How about some pictures?

Up first - me wearing the TNT plaid sheath dress with the matching cardigan:

The dress alone:

Next, me in the cardigan/top and pants:

And here is the newest dress and the second piece in my SWAP Collection, "Midnight in the Oasis!"

This dress is made from my TNT dress pattern...well it's a SWAP collection people and the best way to get it finished is to combine a little old with the new! *LOL*

Some stats:

Pattern: 
TNT Dress Pattern

Fabric:
Wool/lycra blend from Fabric.com's Ralph collection

Notions:
22" zipper

Construction Tidbits:
1.  I drew new pattern pieces of the front and back of my TNT dress pattern to make a center front & side front piece and a center back & back side piece.  These pieces were used to make the princess seams in the dress front and back.  I left the dart  on the side front piece so that I would get a good bustline fit.

2.  I started sewing with the back pieces first and put the zipper in.  I only had a regular zipper so I used the center back application.

3.  I sewed the back side pieces onto the center back and pressed the seams toward the zipper.

4.  Next I sewed the center front pieces together leaving an opening from the neckline 5" from the top.

5.  Then I stitched the side fronts to the center front piece.

6.  The center front seams were pressed open and flat, the side front princess seams were pressed towards the center front piece.  I then topstitched the entire piece using the triple stitch feature on my machine stitching from top to bottom to ensure smooth lines.

7.  I also topstitched the bust darts.

8.  The back piece was then topstitched but as I topstitched around the zipper, I noticed the seams pulled away from the zipper.  It was a kewl affect so I kept it.

9.  The sleeve hems were pressed up and topstitching was added to the sleeve hems.

10.  The dress was then assembled as usual ~ shoulder seams and side seams sewn together.

11.  Instead of facings for the neckline...this dress is unlined...I made one inch bias binding from the fabric and used it to finish the neckline.  The binding was then handstitched to the body of the dress.

12.  The hem was also handstitched down.

Some more info:
I loved working with this fabric.  Even though fabric.com says that it is 96% wool and 4% lycra - the fabric had a very stretchy, spongy hand.  I used the topstitching to create vertical lines for a slimming appearance and to mimic the pinstripe fabric that will be used in several other pieces in the collection.

Originally I thought to add a lining to just the top of the dress, however, I settled on binding the neckline.  The fabric was very stretchy and I was concerned about using a regular rayon lining in the dress...plus the fabric is kinda dense so it doesn't really need the additional layer.

Even though the topstitching was time consuming and it took some time to find just the right shade of tan...I sewed slowly because this is the first time that I used this stitch on the Janome 6600...I also had to make several samples to get the tension just right.  However, I'm glad I added it to the dress.  It makes the seams pop!

This is the second piece in my SWAP collection.  Both dresses will go with the jacket that I plan on making from Vogue 8623:

I feel like I'm right on track for getting my plan finished.  I'm making the more complicated pieces first then I will make the bottoms followed by the tops...and as always, more later!