Success!

I finished my dress today. I'm really happy with how it turned out. It still needs to be pressed, but here are a few sneak peeks: (ignore the big fat crease down the center that needs to be pressed out and the yuck end-of-the-day hair)

The pattern called for a bow to be sewn right in front, but I decided to make a belt instead. I like belts. They cut my abnormally long lines in half and add some horizontal interest. Also, I hate bows.

The dress was made from a 1960s Simplicity pattern I found on rustyzipper.com. I used some awesome Japanese import fabric I got at (of all places) JoAnn's. I had fallen in love with the fabric online some time ago, but couldn't stomach $12/yd. I was crazy excited to find it at JoAnn's. I used a 40% off coupon for the first 3 yards, and I got 3/4 of a yard for 75% off, because it was the end of the bolt. Now I have all of these yummy left-overs for bibs.

The pattern had optional sleeves, but they were ugly, so I went with the sleeveless version. A pretty crocheted shrug I had works just fine, I think.