I had had the Tamara dress on my wishlist for a while and when I found beautiful American fabrics, it was the perfect combination to make my Tamara dress!

I invite you to discover this model as well as my sewing experience and the modifications I made to this model. 

Description

Tamara is a dress with a slightly vintage look. It’s a romantic dress, buttoned at the front where the clips have been replaced by gathers for both the bust and the skirt. 

The model should be made in woven fabric. Maison Victor recommends a viscose but I chose to make it in a beautiful American poplin by Michaël Miller. 

The pattern is available in the May/June 2021 issue of Maison Victor. It is graded from size 34 to 56 and rated difficulty level 2 out of 4 by Maison Victor. 

In the sewist's basket:

• woven fabric according to your tastes
• fusible interfacing 
• buttons between 1 and 2cm depending on your preferences
• coordinated thread

You will find all the necessary materials in the shop. 

Technical points

Tamara is aimed at sewists with some experience as it includes a few technical points:

• Sewing the facing
• Attaching sleeves
• Creating gathers (bust and skirt)
• Assembling the waistband
• Creating buttonholes and placing buttons
• Making hems on sleeves and skirt bottom

My pattern modifications

After sewing a toile in size 34, I was able to make some modifications.

1. I reduced the waistband height by 2cm because I am shorter than the stature for which the pattern was designed (1.66m). So I had to "raise" the waistline. The easiest was to "trim" the waistband. 

2. I restored the waistband to straight because on the original pattern, it flares out at the bottom on the side. I find that creates a "pocket" of fabric on the side and a less aesthetic drape. So I removed this part of the pattern and restored straightness on the side. 

3. I reduced the width of the back skirt by 2cm (so 1cm on the center back fold side to cut on the fold) to match the waistband size (since I had reduced it). 

4. Finally, I reduced the fullness of the skirt which I found too large on my toile. Moreover, this allowed me to sew the back piece and the two front pieces within the width of my fabric, which was 110cm wide. I also shortened the skirt by 3cm to make it shorter and therefore suitable for my petite height. 

My assembly modifications

1. The sleeves

I preferred to set the sleeves last. I attached the sleeves after assembling the sides. I eased the sleeve cap with gathering threads.

2. Overlocking

I chose to overlock the two back pieces before assembling them. I opened my seam and decided to leave them open to avoid having double thickness on one side of the back. I repeated the same with the shoulder seams. 

I am really delighted with my dress and the jumpsuit made with this magnificent Michael Miller fabric. What about you, does it tempt you?