Today, for DIY Thursday, we are featuring a Guy Laroche pattern from Vogue Designer Patterns constructed in the Alabama Chanin style. I never had the chance to meet Guy Laroche, nor have I met the house’s current artistic director, Marcel Marongiu, but I admire their focus on impeccable tailoring. Laroche’s collections once featured billowing empire line dresses; the pattern that we chose to adapt combines the flowing nature of those garments with their famous tailoring skills.

Because this garment was dressier than some of our other Vogue Pattern adaptations, we only made a basic version. We think it is spectacular without embellishment. However, it would be gorgeous with some beading around the neckline or the hem. Either way, this dress is perfect for any upcoming holiday parties.

To make your own basic Guy Laroche à la Alabama Chanin dress:

Supplies

Guy Laroche Vogue Pattern #V1240
3 yards of 60”-wide 100% organic medium-weight cotton jersey
1 spool Button Craft thread

Basic sewing supplies: fabric scissors, pins, needles, ruler, rotary cutter, Alabama Stitch Book, Alabama Studio Style or Alabama Studio Sewing + Design: All three of these books contain the basic sewing and embroidery techniques we used to make our version of this dress.

For this pattern, we chose to omit the zipper, hook and eye, and snaps, since our fabric provides enough stretch to simply slip the dress over your head. Otherwise, follow the Vogue Designer Pattern instructions exactly as written for everything but the armhole finishing, using a single strand of thread on our Alabama Chanin cotton jersey. We omitted the lining of the dress, as our fabric is substantial enough that a lining is unnecessary. We felled our seams for the dress above, but that is a matter of taste and desired style.

For the neckline and armholes, we applied our standard Alabama Chanin rib-binding with Cretan stitch, but any stretchable embroidery stitch (such as cross-stitch or herringbone stitch) will work as well.  Leave hem raw.

Design Choices

Fabric weight – 100% organic medium-weight cotton jersey
Fabric color – Black
Button Craft thread– Black #2
Knots – When you start and finish a length of thread, double-knot on the inside of the garment.
Binding Stitch – Cretan Stitch (This is the stitch used to sew the rib-binding at the armholes.)