When the sun finally started to shine my thoughts turned to summer and I dug out a pattern I have had for a while and some lovely ITY fabric I bought in a recent Minerva sale and thought I would make a holiday dress.

The pattern is the Judy dress from Notches Patterns. The pattern pieces for the front are unlike any I have seen before and one is enormously long as the belt section is not an addition but an integral part of the garment. Cutting out the ITY was as always a challenge especially since my pretty big table wasn't long enough to cut out the longest section and I struggled to support the dangling part and not let the fabric stretch. The instructions are well written but I needed to read through several times to work out exactly what I was supposed to do. My top tip would be make sure the fabric selected for this pattern has a definite right and wrong side as it will be even more confusing if you can't work out which way up the fabric goes and choose a fabric that you don't want to pattern match. It is really important too that the pattern to cut out precisely as the fit requires very exact placement of the seams.

Once I had got to grips with the construction, it was an easy make. I followed Jo's tips for sewing with ITY and invested in some iron on hem webbing which is a brilliant tip. I used maraflex thread and didn't overlocker the edges.

I am absolutely delighted with this dress. I have made a couple of Kielo wrap dresses and love them but am always a little irritated by the pook one gets at the side seams. I prefer this clever pattern. I love the V neck, the skirt is flattering, the bodice fits beautifully and ties are genius. All I need now is a holiday destination. This is the maxi length (I am 5ft 6ins). Would I buy it ? YES. and IT HAS POCKETS!! (oh, and I'm making it again in cotton lawn )

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