Where I live, spring is nowhere near warm enough to wear cute dresses.  Or at least I'm not crazy/dedicated to fashion enough to shed my jeans and long-sleeved tees just quite yet.  
Two things led me to this dress.  First, I was originally inspired to make a dress like Suzannah from Adventures in Dressmaking's grey engagement dress.  When I went to my local fabric store, I found out they were closing .  Sad, but I got to pick up some cheap patterns    I used Simplicity 2579, view B, and adjusted the waistband so it was thinner and less curved.  I also had to add about 2 inches to the shoulder strap length.  I seem to have this problem often!
It's just broadcloth.  The top is lined with self fabric, and the bottom is unlined.  I didn't have the correct colour zipper, so thats why the back looks terrible.  I plan to rip it out and insert an invisible zipper once I buy one.



I plan on using this pattern again, using nicer fabric.  I don't like how the bodice has so many gathers, so next time I'll try to adjust the pattern to decrease the amount of fabric up there.  

Edited to add better pics. And to say that I did fix the zipper, but didn't take pics of that:
This is how I styled it the other day (and didn't even freeze to death!)

I love your flower poofs!  To me, they add an air of whimsy and magic!

I usually use either broadcloth or an old bedsheet for lining.  However, I find that when these are used for lining skirts, they cling and bunch a bit when I walk.  In that case, the polyester lining fabrics would have the advantage!

I made an apron for my friend's bday which is coming up this weekend.  Since it was a gift, I wanted to make it look nicer than something I would wear myself.  I used the front bodice pattern piece from McCalls M5094 and the front skirt pattern piece from the Coffee-date Dress. 


Close-up of the top

Usually my clothing items are pretty unfinished on the inside.  However, this time I even covered all raw seams!  I was lazy, so I just ironed on hem tape.  I like the result, cause it gives the waistband some stiffness.

I read on a blog the suggestion of printing customized ribbon and cutting that to use as tags.  Here's the post: http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2010/10/finer-ribbon-personalized-ribbon-and.html

This dress is what I would wear if I was in the glee-universe.  I got the fabric from a garage sale for $2.  I used McCalls M5094 view D.  I've made this pattern before here: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=308237.  That version was a bit loose and the straps kept on falling down, so this time I went down a few sizes, and I'm happy to say that this fixed the strap issue!

Here's the photos!

I bought a $3 plain black bikini top from Walmart that I was hoping to stencil/paint a small design on.  Is there any specific things I should know about painting spandex?  The bikini top itself won't be stretching much when I wear it, so removing stretch by painting shouldn't be too much of an issue.  Do I have to use fabric paint?  Or would acrylic paint suffice?

Thanks!!!

Great dress!   Your colours are so much nicer than the original!

for the hem, you could do something like this tutorial here:
http://www.burdastyle.com/techniques/how-to-hem-a-circle-skirt
I usually hem my circle skirts in that manner, but I just use my regular sewing foot througout the whole process.

WOW! you've certainly been prolific!  I love them all!  If I had to choose, I'd choose the 3rd one - it's both classy and cute at the same time!

Great job!  It looks very well put together!  I would've never guessed that it was easy to make