Summer sewing has begun

I used to have a couple empire waist dresses that I wore in the summer. They were flowy, comfortable, had pockets, and could be worn with sandals. I loved those dresses. They're a) too big and b) long since given away. I set out to find a similar pattern and found a fun one by McCall's:

McCall's 8249 from 1996, which is when I had the two dresses mentioned above. 

I bought three runs of fabric, so I want to make the dresses each a little different. My first dress is made of extremely lightweight fabric. It probably wouldn't hold up to buttonholes, so I decided to cut both the front and the back on the fold and made some bias tape for the neckline rather than a facing. I rarely use a facing; I'll line and item or make bias to either surround the raw edge or apply it and turn it to the wrong side and hand sew it on the inside.

I added a wide trim to the center front and used some of the bias tape I had made to weave through the holes rather than using ribbon. 

This shows the neckline a little better. 

Next, I will do the sleeves, apply the pockets to the skirt, and then attach the skirt to the bodice. I think I'm going to like this dress a lot! More to come.