La Maison Victor: Dolores skirt

Today I’m the first stop-off on a blog tour for DutchBelgian sewing magazine La Maison Victor, to promote the launch of the magazine in an English edition – hurrah! Each blogger on the tour, covering Australia, the UK, USA and Canada, received a copy of the magazine and selected a project to make up.


Previously only printed in Dutch and French, I have actually bought a couple of copies of La Maison Victor from the continent before because it’s got such a nice fresh, modern aesthetic. This inaugural English edition is no exception; above is a list of all the patterns that come included in this issue.

If you’ve been put off sewing from pattern mags because of thoughts of the dreaded Burda tracing sheets of nightmares, La Maison Victor thankfully provides a much more user-friendly experience. Yes, you still need to trace off as the pieces overlap, but each pattern is extremely well-labelled with which pieces you need and which sheets to find them on, and the pieces are additionally colour-coded per pattern so it’s really foolproof.

I went over the lines for my size in black marker to make them show up better, then traced onto dot-and-cross paper; it didn’t take long at all. The sheets aren’t huge, which does mean some pattern pieces span two sheets and need to be taped together, but this size is much easier to manage when tracing in a small apartment.

Also unlike Burda, every pattern has comprehensive and nicely-illustrated instructions. I didn’t really follow them as the project I chose is pretty simple but they are there to fall back on if needed. All the usual fabric and sizing recommendations are here too.

I chose to make the Dolores skirt pattern, a midi-length button-through skirt with an A-line shape and gathers into a fixed waistband. It was a super speedy afternoon type of make! I did make a couple of tweaks to the pattern: I narrowed the waistband a little and added some curve to it, as straight-cut wider waistbands don’t sit well on my frame. I also took about 4 inches off the length, and left off the pockets as I thought they might add unwanted bulk, although the pattern does include a way to anchor them into the front waistband which always help stop side-seam pockets from flapping about.

The pattern pieces all matched up perfectly and the only real fitting to do here is at the waist. I always seem to overshoot and make fixed waistbands a bit too large; I shifted over the top button here to make it snugger, hence the slight twisting, but I will go back and do a better fix; perhaps adding some elastic into the back waistband to keep it snug.

I used The Fabric Store‘s Clover rayon crepe which they kindly sent me to try out a while ago. Poor-quality versions of this crinkly, springy sort of crepe can shift off-grain if you even look at them funny (or worse, be PRINTED off-grain so you’ve got no chance at all), but luckily this one was very well-behaved and I was able to keep the print pretty much aligned. I double-interfaced the waistband to keep it firm, along with the button band, and had to trim along the hem to even up where it dropped on the bias at the sides. Otherwise it was very easy to work with and perfect for this pattern: it’s so light and swishy!

The Maison Victor site and online shop will be launching in English soon; for now you can buy the magazine online here (along with individual patterns and fabric kits) and find in in selected supermarkets and WH Smiths. I look forward to seeing projects from the other makers on this tour – including fellow Brits Thrifty Stitcher, Handmade Jane and Petite Passions coming up this week – and seeing more patterns from this mag in the future!

18 thoughts on “La Maison Victor: Dolores skirt

  1. Kirsten

    Your skirt looks great, I love that fabric. The magazine also looks great, I’d love to have a regular sewing mag to keep me inspired! I’ll need to keep an eye out for it, wonder if it’ll be stocked in NZ…

  2. Sewing Princess

    Great news! More importantly I really hope they will expand the countries they ship to. I bought a couple of issues while travelling but I can’t get it regularly…I also have a couple of their standalone patterns in my wish list.

  3. sarah

    So happy I will not have to struggle to understand as I love the designs and can’t wait to see how I may be able to get the magazine!!

  4. Evelien Cabie

    looks amazing. May I make a small comment? La maison Victor isn’t Dutch but Belgian :) The Dutch are good at many things but sewing magazines (and books) seems to be our strenght, lol. Thank you for your lovely blog!

  5. Rosemary

    This looks like a very interesting magazine. I have used Birda before but more detailed instructions would be a great improvement. I would like to give this magazine a try

    1. amanda

      Hi,I have bought the first victor here from WH Smith’s. oh my. It’s a treat. I love it. The patterns are so easy to copy. I bought burdha and loss the will to live lol. And it’s cheaper than burdha to buy. I have already made the Morris shirt and the Rosie dress. I cannot recommend it enough.

  6. Eliza Sew Little

    Lovely skirt and other designs look good too. Worth looking for copies in a shop as postage is 12 euros for 1 magazine! Luckily I found one and it’s as lovely as you describe. Thanks

  7. Luisa Pinnell

    I liked the look of that Dolores skirt so much that I bought the magazine. Unfortunately I did not find the pattern easy to cut at all and I am sure that the pocket is missing from my pattern! I have made things from the Burda magazine, so I am not exactly a novice. I wonder if I was just unlucky. Not sure what to do…write to the editor or just put it down to experience and chuck the magazine and the pattern in the recycling bin?

    1. Katie Post author

      Oh dear! I confess I didn’t add the pockets so I can’t confirm if the piece is missing. I didn’t have a problem otherwise though. I’d definitely email them if you have feedback.

      1. Luisa Pinnell

        Perhaps I will…I felt quite frustrated but fortunately I did not buy fabric especially to make the skirt, I had some already and I can make something else with it! Thanks for the reply and the suggestion.

        1. Luisa Pinnell

          I did contact La Maison Victor and I found their contact form just as helpful as their patterns. I could not fill two of the required fields, Residence (what does that mean? I have given them my address and post code, do I have to invent some name for my house such as Rose Cottage or Dunroamin?); the other one was my phone number (why should anyone have it just to answer a simple question?) So I am afraid La Maison Victor is not flavour of the month…apologies for the rant and I will not return to the subject!

    2. amanda

      I have just checked my pieces,I’m sure the pocket for the fly dress may be used for the skirt. Don’t quote me on it though. I’m going to try it on mine .

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