Lutterloh Patterns Come Alive!

 Supplement 324 - Model #269  

Classic Wrap Dress for woven fabrics

    Hello again fellow sewists. This current project turned into a dress to wear to a funeral 😢. My friend's mother lived a long, full life. I always admired her sewing too. Here's to you Anne 💖

  

Pattern Hints:     

     This pattern enlarged to my size without any hiccups. Since it's a full figure pattern I used a number on the scale 4 dots smaller than my actual measurement. There are some facings to draw too but they really are necessary to help keep the front of this dress neat and secure. I did find it odd that both the right (ri) and the left (li) piece on the pattern page are suggested at a 130cm length although one is clearly pictured much longer than the other. I'm guessing the number is a typo but just be aware that the tie for the underlap of the front skirt may need to be shorter than the other depending on where you'd like to tie your dress.

    In the fashion drawing this dress is shown with a camisole underneath. In fact there's even a camisole pattern included on the same page. I concur that this dress is too low to wear without some sort of top under it. I didn't make the included cami but may try it at some later date. If you didn't want the extra layer under your dress you could always redraw the angle of the crossover neckline.

    Oh and don't forget to mark a spot on your side seam through which to thread your tie. There is no symbol or mark to indicate this on the pattern but clearly you need one for this to be a wrap dress.  

 

Design Changes:     

    The only significant design change I made was to shorten the sleeves on this dress. I used the same sleeve pattern and just folded up about 9 inches from the bottom, hardly a major change really. I did also draw a slightly wider end to my tie pattern piece. I knew I wanted wider ties than the half inch wide ones suggested on the pattern page. I cut mine to approximately 2 inches wide by 55 inches long with a little flare at the ends. This is what the pattern for the last 18 inches of my ties looks like.

I cut the whole tie on the fold with seam allowances and ended up with ties about an inch wide flaring out to about 3 inches. It was just a tiny extra step to personalize it.   

 

Fabric Used/Suggested:    

     My dress is made up in a dark navy blue linen blend. It's a classic "linen look" blend that's available at JoAnn's Fabrics all year round. This is part of the fabric collection that I inherited from a neighbor. The look I was going for was conservative and respectful. I think this pattern and fabric pairing hit the target spot on. 

    I would imagine many fabrics would lend themselves to this pattern. A nice print would probably add a little fun factor to this uncomplicated pattern. Just be careful about choosing any fabric that's very lightweight since you do need the dress to stay closed.

 

Closing Hints:    

   As wrap dresses go this one is a winner. I'm just not sure how many wrap dresses I need. It's pretty windy around where I live but this dress wasn't too difficult to control. It stayed nice and modest even while sitting so that's another bonus. I'll keep this pattern for a reliable, classic dress but Summer is coming and I'll need something even cooler!

 

 So long for now, happy sewing everyone,

Ann in Calif.