My First Lutterloh Blouse

Lutterloh 2009 19 or Supplement 273 19

and Burda Plus Fashion spring/summer 2008

(E 985) 405 skirt.

 This weekend I got a chance to play with my new Lutterloh System. Let me start out by saying love this system. I went into it totally knowing I would have to make all or most of my usual alterations. But since I have not made a button down blouse that fits me in years I figured it would be a good way to test a garment with the lutterloh. So in essence this is a very nice wearable test garment that will come in handy this fall. I carefully planned and prepared how I would put this garment together since Lutterloh has no directions. My copy of A Guide to Fashion Sewing by Connie Amaden-Crawford was consulted briefly. Over all I am pleased with this blouse.  There are a few fitting issues I will be playing with any suggestions are welcome.

Anyway here is the review I posted on PR. I plan to use this as a layering piece this fall.


Pattern Description:

Easy summer sleeveless blouse with self facing and no collar.

Pattern Sizing:

Lutterloh is based on your bust and hip measurement.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Lutterloh has no directions. Used A Guide to Fashion Sewing when to double check what I had planned to do.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I had been looking for an easy transitional (summer to fall or spring to summer) piece that could be layered but dress enough to wear alone. This sleeveless blouse seems to fit my lifestyle.

Don't really have a dislike yet.

Fabric Used:
This is a poly crepe or a poly-rayon crepe I saved from Goodwill $1.99 for 5 yards.
Sorry did not do a burn test so fabric suggestions based on feel test.
I used about 1.5 to 2 yards of fabric.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

I made my usual list of blouse alterations. 2.5 FBA, Moved dart up 1/2 inch. (FFRP) Narrow shoulder adjustment 1/2 inch (Pattern Fitting with Confidence) Removed all back darts need the room for my thick stomach. In the end I had add to much room and had to take out 3/4 inch from each seem and lengthen dart 1 inch.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Yes I will be making this again. Want to work a bit on the fit. Yes I would recommend this for others. Beginners need to make sure they have made a blouse before.

Conclusion:

Great little layering piece.

Burda Style 06-2010-122

Well my daughter graciously allowed me to take a few quick preview shots of her in her new dress. I had to promise not to publish to Facebook where her friends might see. LOL I'm sure there were a few reasons but the first and foremost one was she plans to use this dress this year for senior pictures. So I ask you to please ignore the lack of beautifying she plans to do before the real picture is taken.

What you need to know is that my daughter has been greedily eyeing the June 2010 issue of Burda Style magazine.  Many of the styles in it called out to her whimsical/bohemian heart. This one came with a mom do you think an eyelet dress would look good on me. Needless to say that on one of my trips to fabric hunting (searching for a bargain) I saw this red tag eyelet at Joannes for 50% off which does not happen to often at Joanne's. After a quick call and trip home daughter took a look at it and declared this was it. The fabric was polyester but very thin and light weight so perfect for what she wanted. Thin wasn't the word sheer would have better matched it. By the time we left the start daughter realized that yes I would sew this dress but it must be lined.

 

My daughter has been collecting accessories to go with this dress for her pictures. Today she found a shell necklace that she plans to wear and would not let me photo. Below is my review from PR.

Pattern Description:


From Burda Style Relax on the beach in this loose-fitting dress with practical pockets and pretty lace trim.

Pattern Sizing:

38, 40, 42, 44, 46. My dd took a straight 46


Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

Yes


Were the instructions easy to follow?

Typical of Burda magazine but yes you can follow them.



What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?


My dd had marked this dress from the beginning because it looked fun and carefree. That fits very well into her whimsical/bohemian style.


No dislikes yet. But she could not understand why pockets.


Fabric Used:

Polyester eyelet and lace hemming type from Joanne Fabrics

Polyester batiste for the lining from my stash

Both of these fabrics ravel badly.


Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

We left off the pockets and belt made from self fabric. I also lined the dress since the eyelet was very light and very see through.


Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Have a feeling this maybe made again but this copy my daughter plans to use for her senior pictures.

Yes this was a super simple and stylish summer dress.

Conclusion:

A wonderful easy breezy summer dress.

Next up my first Lutterloh, Lutterloh 2009-19. What girl doesn't want a sleeveless shirt for under jackets and cardigans.

The story of a TNT top.

Once upon a time there was a fashionista who long to find clothes that fit. She searched high and she searched low but RTW often lacked quality and really lacked styles that she was comfortable in.

She relized very quickly that covering her spare tire and lovely twins was hard work. This or that friend offered advice or suggest this store or that. But still a huge struggle of a a possitive self image seemed to follow each shopping trip.

So as a young teen our fashionista began to learn to sew and tailor. The classes at school were good. She finally had some clothes that fit and that she loved. She dreamed of someday moving to NYC and being a famous designer. But art school did not happen insted 5 little happy peas decided to pop out of their pods and jump around like happy little hot peppers. So our fashionista traded in her fashion for motherhood and happily sewed little baby rompers and kids clothes.

Anyone who loves fashion knows that if the feel of the fabric or the smell of a new garment are left dormant too long the frump frump land can appear often in young mothers. And so it did.

Fashion blood runs deep and soon our young mother found herself working at a shop. A shop that required she dress nice in current season and colors. The fit issues with the RTW started again. But not to be fooled and not to be satisfied our now single mother put on the smock of a sewist.  Armed with fitting books, sewing books and tapes,  patterns and piles of fabric stash and good sewing friends on PR and blogs she set out to find a TNT.  

A TNT she did find in McCalls 5977. The first picture of our sewist is view A. Our second picture is view A played with. Folowing the directions found in Make Your Own Dress Patterns the darts have been rotated to the neckline and the pleated bib left off. The third picture was an experiment of more pattern manipulation following some great ideas in Make Your Own Patterns. All three pieces are part of the pink lipstick collect.

The smile on her face is one of gratitude. She is "sew" happy to have found great inspiration in fellow sewist and ametur designers. To have found out the power of a TNT and pattern manipulation, and the grace of God not to let her give up.

Until next time she is busy working on Burda Style 6-2010-122 for her daughter who really wanted a eyelet dress.

 

Thrift Store Finds and Eye Candy

Being a single mom I don't just sew because it relaxing but also it's a way for me to stretch the every tight budget. Another way for me to stretch that budget is to thrift. It's great fun when my youngest daughter can find a out fit or two for and absurdly low price of like $10.00 and look completely in fashion. But if I can find some great deals to add to the sewing room I always come home jolly.

This week was one of those weeks. The picture to the left are this weeks thrift store finds. Six plus yards of brown print charmeuse perfect for lining pants, jackets or skirts this fall. Two yards of blue print poly knit and three yards of brown & red print poly knit great for making tops for work. All ten plus yards cost me a $1.05. I couldn't be more happy to rescued them from my look thrift store even if all they become is messy copies for some upcoming project. It still was an excellent deal. The new tailors ham comes at the best time too since my current one was getting really flat.

The mail man was kind enough to bring me some eye candy as well. I've owned several pattern making systems in the past. Usually with mixed results. So when I was going through my divorce I sold them and never looked back.

 Three or four years back I started sewing again. It was a great way to relax and challenge the old brain. With the want and need to sew also came the want and need to learn to be a better seamstress.

 I had never heard of fitting back in home ec classes in high school. I do remember my teaches pushing me to learn more about tailoring by working co-op at a men's store which I refused to do. They also pushed me to take a fitting class with a company that was coming into town to sell its product again I politely reused.

Back in high school I wanted to be a designer not a seamstress. So if it wasn't going to help me get into design school I didn't want to do it. LOL if I only knew then that I wouldn't go on to design school but instead get a degree in Marketing and Fashion Merchandising and get married and start a family.  Maybe I would not have been so stubborn.

Well my mom decided to give me and early gift, and for my birthday I decided to invest in that system that 20+ years ago my home ec teachers where pushing me towards. I've studied it alot and know most people have a love hate relationship with their Lutterloh. Yet I'm sure this was a good move for me at the time. I love my BurdaStyle Magazines but I dislike the tracing, up sizing or down sizing to fit my two dd and me. With the Lutterloh I should be able to draft of a pattern closer to the size I need to start a project. So when I figured out to get started with Lutterloh I would get 280 patterns I jumped for it. I could never buy that many patterns from the big 4 or Burda for the price of Lutterloh.

I'm looking forward to starting a new adventure with the Lutterloh. Burda and my other friends will not be left behind because ever good seamstress realizes a pattern is just a tool to get started on making the fashion dream come true.

Up next still playing with McCall's 5977

The Beginning of Pink Lipstick Collection M5977

Pink blouse made by me M5977 polyester jersey (trifted)

White crops Burda Plus Fashion Spring/Summer 2009 410/411 Hybred 100% cotton denim Hancock (TNT pattern)

White skirt Burda Style 3-10-136 100% cotton denim Hancock
Pink purse Prada (thrifted most likely imitation.)
White sandals Predictions at Payless
Wood bead braclet by my daughter. Thanks baby.

I always wanted to do that. LOL. Ok introducing my lipstick collection. The main focus colors in this collection are white and the bright pink. I love this pink color and a million years ago when I was back in high school I wore a shade of lipstick or lip gloss this exact shade. When I think about it my blush used as eye shadow back than was close too. So imagine my joy when I discovered that I had several pieces of fabric sitting in my stash or waiting patiently in my Fabric.com cart. Our the greed in my eyes when upon entering Joann fabric I found the perfect dotted jersey with this color . Yeah, girl gots it bad. But really the orange and white theme was not working for me.

The crop pants are made up in a white 100% cotton in my favorite tnt crop pattern. I was worried since the pants have no spandex or lycra I would have a problem whit comfort. No problem here, the cotton denim stretches nicely well wearing and comes back to shape in the wash. Because this is a tnt pattern not reviewing them again on PR but you can read an older review about the pattern here. I did not make this pair any different than I did the pink pair from last summer.

 

The denim skirt, Burda Style 3-10-136 I spoke about in a past blog and still love it. I will be using this pattern again shortly.

 

Pattern Description:

Now on with the show. The pink blouse is McCalls 5977 view A. This pattern is described by McCalls as being a pullover top having neck and armhole bindings and stitched hem, Top A has to layers of pleated ruffles.

Pattern Sizing:

A5(6-8-10-12-14) EE(14-16-18-20) I started with an 18

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

yes

Were the instructions easy to follow?

Yes instructions were good. a Beginner could use them with little help.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

This is a top that is in trend right now but is classic enough to add a little fun in years to come. I'll be truth worthy I want to see if I could try the little ruffle thing.

No huge dislikes.

Fabric Used:

Fabric called for lightweight fabric like crepe de dhine, challis, charmeuse, cotton blend, bastiste and double georgette.

Fabric I used to rebel is an nice Matted Jersey rescued from Goodwill.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

Oh dear not a ton but I did have to change things up a bit. First I used a knit fabric. My Matted Jersey was screaming to be made into this blouse. I need to make a narrow shoulder alteration of about 1/2" add 3/8" to the bust and 1/8" to the waist as suggested in Pattern Fitting with Confidence. Upon a paper fit I realized I need to move down the dart 1/2", so out came my Fit for Real People to help get it done. In my test garment I learned that the hem and arm holes stretched. Knowing I need to stabilize the hem I used the interfacing trick found in Easy Guide to Sewing. Luckily I did not need to do a gapping armhole adjustment.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Yes I think this is a well fitting pattern well on its way to becoming a TNT. I can't wait to practice some dart manipulations on this pattern.

Yes this is a great wardrobe builder easy enough for a beginner.

Conclusion:

I love this little top and have several plans for additions from this pattern. Joy of all joys my bra straps don’t show, What an add feature.

Penguin in Pink.......maybe

Well for the fun of it (read work avoidance) I took this test. I find most of these types of test funny and hold little truth to the person. Interestingly enough though this test picked picked my favorite bird as being my match. Hum some interesting stuff there. And it certainly explains why my sloppy Copy 2 of m5977 is still laying in a bright pink heep on my sewing table. Time to get serious and get working instead of reading every blog know to man (work avoidance). So my current goal finish m5977 this week get it photoed and published.

Time to get back to work. I thought you might want to read about the Penguin.

Now you see it, now you don't. Aggressive yet gentle, outgoing but shy, stable yet flighty - everyone sees the penguin in a different way. It's that black and white thing: the penguin only reveals the side that it wants to you to see. So whether you like this darling-devil or not, you have to concede that it's a fascinating and enigmatic individual.

Penguins are birds condemned to live out their days on the ground. Unable to fly, their excess energy has no outlet save their creative talents and emotional outbursts. Penguins are poetic, artistic, and intellectually gifted, and as writers penguins have no equal.



But, if unable to channel their impulses in a positive way, the resulting turmoil proves damaging to their relationships and careers.



Penguins are deceptively intelligent and are particularly animated when intellectually challenged. They excel at word games and puzzles but are modest about their abilities and are generally underestimated by others.



With their misunderstood personality, penguins find writing an ideal tool for expressing their true feelings. They have a natural aptitude for languages and penguin personalities dominate the world of publishing as writers, editors, and journalists.



With a natural aptitude for languages, penguin personalities dominate the world of publishing as writers, editors and journalists. A strong sense of drama draws them to the theater and cinema, although unlike typical bird personalities they avoid the spotlight unless they're able to hide behind the characters they play. Once on stage however, they prove to be excellent performers with their multifaceted personalities conveying the full gamut of emotions.



However, a lack of confidence affects their work. Penguins tend to give up on tasks they were otherwise capable of and are often disappointed with their performance. Still, work never dominates their life and they always put their family first.


Happy sewing!!

I Page From My Journal (sewing related)

A few nights ago I was reading Ten Thousand Hours of Sewing blog spot. I was very interested in the theory that if you spend 10,000 hours truly learning and working hard at anything you will become a master at it. I decide I was up for the challenge at trying this with my sewing and seeing if I improve of sit quietly at a plateau. So Victoria thank you for laying out a great plan. I hope you don't mind I'm borrowing from your idea.

Tonight I find myself doing sewing related activities not sewing. Yeah it's because I finished sloppy copy 1 of M5977. I found myself revisiting the idea that the pleated bib is not the best look for my big 40F size boobs. ( Picture posted later.) What is a girl to do because I intend to get this pattern fitting correctly maybe san the bib. So sloppy copy #2 fabric and a few other floating pieces of fabric are in the washer and dryer and I’m pouring over books relooking at the issue at hand so what can a H or slightly O shaped person wear? Too often I feel my style and choices are so simple with no edge. The books out in front of me are. Fashion for Dummies, InStyle Secrets of Style, Nothing to Wear, Easy Guide to Sewing and The Vogue Sewing Book (1975 copyright) I have also visited a great website Inside Out Style.

So what do you think? Does a large busted H (rectangular) or O have the right to wear pleating on the bust.