Tag Archives: butterick 2907

The Lucille Bluth Dress – Finished!

Posted on by Nina
4

Pattern: Butterick 2907
Year: early 60s
Fabric: ca. 1.5 – 2 m purple double wool crepe
Notions: zipper
Time: pre-treating: 3-4 hours, sewing: 4-5 hours
New Techniques: working with wool crepe, raglan sleeves, bias strip making (for the tie-belt)
Cost: about 35$ (the wool crepe was expensive but so worth it!)





(I realized looking at these pictures, I really need a haircut!)

Finally took pictures! They almost show the color accurately, it’s still a bit more purple in real life.

I love this dress so much more than I thought I would. It’s veery comfortable, it has a nice color, it’s not too fancy for everyday wear but still elegant somehow (at least I think! It has that “Old Lady” vibe, and I mean that in the best way possible!). A “comfort dress” that doesn’t involve sweatshirt materials! I really like the raglan sleeves, and the crepe moves so nicely! And it’s was easy to sew. the only hiccup I had was putting in the zipper. I tried making a lapped zipper using Gerties tutorial from her online course and it didn’t work very well, just cause the crepe got a little warped (I find that wool, after it’s been pre-treated, has a tiny bit of “stretch” to it, I noticed this with the Houndstooth Sheath Dress too!). I then followed the Butterick instructions (where you baste the zipper opening first) and it worked really well! It gives you a smaller overlap than Gerties version, which might make it a little more obvious (especially with this fabric, you can see the zipper very well), but I don’t mind with this dress.

One thing I was a little confused about was the collar. I used to think, looking at the pattern envelope illustration, that it’s supposed to be a sort of turtleneck/cowlneck thing, but it’s really just a collar that lies flat. But I guess if you wanted it to stand up more, you could attach two hooks and eyes to the collar at the center back.

The only drawback I guess is that the fabric IS expensive, and I can’t really just sit down anywhere with this on (I know I know, sitting on the floor isn’t ladylike and all, but as GOB would say: COME ON!! It’s definitely a plus when a dress is easy to wash :))

Lucille Muslin take 2 (+ low-quality photos of the dress)

Posted on by Nina
4


 

I took in the sleeves by 1″ and the sideseams of the dress by 2″ from underarm to waist, and by 1″ from waist to hem, that seemed to fix the problem! The muslin still has some weird looking folds, but I assumed that it would be fine when done in wool crepe, and I was right! (phew…)

I finished the dress saturday evening, just in time for partying! It’s definitely not a “serious dancing” dress, (even though it’s really comfortable!) it does get very warm, which is good when you need to go outside for some fresh air. And I wasn’t even wearing tights!

I’ll post some more “technical details” when I take proper pictures, for now, here’s me trying to be Lucille Bluth:

Ice cream sandwich!! and me attempting a Lucille Bluth facial expression.

(the last two pictures show the color quite well, it’s an almoust blue purple)

Lucille Dress – Muslin

Posted on by Nina
4

I made the muslin today, and I was fast too! I didn’t do the collar (I don’t think I’ve ever made a complete muslin, I usually only do one sleeve, or even just one half of the piece), since I wasn’t using a fabric that drapes as nicely as the wool crepe I’m using (I just can’t afford anything else than muslin, even that it kind of expensive in switzerland) I don’t think the collar would’ve looked good anyway.


It’s definitely not the most flattering thing I’ve ever made, but I have quite a few snug sheath dresses already, plus it’s the Lucille Bluth Dress!! Not the Lindsay Fünke Dress.

I do think it looks better in real life than in pictures, but there’s still something about the sleeves that I don’t quite like. I think it’s the folds that radiate from the armpit (never thought I’d use “radiate” and “armpit” in the same sentence…), as visible in the first picture. But I don’t know how those folds will look when I make it with wool crepe. And I want this to be a comfy dress, a dress that I’d wear on a cold day, when I’d rather wear my I <3 NY sweatshirt than a sheath dress but still want to look put together (because the fabric is so gorgeous!), so I don’t want the sleeves to be too tight.

The sleeve has a dart in it, so I’m thinking there might be a way to adjust the pattern, so that the weird folds are gone? Or maybe I need to change the side/sleeve-seam?

Or maybe there’s not really a problem, cause the wool crepe will be heavy enough to not bunch up like the muslin does?

Well, I only just started pre-treating my fabric (and it will take a while, working in small sections) so I have some time to think about it…

First Vintage Patterns

Posted on by Nina
Reply

So after yesterdays “Lucille” Post I looked for the pattern (Butterick) online just incase there was one around, and I found one on etsy in my size, even though I didn’t expect to! I ended up buying another vintage pattern from that shop, a simple sheath dress. I bought them from the shop PatternsFromThePast. It has a LOT of vintage patterns, so I’m guessing it’s one of the more well known ones.

The patterns (I used images from Vintage Patterns Wiki because those are nicer :)) :

 

The Lucille Dress – Butterick 2907

The sheath dress (give me time and I’ll come up with a more ridiculous creative name) – Butterick 2952

I do want to eventually draft my own sheath dress pattern (shouldn’t be too hard after making the pattern for the bodice of the floral dress, and pencil skirt, I’ll just make those two fit together), since I always feel a little weird about using patterns, because then I can’t say “I made it from start to finish”. Do you know that feeling?

On the other hand I also want to try sewing with vintage patterns. It just seems like a cool thing to do, taking something so old and making a brand new garment from it. Plus the envelopes are so pretty. I’m a bit of a hoarder when it comes to pretty things, I’ve got it under control but sometimes I just buy stuff because it’s pretty, even if I have no idea what I’m going to do with it… ah well, could be worse, at least I’m not a kleptomaniac.

The Lucille Bluth Dress

Posted on by Nina
Reply

I came across this vintage pattern (butterick 2907) recently, and my first thought was: “oh my god. this would be prefect for Lucille Bluth!” (partly due to the hair, but also because of the dress)

If you don’t know who I’m talking about, Lucille Bluth is a great character from the show “Arrested Development” (played by Jessica Walter). I you don’t know the show, you should watch it online somewhere! It’s my all-time favorite series. Unfortunately it was cancelled after 3 seasons… She loves to drink early in the morning, spend money on fur, helicopter-parent her youngest son, make snide comments about her daughters weight and the country club (but not when she only has a pool membership! hmpf). In short: she’s the best horrible mother ever!


image via google

The dress doesn’t look too hard, since it’s not fitted. I’ve never done a cowl neckline before though (which is the one I would want to make) so that might be a bit of a challenge (makes it more fun to do!), as well as the raglan sleeves!

Don’t know what color I’d make this in. I like the blue-ish green of the printed dress on the envelope, so maybe a solid blue-green? But a print would be fun too. A nice “old lady” print.

And what kind of fabric? It needs to have a nice drape, but not be too thin, since this is more of a winter dress.

Still have a lot of decisions to make about this pattern, but it’s not at the top of my list right now anyway. At least I have something to look forward to next winter :)