Usually I don't make dresses out of quilting fabric, because the weight and drape are wrong, but I wanted to use this for a dress, so I lined the entire thing in a lush Irish linen. The double layer makes this a winter dress - you'd boil in it in the summertime - so I decided to call it a Christmas dress.
I used New Look 0980 and I was surprised by how fitted the dress was. I was actually scared to use the 5/8" seam allowances as called for, because the pieces looked tiny at the waist and I thought the dress might not fit. In the end I used 1/2" and then had to take a further 1/4" in, so the pattern is actually spot on. The torso is super long though -- this happens to me on every New Look pattern -- so I had no choice but to take up the shoulders after the dress was constructed, changing the shape of the neckline, but oh well, now the dress fits. I might wear it tonight at our primary school parent's Christmas party. I need to find some nude heels first though! Shopping at lunchtime, perhaps?
I also changed the ribbon detail from the pattern -- because it was really a pain to get the ribbon to line up perfectly across the sides and the zipper - and just used a single strip of ribbon as a faux belt.
Let me know what you think!