This little a-line dress is super cute - much cuter than the pattern envelope suggests. It's easy - took me about 2 hours from cutting out the pattern to finishing the hem & pressing. Very fast & I love fast patterns that look good.

I made the dress out of a silk charmeuse, but that is definitely not a beginner fabric. I pretty much hate sewing with charmeuse. It's slippery and slidey - not fun. Even so, I managed this dres in 2 hours.

Today, I'm making one out of a lovely iridescent cotton chambray. This fabric has a very similar feel to voile. I'd say it's more like a double layer voile, but definitely lighter than typical quilting cotton weight. It's by Robert Kaufman and is the Carolina Chambray line. It's not so much that it's iridescent as that it is a shot cotton so you get the iridescence (darker thread woven through the base color). You can buy it at equilter or other online shops by "googling."