Vogue 1239‘s instructions have 67 steps. That’s not a typo. 67. I have been sewing it for over a week, and I’m now on step 39, which still seems like a long way from the end. The first part is particularly slow. I was sewing lots of seams together but no dress seemed to be emerging until step 17, when the pile of strangely-shaped rags I’d been wrestling with suddenly developed sleeves. At that point it looked scarily child-sized. I wondered if I’d somehow cut the smallest size (a 6) instead of a 10. I rushed off to try it on and was quite surprised to find I fitted into it. On checking the tissue I found I had cut a 10, so it must be some sort of optical illusion that makes it look so tiny.

Despite all the complaining, I think this one is going to be well worth it if I get to the end without disaster. This is by no means assured as the pattern’s turning out to be above my current ability level so far, and this review I’ve found of it online reckons finishing the sleeves is seriously tricky.

But the shape is lovely. The large sleeves are dramatic but feel comfortable. It has pockets. This is a seriously good dress. So I’ll keep plugging away and hopefully get there in the end. 28 to go!