I managed to do some sewing last month, and made this tea dress. I really liked this fabric print, but could not decide what kind of dress style to make it in. I settled on something similar to a "vintage" Laura Ashley dress. This is from a Simplicity costume pattern (The numbers have changed from the pattern I have, but it is the one with the colonial, pilgrim and pioneer gown.) and was easy to make.
I like the look of an invisible zipper better than the regular kind, but it takes me a few times to get them in:) Just in case you were wondering, the dress is not really floor length, it is the short dress form that makes it look that way.
I used piping for the first time on one of my dresses. I had a color-coordinated fabric I wanted to use, but could not find the cord in my stash that one puts in piping. So I took white piping I had in a package, and covered it. I used a method of applying piping that I saw on Sewing with Martha, which is to baste the piping on the seam first, so it does not go crooked or disappear into the seam as you sew.