classic print that can really elevate an outfit. I haven't sewn jeans from a Lutterloh pattern but have made up a jeans style pattern in stretch twill. Let us know how yours turn out.
ReplyDelete