Another garment sewn and photographed many months ago was this Style Arc Monty dress for my Mum.

The fabric is Japanese linen from The Cloth Shop. This fabric was a joy to sew. I even have enough of it left for one more garment, possibly a top for me 😉 I really like fabrics where the warp and weft are different colours; it gives them more dimension, even though the fabric reads as a solid from a distance.

From the Style Arc website: This is a two in one pattern. Both patterns share the deep yoke, extended shoulder line, neat revere collar and pocket flaps. The easy fit button through dress has side splits and falls below the knee. Wear it with sneakers for a casual look or high heel pump for a more formal occasion. The square shaped shirt has all the details of the dress and is the new length which sits on the high hip. FABRIC SUGGESTION Linen, crepe, silk, rayon.

I sewed Mum the size 16, which is pretty much the size she’d buy in the shops. Mum is around my height but doesn’t like her hemlines short, so I didn’t shorten the dress at all (I possibly would have if I were sewing it for myself).

I’m just going to take out a moment to point out the perfection of my buttonholes. My sewing machine is old – I got it for my 21st – and the buttonholes are a manual four-step buttonhole. After all this time the machine and I operate as one being! These are spot on!

And that’s a good thing, because there are ten buttonholes in this dress. I really like the way that they are paired together – nice thinking, Style Arc! I sewed the vintage buttons on with the sewing machine as well, using double-sided tape to secure them in place before stitching.

This dress is perfect for the hot weather in the country town Mum lives in – although this summer wasn’t especially hot in the end!

There are handy in-seam pockets in the sides; the pocket flaps on the bodice front are just for show. And most of us don’t put anything in boob pockets anyway! The side splits allow for ease of movement. I reckon that this dress looks terrific on Mum.