Thanks so much for all the great feedback on my post this morning!! :D I thought I'd share some close-ups so you can see the fabric & details better. I got the fabric at JoAnn's, and the pattern I used was this one from BurdaStyle. I just downloaded it and printed the pdf at home!
Also, I have to say to anyone who left a comment saying they wished they could do this.. YOU CAN! I can't even count how many times my needles have broken, or my thread snapped in the middle of a project, or I accidentally sewed something together backwards or inside out. And 90% of the sewing patterns and instructions I've read might as well have been gibberish.. it's like a foreign language to me. Of all of the things I've ever tried to learn, this was definitely the hardest, and absolutely took the most perseverance on my part. But I am SO glad I stuck with it! I'm more proud of this simple little dress than I am of my drawings and paintings, just because it was so hard for me to figure out. So I guess my point is .. if sewing seems really difficult, just keep trying! I never in a million years thought I'd conquer my sewing machine, so if *I* can do it.. you can definitely do it! :)