Saturday, April 11, 2015

La Maison Victor on the Curvy Side


When you are stranded on a chair for long hours and your brain is drawning in hormones, you cannot write or fully focus on anything, especially in a language that is not your native one. That is why I started reading more French sewing blogs in the last weeks before Oscar's birth. Within a few days, I have found a new world of inspiration coming from a Belgian magazine : La Maison Victor.


I am sure that most of you read about it on Melissa's blog. She summarized really well why it is worth a look. Make sure you read her post to see why this magazine is a massive upgrade compared to Burda (easy drawing, illustrated instructions, individual patterns for sale including videos, knitting and crochet projects and also kids and male patterns).

Today, I would like to highlight the plus size patterns they offer. Most of their designs are available up to a size 48 and are worth a look. I will however focus today on the ones available in sizes 54.

I will start with their sizing chart. I find it very interesting. If you compare the largest chest measurement to the one from Colette Patterns for example, LMV's size 56 corresponds to Colette's 26. It seems however that they use a different pattern block, with a larger waist and a smaller hip. You will find more details here :

Size 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56
Chest 80 84 88 92 96 100 104 110 116 122 128 134
Waist 66 70 74 78 82 86 90 94,5 101 107,5 114 120,5
Hips 92 96 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136













Chest 31 1/2 33 34 1/2 36 38 39 1/2 41 43 1/2 45 1/2 48 50 1/2 53
Waist 26 27 1/2 29 31 32 1/2 34 35 1/2 37 40 42 1/2 45 47 1/2
Hips 36 38 39 1/2 41 42 1/2 44 45 1/2 47 49 50 1/2 52 53 1/2

Now, before I tempt you with the pictures below, you have to know that until now, the magazines are not available in English (only in French, German and Dutch) BUT after going through all of them, the drawings in the tutorials are more than clear and sufficient. I will come back to this but I am planning on contacting La Maison Victor to ask questions about that topic and others.

It is now time to have a look at the plus size garments offered by LMV. I will talk about the ones featured in all their past editions, except the latest one that I will review on the CSC (Spring 2015). We have so far 6 dresses, 2 jackets, 1 top and a pair of leggings.

Lisan

Chloe

Roxy







Lisan is my favorite of them all. It is a tunic-dress with rounded seams. The wrap style of the skirt is super flattering. It also has a V-neck and scallopped sleeves. LMV advises to wear it with a belt to cinch it in even more at the waist.

The Chloe coat has raglan sleeves and side bust darts. The design is very simple. I am not sure it would work on bigger cups but it is quite fashionable. It is available for purchase individually.

The Roxie leggings are a great basic ! They are available for purchase individually.

June

Jolene

City





The June Dress is a very basic and flattering design. It has a simple princess seams top and a box pleated skirt. It is available for purchase individually.

The Jolene top is a loose V neck with batwing short sleeves. It is a good basic to have. I am not sure it would work on broad shoulders though.

The City dress is developped to try your hand at color-blocking with knits.


Jazmin

Eliza









The Jazmin jacket is a kimono style cardigan. It looks great on the model but it is not tailored. I would be curious to see how it looks if it is not cinched in at the waist.

The Elisa dress is a nice wrap dress developped for knits. It can be used as a basic but is quite similar to other designs available with other companies. If you are interested, it is available for purchase individually.

Mary


Black Velvet







The Mary dress is more fitted. You can use thick knits or woven fabrics. It has a pannelled top and a slitted neckline. I think it could be used for color blocking as well.

The Black Velvet dress is also one favorite of mine. It is a cool variation of the center pannel/princess seams theme. It also has visible darts and is super curves friendly.

What are your thoughts on these designs ? As hinted above, I am planning on sending LMV an e-mail and I already have a few questions about the possible use of English language and the idea of having pdf patterns available online. Is there any question you would like me to include in the e-mail ?
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