Greetings! I swear I haven’t just been making Lamour dresses this summer, even if that’s what it looks like on the blog. I actually finished a much simpler dress between my last Lamour and this one, but I haven’t managed to get good photos of it yet, so (naturally) I can’t share it until I do.
I’ve been wanting to make the new and improved Lamour dress since Gertie first posted pictures of her excellent purple version, but I was nervous about trying to make it because historically narrow skirts and I have not been friends.
Usually my waist and hip measurements are at least two sizes apart on a pattern, if not more, so I tend to take the easy way out by making patterns where the hip measurement doesn’t matter.
After a false start where I attempted to do a large butt adjustment on my waist size, I ended up tracing the size 10 pattern piece and then taking the difference between the waist of that piece and the waist of the size 4 and dividing that extra fabric between the two darts. Additionally, I made the darts a lot longer — close to 11″, instead of the 6″ printed on the pattern. That muslin was much closer to fitting, the only other real changes I made were to add a little swayback adjustment. The other change I had to make was in the construction of the underskirt — I originally followed the pattern instructions and sewed a large portion of the underskirt to the side seam, but it pulled terribly, and I ended up opting to attach it only at the very top of the side seam instead.
I made some vague attempts at matching the center back seams, which is to say that when they came out a couple millimeters off I didn’t bother going back and fixing them, and I’m pretty pleased with how the back of the dress looks.
I went with the straps from the Jane playset instead of one of the strap designs from the pattern, and I’m pretty happy with how they turned out. I’m investing in a tube turner, though, so that I can make narrower straps next time.
I’m also undecided on length — perhaps I could make it just a bit shorter next time? But that seems like a lot of work, so… I probably won’t.
OUTFIT DETAILS
Hair flowers: Made by me
Pink confetti lucite earrings: Grandma’s
Fish dress: Made by me, pattern is Charm Patterns Lamour Dress
Blue perforated wedge sandals: Rocket Originals
Fabulous dress! The fit is so good and really is a complimentary shape.