My first sewing challenge of 2025 was to tackle a project I have been dreaming of for very long time: a dress with a fully integrated bustier. And for Valentine, what could be a better project than the so appropriately-named Lamour dress by Charm Patterns.

Pink & Red for Valentine

I am the lucky owner of an extensive collection of party dresses. But while I sew most of my daytime dresses, all of my party ones are store bought. Why will you ask? Given that most of my sewing is actually dresses, I should really be an expert by now… But combine difficult fabric with the technicalities of a structured bodice and here is a perfect excuse to buy yet another Marchesa Notte gown…Oh well…

What I really needed to break my sewing block was a challenge. So I invited loads of friends to a “Pink and Red” Valentine party and promised myself that I would make the dress for it if I found the right fabric. And so I did – a perfect pink and red brocade, not too stiff for a dress and super Valentine appropriate.

Before giving you more details about the dress, I cannot resist showing you a few pictures of the party decorations, another really fun part of the party.

And here are a few pictures with my Valentine. I always intended to make him a traditional bow tie, but he also requested a cummerbund (a tuxedo belt). I could find no pattern I liked, so I ordered a very cheap belt on Amazon, dismantled it to draft a pattern and used the back elasticated part and… TADA!

Lamour dress pattern review

I am in love with Charm Patterns…

I am a huge fan of the Charm Pattern dresses (well, actually, of all their patterns) for several reasons:

• First, their nostalgic 1940-50’s style is all I want for my wadrobe.
• Second, they fit me to perfection, even more so thanks to the (very wide range of) bust cup options.
• Third, the written and video instructions are fantastic – I was so dreading the application of boning so much that I watched this specific section of the video even before buying my fabric..was so well explained it convinced me to go ahead!

I love Charm Patterns so much I am actually a patron on Patreon – for a very reasonable monthly fee you get access to a treasure trove of exclusive past pattern and a new one every month. This is definitely a great motivation to try new patterns and I hugely recommend becoming a patron if you are not already one.

… and even more in love with the Lamour dress

Anyway, back to the Lamour dress. Here is the enveloppe, as well as the drawings of all the bodice and skirt options offered.

Do not fear boning the bodice!

As you can see, this dress is basically made of a boned princess seam bodice; and either a sarong or a circle skirt. For my dress, I went for the most basic bodice option – plain vanilla strapless, shash-less, decoration-less. I was absolutely terrified to mess-up and it turned out all very easy actually!

The main bodice has 8 pieces of fabric, which are interlined for structure – and which you can pattern-match if you want to spend ages cutting, which I did and seemed in restrospect very unnecessary. The lining uses the same pattern pieces, but you add boning to the seams to guarantee perfect hold.

Why did I dread this bit for so many years? It was actually very fun to do, it is invisible from the outside and and it works so so well to prevent the bodice from moving at all!! You can twirl and dance without any worries.

Add a big skirt for more puff

For the skirt, I could have gone with my all-time favourite full circle skirt. However this Valentine dress was the perfect opportunity to use another pattern of my stash, Vintage re-edited Vogue V9106)

The skirt has a circle shape, but is extended at two levels to add gathers and create even more volume. I am delighted with the effect.

I obviously fully lined the skirt but no need for gathers for the lining, a full circle skirt was perfect.

Only a tiny fit adjustment needed for the bodice

As for adjustments, I cut a size 4 with D/DD cup for the bodice (my usual for Charm Patterns) and I made a toile. This helped me adjust the bust princess seam so that it would perfectly follow my bust curves, but frankly nothing drastic. I went for a size 10 for the skirt (my usual for Vogue) and made no change whatsoever.

Conclusion

I can’t believe how well this dress turned out. I am behond proud by how perfectly professional it looks and very keen to put my bustier knowledge to good use – I alreay have another project in mind for the summer.

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• A floaty version of the B6018 vintage dress