Attempting a Frankenpattern - the finale

Yes, this was supposed to be done a week ago. There's a perfectly good reason for that - but I've whined enough about the situation to everyone who'll listen to me, and honestly, even I'm a bit sick of all the whining. Let's just say - unlike most times - this time, I had a good excuse.

Re: the dress - whoa! I really need to learn to make French seams accurately. I think I take in more from the side-seams than I should. This dress is tight! Like, unwearable tight. (It might also be a sign to lay off the chips and chocolate, and re-acquaint myself with my gym. I will choose to blame the French seams instead.)

Anyway - I took photos wearing it, mostly because hanger shots are boring. I'm not going to wear it anytime soon - not until I lose 10 pounds or so. (And it is short! But I'm cool with that, though it makes it non-work-appropriate.)

I made the sleeve view on the right, as you can see. Greater coverage seemed desirable, seeing how skimpy the rest of this dress is.

Apart from learning that I need to double-check my French-seams, what else did I learn on this project?

1. Measure joining seams. As I mentioned before, the waist width on the top pattern is very different from the waist width on the skirt. About a minute with a tape measure would have revealed this to me, but I was too impatient to get cutting.
2. Experiment! Patterns are a guide. You can do what you want. I'm not an expert by any means (see the measuring thing above) but I've put together a skirt and a top, I know how to do that, so a Frankenpattern isn't actually any more work.

Edited to add: A BHAG update - this was all from stash. The black & white fabric I bought 2 years ago? at Walmart. I used some cream cotton voile lining that I bought in India in Feb, 2010, and some lace for the inside hem that I've had forever. I feel pretty good about this.