1960s dress for fall

I haven't been feeling great and therefore haven't been very productive for the last several weeks, but I've finally gotten back into some sewing and am nearly finished with the 1960s dress I started ages ago. I have gotten a bit farther than is shown in the pictures, but it gives you an idea at least. I hope to have the dress finished by tomorrow so I can wear it for a brunch and movie date with my wonderful Mr. S. He's got the day off and we haven't gotten to go out in a month so we're going to make a day of it tomorrow. We are planning on going to see Lincoln and from what I've heard it should be a good film. It's hard to lose with Daniel Day-Lewis. Anyway, back to the dress. 

Just a reminder, this is the pattern I'm using. 

I'm making the full skirted version (as you can see), but will be using the three-quarter jacket sleeves instead of the short sleeves, to make it more winter appropriate. I have also dropped the back neckline into a shallow "v". I like the look of the high front neckline with a lower back neckline (in case you haven't noticed). The fabric came from a friend's mother's stash. She passed away and they gifted us with a lot of her fabric when they were cleaning out her house a few years ago. It was all very nice wool, much of it vintage pendleton. She also left notes on a lot of the fabric telling how much she paid, what year, etc. This particular yardage is a lovely, lightweight wool with a beautiful hand. It was 54 inches wide and I had about 3.5 yards of it. She bought it in 1994. It was originally priced at $40/yard, but she got it for 60% off (and I got it for free!). The colors are a bit different than much of what I have in my wardrobe, which is nice, but they work well enough that it will still coordinate with my sweaters and jackets. 

I have taken a lot more care with finishing on this dress than I tend to usually. Partially because I felt the fabric deserved it, but it also tends to be a bit ravely and I wanted to be sure that all of my seams were enclosed. I made french seams in the bodice and skirt, and bound the waist seam and the back skirt closure with self bias binding and was very careful in tacking down my facings and so forth.

I had just enough of this peachy-orange lace hem tape in my stash to finish the hem as well. Not only did it save me a little extra pressing, but I also like having it as a fun, hidden accent on my dressier garments.

The skirt wasn't attached yet here, but I now have that attached, the zipper, hooks, thread loops and snaps installed in the center back closure, and have finished the waist seam as well. All I have left to do is make and attach the sleeves and it's all set!

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend!