Tag Archives: lucille bluth dress

The Lucille Bluth Dress – Finished!

Posted on by Nina
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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
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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
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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…

Sewing Plans!

Posted on by Nina
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It’s getting really cold here, which means I need to start making some of those fall/winter dresses I’ve been dreaming about since July! My plans (I love daydreaming about what I’m going to sew next!) with their fabrics:

 

First up: the Lucille Bluth Dress (butterick 2907), view B with the collar, using a purple wool crepe (it’s so beautiful! But always looks blue in pictures, had to edit this one a bit), but first I want to make a muslin to make sure I like it (not going to waste that gorgeous wool crepe!)

After that, I’ll try to squeeze in another (hopefully) quick butterick 2952, this time another one like the pink one, but from a houndstooth wool, and with a waistband (somehow I always picture myself wearing that (still imaginary) dress in paris, with a big fancy hat on and a crocodile leather purse, walking a big black poodle. I might start calling it the Poodle Dress :)). I’m thinking about making a (removable) collar for this one.

sketch by me, Lady with the Red tights is lauriana, Ad from Chanel, dress to the right by postmodest

Then the Tweed “Chanel” Dress, which will be a slightly bigger project, because I need to draft the pattern. I first wanted to make this when I saw laurianas version, and then kept seeing more versions of this kind of dress! In Paris I finally found the right kind of herringbone fabric (it’s not tweed, but I like to call it the “Tweed Dress” anyway :)). I might also change the design to include a waistband, I’ll see if I like it on the Houndstooth Poodle Sheath first.

Gertie in her Bombshell Dress, Coco Rocha wearing Zac Posen, pattern from the bombshell course

And finally, I want to sew that Bustier Dress from Gertie’s online course! I bought 3 different colors of shantung when I was in New York, this dark seafoam one will be the one I use first. I’m excited for this one! I’m going to take my time with this one (my first time using boning!), but I’m excited to try out a few new techniques :)

Hopefully I can get started on the Lucille Dress soon! I’m a little scared of the wool crepe, pre-treating it is a little complicated from what I’ve read (steaming the entire thing with the iron…), but at least the pattern is fairly simple.

The Lucille Bluth Dress

Posted on by Nina
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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 :)