La Maison Victor Blog Tour!

Well hello there! And now for something completely different, my first blog tour!

I was pleasantly surprised when La Maison Victor asked me to be a part of their English language blog tour celebration! I've admired their patterns in the past, and it's as though they could hear me...

La Maison Victor is a sewing pattern magazine, featuring a selection of women's patterns, also children's & men's patterns, and a few other fun DIY projects (fabric heavy, naturally!). I was asked to choose a pattern to make from their Summer issue and share it with you.

My magazine arrived a few weeks ago, and I had a good browse through before getting started on my chosen pattern. One thing that I was not anticipating was the lack of ads - La Maison Victor has a web shop that sells fabric, yarn and craft kits, so that is advertised, but there aren't any outside ads. the overall feel is very clean & chic, with lots of really nicely styled photos.

The patterns are printed on pull out sheets, with a legend to show you where your particular pattern pieces are located. They still need to be traced, but they are clearly marked and colour coded. The instructions are illustrated and laid out much like a printed pattern, and are almost as detailed. There is a bit of sewing language translation confusion, which I've noticed with other patterns that were originally published in other languages. Sewing terminology is funny that way! For instance, in the dress that I made, the instructions tell you to fold the hem allowance down, but in English we would usually say that hems are folded up. And the measurements are in tenths of an inch - I know that metric doesn't translate neatly to imperial, but I hope that will change in upcoming issues.

Most women's patterns range from a 28" - 46" bust, with this editions' Malia top up to a 55" bust.

So, what did I choose to make? I opted for the Solange t-shirt dress, and then struggled for weeks to find the right fabric! The suggested fabric is french terry, which I could only find locally in a solid, and I really wanted a pattern. So I ended up with this poly knit with very little stretch, but the colour is nice, at least!

I cut the size 16, grading out to the 18 at the waist. I could probably have stuck with the 16 throughout, but with a new pattern company, and this non-stretchy knit fabric, I didn't want to take any chances. I also lowered the bust dart by 1" and added 2" to the length. No doubt it would be cuter shorter, but I like my bum to be covered when I sit on the bus, that you very much. 

The pattern has inseam pockets, and an exposed zip with grosgrain ribbon at the back. I'm happy with how nicely my stripe matching turned out, but the back zip was a bit tricky. I clipped the bottom seam allowances the wrong way, but fortunately I could sneak the zip down a bit and the ribbon fully covers everything!

Looks good from here...

And not too shabby from here, either!

The UK leg of the tour happened last month, so you can check out their posts already, and stay tuned for the rest of the Canada/US bloggers this week, and Australia/New Zealand in September. I'm honoured to be featured along with these great sewing bloggers!

I received a free copy of the English Summer 2017 edition when I agreed to participate in the tour, all opinions etc. are my own. If you'd like your own copy, it's being sold in quite a few Chapters/Indigo stores across Canada, and also in some independent magazine and book stores.