A Linen Suit for Summer

From 1941, this Lutterloh suit was meant to look more like the one in the original illustration but due to my limited material, limited skills, and desires to have a summer suit, there were some changes. Some of the more distinct changes were the sleeves which I obviously shortened and the collar and lapels . . . the collar and lapels did not turn out like I planned because I fubared . . .and that’s really all I want to say about that . For the shortened sleeves, that was because I did not have enough material for long sleeves and also wanted short sleeves. My desire for such sleeves was in two parts. One, to have a suit perfectly ideal for summer heat (and that is the reason I chose linen too) and two, I wanted a short sleeves suit to round out my love of vintage suits.
To be honest, these pictures are not the greatest, and the skirt is too short so this is not a complete home run, but I consider this an accomplishment nonetheless.  . . .


The original illustration

Overall, this was by far the hardest Lutterloh make I had ever tried to make. First, the collar and lapels were not shaping right, then the fit, then the pockets, then  . . .well, you get the idea . . .One thing that helped considerably was my hot, hot, hot iron and starch. Lots of starch. Almost too much starch actually because I had an incident with scorch. By the way, the best way to fix a scorch mark is to wipe it off as soon as possible with a damp cloth. At one point I was almost in tears and there were some choice words muttered over this beast, but! It is done!

Having a hot iron was really helpful here. I always iron as I work, it keeps my seams clean and I can more efficiently check my actual progress. For this project in particular, I pressed the center back, the sides the darts, and the collar and lapels. The collar and lapels needed a lot of ironing for them to look nice and crisp. Ironing also helped me see their actual shape a lot better. As I was making the pattern, I noticed that the pattern did not scale out right the first time. I re did the front of the jacket twice. That was a little concerning when it came to cutting out the material as I wanted very much for the front to look good. When it was finally assembled, I noticed some fit issues to the front chest by the arm holes. Thankfully, the solution was a simple taking in at the front arm holes.


Ah the buttons . . . I was actually quite stumped as to what to do with the buttons. I had plenty of choices, that was for sure, but in the end I chose these incredibly cute silk glass flower buttons. Are they not darling? I was concerned they were going to be too small and in a way they are. What is nice about them though is that they seem to match the subtle nature of the color of the linen and the suit. I have learned over time that the buttons and the outfit need to work in harmony with each other, and the buttons don’t necessarily have to “pop”. Anyway, that’s the jacket.

The skirt came next. There was much less drama in the making up of the skirt although I did make it too big. Instead of taking it in at the sides, I had to use the back due to the side pleats. I could have taken to whole thing apart but to be perfectly honest, I was too lazy. The side zipper was interesting and to help conceal it, I added small hooks and thread loops to the pleat edges to hide the zip once worn.  As you can see, the skirt turned out a little too short but I was able to save some length by using white rayon hem tape. There is a scant 1’’ hem.

The Button . . .

Before I go, let me tell you about the pockets. . .At first, I planned on making decorative pockets but after all I work I did on it, I decided to make them functional. I started with the welt pockets at the waist and then I added a breast pocket. When I tried on the jacket, the breast pocket was too low and to balance it out, I added a decorative pocket above it. It does not look great but not awful either.  . . .

Overall, a casual summer suit is now in my wardrobe and I am quite pleased. Not only that but I can say I made a Lutterloh suit. How many can say that? Will I be making another Lutterloh suit? I can’t say for certain now that I would be making another but in the future, maybe. There were a lot of small things that went wrong, but there were a lot of small things that went right too. I guess that is how it goes when working with these patterns, all trial and error. If it does not work out well the first crack, try another . . .then a third .. ..then a fourth . . .and if it still does not work, table it for now. Go back later.

For accessorizing this suit, I played with a few different color schemes. Navy blue looked sharp with a neck bow and dainty pin on the lapel. Pink was my color of choice here. A pink felt sun bonnet, silk flowers, and spectators. I think even a dark green would look nice in the future as would browns.

So that's that. In the future, I hope to correct the length of this skirt by making another one, hopefully I can get the same material . . . if not, then I may have to make a contrasting skirt to go with it.  If that happens, I may have to update the jacket to make it go with it more . . if anything happens, I am sure it will be worth a post all it's own . . .