Black, white, beads, stripes

 

 The pattern: McCalls 6646 (bodice only. The skirt was improvised by me)

 The fabric: Striped polished cotton - 40's? 50's? Who can tell me?

The location - My new kitchen!

 I op-shopped this polished cotton years ago and have been holding on to it wondering what to do with it. I wanted to use it for something special because it is just so wonderful. Finally I got sick of it wasting away in my fabric stash and decided to just use it. Surely anything I made with it would end up looking fabulous?

 It has a lovely little floral print which I wanted to bring out with perhaps some red shoulder straps or blue bows at the front. I couldn't decide so I went with the red ribbon sash.

It's removable and and it works. I'm pretty sure some red, or blue, shoes would look nice too.

Here it is without the ribbon.

Hey look! Matching nails. That works, too.

I feel like I look uncomfortable in these pictures (I was actually having fun!). 

Or maybe I look heavier. Do I have more of a chin?

I don't know. Maybe it's just these photos. *bangs head on desk*

The backdrop here is a bead curtain hanging in my new kitchen, in the doorway which leads to the laundry. I have always wanted a bead curtain.

Oh, oh! And I FIXED MY HAIR. Ding dong, the green hair is GONE. I really didn't want to try purple again and have the green come back to haunt me, so I just went with good old black.

The shaved side is still pink. It's a bit brighter now. I'm going to grow it out, but I'll keep dyeing it pink as it grows.

But back to my dress. I should mention how I made the skirt.

I cut the cotton into several 22" lengths, which I then stitched together to make one long piece. I gathered one long edge and stitched this to the waist of the bodice. This makes a skirt which is quite full but not floaty like a circle skirt (ie more wind-resistant). I'm starting to really love skirts like this because they can be made as gathered (or not) as one prefers.

Twirl, twirl.

The end.