#throwbackthursday #1 Lora Dress – La Maison Victor

Hello everybody!

New post today with a little throwback thursday : may I present you the famous Lora Dress, by the Belgian pattern magazine La Maison Victor. Like many sewers on Instagram, I discovered this pattern and this magazine thanks to the beautiful versions sewed by Alicia from l’Atelier d’Alicia. I had such a big crush on her green one that when I went to Mondial Tissu the next time, I bought the same dark green crêpe fabric (I also got some of the red one, which I used for my New Girl dress!).

About the pattern

This pattern had quite a success, although it’s true that the version showed in the magazine wasn’t really dreamy. This is where one thanks the wonderful sewists of Instagram for their pattern interpretations which make you discover some gems! It is a very simple dress, with a rather fitted bust, three quarter sleeves, a high neck which is not too high (it’s rare enough to be underlined) and a pencil skirt. The pattern also provides pockets, but I had read that some people hadn’t put them on because it added some volume at the hips, which wasn’t terribly flattering. Plus, I was only beginning to sew at the time I made this dress and I couldn’t for the life of me understand the instructions on how to add the pockets ( I re read them a while ago and in fact they make perfect sense!).

Anyway, here I was, deciding not to add pockets either. And on I go, cutting my fabric. Except, what I hadn’t realized at the time, was that when you remove the pockets, you loose a few inches on each side of the front panel of the skirt, as the pockets complete the front panel… So when I sewed it all together, the dress was too small at the waist, it was impossible to wear it!

Thankfully, I found a solution! I ripped all the folds on the front skirt and instead I added a thin dart which matches with the dart from the bust. And I also reduced as much as I could the seam allowances at the waist!

New problem : the hips were much too large then, so I had to take the seams in on the sides to get a fitted skirt.

And now it fits! The shoulders are a bit too short from an inch, but it is okay. The dress is confortable even if it is fitted, but I cant take big steps with the skirt, which makes me very frustrated as I always walk fast!

About the fabric

As I said, I used a polyester crepe fabric from Mondial Tissu, from their « heavy » category. Advantages: it is really easy to sew with, it has a bit of stretch so it’s confortable to wear, and it is thick enough that you don’t see the underwear underneath (EDIT: now that I added the pictures, I feel like panty lines is all you can see! But I wasn’t wearing any under dress when I shot these, which I usually do!), and more importantly, it doesn’t wrinkle ! It’s the best!

The only inconvenient is that this fabric doesn’t feel really soft, its texture is a bit rough, but again, if you were it with a bodysuit or an under-dress underneath, it’s no worries! And it keeps you extra warm !

Success ?

Yes, it is! It is a dress that I still wear a lot: the fact that it doesn’t need to be ironed and that it is work-compatible makes it a great little number! And I love the shape so much that I am currently making myself a new, more casual, version in a milano jersey … To be continued!