La Maison Victor – their first English-language magazine!!

If you've followed this site for any length of time then you're probably already aware of La Maison Victor magazine, as I've been buying up issues whenever we've travelled to France over the past few years. It's a Belgian pattern magazine, which started off as quarterly in the early days, expending to 6 issues a year and publishing in French, Dutch, German, and now... English, too! This is super exciting because I love La Maison Victor's aesthetic - definitely more like a fashion magazine than a sewing magazine, and unlike some *cough* Burda *cough*, each of the patterns has incredibly well illustrated instructions, so they're suitable for beginners, too.

If you’ve followed this site for any length of time then you’re probably already aware of La Maison Victor magazine, as I’ve been buying up issues whenever we’ve travelled to France over the past few years. It’s a Belgian pattern magazine, which started off as quarterly in the early days, expending to 6 issues a year and publishing in French, Dutch, German, and now… English, too!

This is super exciting because I love La Maison Victor‘s aesthetic – definitely more like a fashion magazine than a sewing magazine, and unlike some *cough* Burda *cough*, each of the patterns has incredibly well illustrated instructions, so they’re suitable for beginners, too.

La Maison Victor is 50p more expensive than Burda magazine here in the UK (£5.99 vs £5.50) and you get fewer patterns, but on the upside, the instructions are better the pattern sheets are a bit less dense, and each issue always includes one men’s pattern, one boy’s pattern, one baby’s pattern, at least one girl’s pattern, and at least one knitting pattern in addition to several women’s patterns. I’ve found their men’s patterns in particular to be a lot more inventive than most, even including a sporty men’s cycling jacket in one issue I picked up in the past!


First up is the Malia Top, a sleeveless tank with a gathered dart detail. This one’s probably my favourite of this issue, but I found it a bit hard to see the gathered dart in their busy print and determine exactly where that would sit – is it meant to be at the bust? Or above, or below? To be honest, I like Jane’s version of this top better than the magazine one, and it’s one I’ve got in the running for some 1m lengths of fabric in my stash…

Also included in this issue is the Flo dress, a pretty party dress with a pleated skirt (and inseam pockets), princess seamed bodice, and lingerie-style straps.

These LuLu Pants are unfortunately for little girls and not for adults, which is a shame as I’d totally wear them myself!

The Dolores skirt is a simple but stylish gathered midi skirt with centre front button closure. Nothing groundbreaking here, but definitely a nice basic.

The Solange Dress is a simple knit shift dress (again, with side seam pockets!) and an exposed zipper running up the back helps give it a bit of visual interest. My friend Claire-Louise made up this pattern already as part of the LMV Anglophone blog tour and again, it looks fantastic on her! She also threw in some pro tips for creating a neat exposed zipper, too.

The boy’s pattern this issue is the Morris Shirt, which I reckon James would wear in a heartbeat if it was bigger, and for men, a pair of Chinos, which is a great basic to have on hand for the men in your life.

As this is the first English issue, there are a few hiccups I noticed – particularly that they’re a bit weird and uncomfortable using imperial measurements, quoting lengths like 0.6″ instead of saying 5/8″. And frankly, in the UK we tend to use metric as much as imperial, so I find it bizarre that they’ve only used inches here and not included both (or in the case of the size chart, only in centimeters!). But they’ve asked for feedback, so I suppose we’ll see how receptive they are to comments!

Apparently this first issue is available to buy in larger newsagents and supermarkets in the UK, UK, and Australia. The big WH Smiths by my office didn’t have it (though they stock 5-6 other sewing magazines), but the massive one in Victoria station has loads, or you can buy them online. English-language subscriptions aren’t available yet, but I’m told they will be soon!

8 Comments

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  1. 1
    Nancy L

    Thank you for introducing us to another great looking sewing magazine! I hope that you will do reviews of the magazine as they come out like you do with Burda.

  2. 2
    Nicky

    Thanks for the review. I have the French version which has more, and different patterns- 12 compared to 8. Doesn,t have that dress, but has another and a hoodie sweatshirt too. Interested to see how they compare next issue.

  3. 4
    samboaz

    I think La Maison Victor´s sewing patterns are awful and way too simple. And not every sewing magazine on the market has to cater to sewing newbies. Burda Style always has a mixture of easy to sew styles and patterns for experienced sewers.
    Sewing Mags are not meant to teach people how to sew. Sewing Mags offer interesting trendy new patterns for those who know how to sew. If you cannot sew take sewing lessons for beginners or, if you´re able to, learn it on your own by reading sewing books for beginners and taking sewing lessons online.
    Sewing Mags are for people who have a basic understanding of sewing or are very experienced sewers.
    I´d say if you´re not able to understand written sewing instructions then “cough” you have no clue about sewing or maybe sewing is too difficult for you.

  4. 5
    John

    Samboaz, Who are you to decide who sewing mags are supposed to target? Obviously, this magazine is not for you. I think a sewing magazine for beginners is a great idea, and if you don’t like it, you can read something else. But thanks for shitting on everyone who likes this type of thing. Jealous much?

  5. 6
    Michelle Marshall

    Good Reply ‘John .. 3rd Feb 18 .. .. just help people who are starting off and don’t criticise them .. this magazine is amazing .. Samboaz.. you Are a very rude person…to say if you can’t sew go out and have a lesson..Some of us can’t go out through disability.. And also some can’t afford to go out for lessons.. so to have these magazines at home.. to help you.. and to do them at your own leisure is good ..you’re very lucky to be able to sew without these kinds of Magazines and patterns .. They are there to help and to teach us .. so keep it up Victor .. I for one love it .. M …

  6. 7
    Jacqueline

    Can anyone tell me how to get a copy of the French version in Australia? I can’t seem to find it on their homepage or anything?

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