Retro dress

My neighborhood was having a big garage sale and I stumbled upon this roll of fabric for 25 cents.  I loved the pattern, and the fabric was light and silky so I instantly knew that this was going to be a new dress.

So this dress is actually a top and a skirt, that can be worn separately or together.  Originally, I was going to make it a single dress, but the pattern is so vibrant that I figured it would be nice to be able to pair the skirt with a more neutral top, or the top with a simple black skirt.  Plus, multi-functionality/multi-wearability is also a plus.

I have no step by step directions since I basically free handed the whole thing, but here's approximately what I did....

* For the cropped shirt, I laid it next to an existing shirt and cut the shoulders and sleeves approximately to wear the cutoff was.  I then folded in all of the edges and did a double stitch.

*For the skirt, I took about 1.5x the number of fabric I had taken for the shirt.  I then folded in the edges on the bottom and did a double stitch.  I then took elastic, measured and cut it according to my waistline.  I then folded the top over about half and inch (enough to fit the elastic in) and stitched it down.  Then, attaching the elastic to a pencil, I strung it through the waistband.  Finally, I sewed the elastic and the two sides together to make the final skirt. 

Put the two together + chunky belt = retro/warhol inspired dress!  The best part is that it's a skirt, top, and dress!  All for 25 cents.