I fell in love with the Ditte dress as soon as it was released in the March/April 2016 issue of the sewing magazine La Maison Victor (LMV). To date, I have made 3 for winter and 2 for mid-season.

The Ditte dress is a modern shirt dress presented by LMV in printed denim.
All the shirt elements are gathered here with:
- a shirt-style collar and collar stand,
- a button placket on the front, with snaps
- pretty chest pockets
- a back cut in 4 pieces
- sleeve slits with loops allowing them to be rolled up.
So it is a model that requires a bit of sewing experience.

Alongside these shirt-type elements, you find all the features of a perfect little dress including a belt and pretty waist gathers that will beautifully enhance it.

Why a quintessential winter dress?
Simply for the choice of fabrics allowing it to be made.
Indeed, you should choose a medium to heavy woven fabric such as:
- a denim
- a corduroy
- a chambray
- a gabardine
and why not faux leather, suede, or Neoprene...

It is also possible to make it in a sturdy cotton fabric, which I chose for my mid-season creations.

Where to find this pattern?
To be able to make this dress, you must have the LMV magazine from March/April 2016. For those who do not know La Maison Victor, this magazine is published every two months and gathers mostly women's patterns, as well as children's and men's. It is available in many bookstores.
The dress was not published as a printed or PDF pattern. It is still possible to find this magazine second-hand on eBay or on Facebook groups for buying/exchanging patterns.
It should also be noted that this pattern was also published in the 2016 special plus sizes issue of LMV for sizes 42 to 56.

Things to know before starting
The Ditte dress is offered from size 30 to 48, enough to make some young ladies happy.
You will therefore be able to sew it for:
- a bust circumference between 72 and 116cm
- a waist circumference between 66 and 94.5cm
- a hip circumference between 82 and 122cm.
For my part, I sewed it in size 34. The only modification made was the back height which was too long for my body shape. I advise you to check this measurement for yourself.

For the materials, count on:
- between 1.65m and 1.9m of fabric depending on your size
- 9 snap buttons of 12mm
- a bit of interfacing
- a 40cm invisible zipper

What are the technical points?
No difficulty in tracing the pattern on the sheet; except for carefully transferring the seam allowances which are not included.
As I already mentioned, the Ditte dress is intended for sewists with some sewing experience because there are many technical points:
- making the button placket
- assembling convex-concave curves
- placing and sewing the patch pockets
- making harmonious gathers
- assembling the back yoke and sewing the shoulders
- making the collar and collar stand
- attaching the invisible zipper
- making the sleeve slit
- making the loop
- hemming
- attaching the snaps
Nevertheless, all these technical points are well explained in the magazine and by carefully following the instructions, you will easily succeed. Moreover, if you have an intermediate level, this piece can be an excellent study piece to progress.
And then, once all these steps are completed, what a pleasure to be able to wear your dress!

The fabrics I used
For the denim version, the fabric comes directly from the LMV site. It was the fabric offered to make the Ditte dress and I fell in love with the patterns.
For the mustard version, the fabric was purchased at Nostex in Etterbeek, a subsidiary of La Maison Dorée.
The fabric for the gray corduroy version comes from Stragier.
For the two mid-season versions, the orange fabric was purchased at Mercerie Wonderland and the red one was bought in Tokyo in the Nippori district.

How to customize the Ditte dress?
As for me, I haven't modified it much because I love it as it is.
For my mid-season dresses, I used golden thread for the topstitching.
Another option is to replace the snaps with pretty buttons or "jeans" rivets.
Finally, it is quite possible to remove the gathers by reducing the width of the skirt.
And you, how would you customize it?