I already posted this on Facebook, but in order to become a good blogger I will, from now on, concentrate on posting pictures here first! Go me!
My goal was to create this dress for less than $20. I picked Simplicity pattern 3545
I picked a beautiful brocade fabric in olive green and gold. It also has some plum colored accents (Aeris is obsessed with purple). I picked a purple lining. Doesn’t really match, but I knew that it would make her very happy. Plus you can’t see the lining anyways, unless you lift the skirt.
I’m not a big fan of making pleats, but these were easy and quick to make.
I found this white lace to add to the sleeves. It’s 6 inches wide and pre-ruffled (is that a word? It is now!! lol). I didn’t like that the lace was white, so I decided to dye with coffee for an aged look. To do this, you want to brew a nice, strong and big cup of coffee as you normally would. I don’t have a lot of fabric to dye, so one cup is enough for my project. You want to make sure that all of your fabric is submerged in the coffee, to get an even look. Personally, I don’t care if it turns out perfect, a few spots will just add to the charm.
I let the lace soak for a good 10 minutes, rinsed with cold water and thought it was still a bit too white, so back into the coffee bath for another 10 minutes.
The result is a lovely, grandma-looking piece of lace 
I cut the lace in two pieces so I could use the smaller part for a matching doll dress.
Total time to make this dress was about 4 hours. It worked on it for a week, a little bit here and there. Now let’s see how much I spent:
Pattern – $1.99
on sale at JoAnn’s
Brocade Fabric – $14
On sale for 60% off (regular price $9.99).
Got 3.5 yards (will make a doll dress from the leftovers)
Lace – $2.15
Hobby Lobby, 1 yard for $3.59 (used a 40% off coupon)
Trim – $1
8 ft for $1.99 , was on sale for 50% off
Zipper – $0.95
normal price $1.59, used 40% off coupon
Fabric Flower – $1.49
Hobby Lobby, regular price $2.99, on sale for 50% off
Total Cost: $21.58
I went a little over my budget, but not too bad. And this is the end result: she basically lost her mind when she saw it!
