If there’s a dress that epitomises my summer it’s this one!

The Holmen dress by new-to-me pattern company The Uncut Project immediately caught my eye. I love the loose gathered dress look (still!) but in particular I loved the skinny straps and low back. I’ve become a bit obsessed with everything backless at the mo – I think I’m just embracing any reason to not wear a bra!

The dress comes in two tiers or just one if you’re making the top version. The upper part of the bodice fits close to the body and stays snug with a ribbon tie closure at the back with the first tier swooping down in the back. The dress/ too can be fully or partially lined.

Despite my overall love for the pattern design, there was always one thing that bothered me in other people’s version and that was the length of the first tier. I felt it was a bit too long in the body and looked disproportionate. As someone with a short waist I think I’m quite sensitive to this ratio! To combat this, I shortened the bodice at the centre front by 5cm and graded to nothing at the sides. I knew this would shorten the skirt at the front unless I compensated for it but I wasn’t too bothered about that for now.

I originally planned to make one in a floral cotton lawn but remembered I had a bright lemon yellow seersucker from Self Made (previously Stoff & Stil) in the stash that might just be perfect for this pattern!

My measurements landed me in the middle of two sizes and I chose to size up as it could always be tightened to fit with the tie at the back. I used a white cotton lawn as the lining and only partially lined the skirt.

Getting the straps all the right place to sew up was a little fiddly but otherwise it was a pretty straightforward make! The back “bum” gathers are held in place by a ribbon sewn into the lining as a stay tape and I added some pockets for good measure.

You can see in the side on shot that the front is slightly shorter than the back. Honestly it’s not noticeable at all at this mid calf length but if I made it again I’d probably correct it just to be pedantic about things.

I might love this dress so much just because it goes so well with my Cecilie Bahnsen inspired shoe DIY! I love it when things come together by coincidence like this!