one dress, three ways (part one)

back in july, i saw this outfit on atlantic-pacific and was immediately smitten with the blue and white striped dress. the dress itself (from asos) was more than i wanted to pay, but so, so cool. i figured i could probably make something similar, so i set out to the fabric store and found this vogue pattern. it is a bit different than the original inspiration, but i love it. i unfortunately couldn't find fabric exactly like i wanted (who knew stripes were so hard to track down!?), but i found a fairly similar striped print at mary jo's fabric in gastonia (a fabric mecca for all you sewers and crafters out there) and set to work.

 this was my first time sewing something on my own, without my mom's expert sewing help. i kept her around for questions and to make sure i was doing things correctly, but i'm proud to say that with only a few minor meltdowns, i made this pretty little dress all by myself! the pattern was relatively simple, although, i will say the skirt is a full circle of fabric (which was a lot to deal with), and the bodice is fully lined. i altered it a bit to make the ties double-sided (originally they were just supposed to be hemmed, but i thought that would look ugly) and i used fusible interfacing instead of the sew-on stuff, which is so much simpler. i sewed a size 10 (i always sew a size or two above my regular dress size to allow for changes if needed) and it was pretty spot-on with a few minor seam allowance adjustments for fit.

one of things i love about this dress is its versatility. i purposefully made the dress longer than the original asos one a)because i wanted to layer it up for work in the future (assuming i actually get a job someday) and b)because the high waist and fullness of the skirt made the dress look overly sweet and  juvenile when i pinned it up higher. i've already worn it several different ways, and grabbed some photos of three separate looks to share. i love easy, machine washable dresses that can be fancy, casual, or professional with the right styling.

so anyway, look one is rather simple. which is what i prefer when it is 100 degrees outside. this dress requires no bra (hooray!) and looks super with a flat pair of sandals or my tall espadrilles.  it's so easy and pulled together and i seriously can't stop wearing it....

dress: self-made (pattern: $3.99 on sale at hancock fabric, fabric and supplies: ~$30.00)
shoes: target
straw tote: talbots via goodwill
earrings: rugged warehouse
bracelets: forever 21, jcrew via piccolo antique mall, yard sale
watch: men's pulsar

definitely stay tuned the rest of this week for looks two and three!!!

side note... this dress also looks fairly awesome with a mustache. i'm just saying.