I recently bought the latest men’s edition of la Maison Victor magazine and Mark chose four patterns that he thought he would like. I began by making the Jeff trousers, as I was a bit inspired by Andrew’s tap pants.
They are pretty straightforward, but have interesting design details. The front legs are divided into three horizontal sections and the back legs have two vertical sections. There are big pockets at the front and two back pockets. They have a faux fly and a knit waistband with drawstring.
I treated the first pair as a toile as I wasn’t sure of the sizing. I used some brown cotton drill with a tiny bit of stretch. I thought about that stretch but decided it wouldn’t be much of a problem.
Making the trousers was pretty easy. They went together brilliantly, all the notches lined up and I was enjoying doing all the topstitching and watching them come together. I basically had them finished all bar the knit waistband before I could persuade Mark to stop working and try them on. They swamped him! I had made them according to his measurements, and don’t know if it was the stretch, but I suspect not.
Unpicking commenced. I took in the centre back seam 3cms and ran in the inside legs a smidge. They are still too big, but I can just about live with it.
Needless to say Mark is thrilled and they are now his trousers of choice for walking and shopping.
I asked him to show the waistband and it took a few photos to capture it without showing his stomach, although he has an enviably flat stomach, I didn’t think you’d all want to see it!
The back is now much better
Having made the trousers and found them such a success, I decided to make the Isaac t-shirt. Whilst the trousers were too big, I know that Mark is deceptive at the top and I went for a larger size for the t-shirt.
The t-shirt also has some nice design lines, providing a good opportunity for colour blocking and scrap busting. 
Again I considered this t-shirt a toile, but thought I’d check the pattern against the normal t-shirt pattern I use for him before cutting it out. I noticed that the armscyes were really short. I scratched my head a bit as I felt I needed to add a lot. I checked the photos of the t-shirt in the magazine and could see bunching under the arms on the model. Hmm. I added 5cms to the front and back armscyes, which was simple and then had to add 5cms to the sleeve cap, which is not quite so straightforward. I took a deep breath and cut out the t-shirt using some lovely grey cotton knit from Morrison, a local designer who sells off surplus fabric a couple of times a year.
When I did a test try on when it was basically tacked together, Mark was delighted and told me that he wanted to wear it to go shopping half an hour later. No pressure then! Here he is in the finished t-shirt and the now ubiquitous Jeff trousers about to head off to buy me food.
There is no bunching under the arms, and the fit is perfect. I’m going to have to shoehorn him out of this ensemble if I ever want to launder it.
Both patterns are really nice, and have the good patternmaking I have come to expect from this magazine. I am off to trace off the shirt pattern now!
What a great outfit! He really is a lucky man!
Yes, the tshirt has quite a high, tight sleeve, but I’ve got scrawny arms so that seems to suit me 😅! It’s great to see Mark in his Jeffs – I should try them again, maybe I’ll size down but definitely try a lighter fabric than my last denim!
Thank you Andrew. I really wanted to try a canvas pair, so I’m interested in your comment. Now I’m wondering whether the original pattern would have fitted Mark, but I might leave well enough alone now!
Well they look great on him!
A linen pair for holidays would be nice 👍
These look fabulous and can understand how you will need to steal them to launder.
They look great , I have this issue, you have inspired me to make something out of it.. What size do you think the pants ended up being? My hubby looks similar size, he is a 30-32 in rtw.
I would go at least a small. These were medium. I have made another pair in small but they are for Christmas so he hasn’t tried them on yet!
Thanks for your review. Im just cutting these out for my husband and he is also a similar size (30 – 32 in rtw). I’ll start with small and see how he goes.
Yes, I think that’s a good plan. My husband won’t let me go any smaller, but I think I could!
Both garments look great. The easy way to get those ones to launder is to make more 😂
P.S. I’m not showing The Management this post!
I have lots more planned. I am going to make him a dozen of these tee shirts!
PS, I’d keep the post away from The Management too!
😂😂😂
A great looking outfit. LMV always designs great looking patterns for men.
I am so impressed with this magazine. I like all the designs so there will be more made!
Soooo La Maison Victor lives up to its reputation! I must say these two designs are very attractive – unlike generic tees or drawstring pull-on trousers – and they both look fantastic on Mark. I would now be inclined to buy their magazine should I find it somewhere in Montréal.
The whole book is fabulous. I’m about to make the shirt and then I’m going to make a couple of things for me. Try to find it quickly as I think there is a new edition coming out and this one will disappear. Let me know if you can’t find it as our newsagent has it and I can get Archie to post it from the US for you.
I will first search every magazines stands in Montréal and let you know if I can find it! Thank you xxx
Be quick, the next edition is due out!