Second dress ever: Surprise 60's magic

I found this pattern thrift shopping and picked it up for a whopping $0.69. I don't generally do an empire waist but found a great neutral animal print for $5/yard and thought it might take it down a few notches on the sweetometer.

And OH MY did it. I could not love this dress more if it bought me dinner and read me e.e. cumming in a bubble bath. I've been wearing it more mod with thick black tights and flats but this day I wore it with my favourite suede boots and some lacy tights and tried for a more Haight-Ashbury vibe.

It was pretty easy to make. I serged all of the seams since it was a weird unravelly polyester (which normally I would have avoided but the pattern called to me and it doesn't feel that bad on the skin). The only real snag (besides how easily the fabric would actually snag if I wasn't careful) was my interfacing. I'm lucky in my hood to have access to an envy-inducing amount of fabric stores and I'm blessed to have a little sewing supply place basically around the corner from my apartment. Since I've never used interfacing before I didn't know what to ask for. So I ended up with a non-fusible interfacing that was way too heavy for this lightweight fabric. Rather than go back to the store I figured I'd use it and see what happened. The obvious happened. The neckline is way too stiff, not so much that it looks bad but I notice it when I'm wearing it. Lesson learned. Buy the correct weight of interfacing.

Either way, this lady was super easy to make and makes me happy every time I put it on. Not bad results for my second effort sewing from a pattern! 

Self portraits in the sample room at work. Plastic laminates make the best backdrop I think you'll agree.

Pattern: Simplicity 7245
Total Cost (including notions): $15
Time to Make: 12 hours