Is your soil sand, silt or clay? Acid or alkaline? Sun or shade? Flat or sloped? What color socks are you wearing?

OK, maybe we don't need that last one.

The general technique for planting a lawn, starting from where you are, is to spread 4 inches of compost / rotted manure, till that in 4 to 6 inches, smooth, spread your grass seed, and then, if you lived where I do and your could get some aspen wood excelsior rolls, or spread out some straw to help stabilize the soil surface so all the seed doesn't wash off, and water until the grass has germinated.

Weeds in a new lawn happen. The best advice I've heard is for the first year, just mow them down to keep them under control. Second year, and depending on what weeds you have and how much lawn, pull them or spray them.

The pine needles are not a problem in the soil. To get that soil into the good, healthy condition that grasses need to grow strong and healthy contact your county office of the Washington State University USDA Cooperative Extension Service about having a good, reliable soil test done so you know what that soils pH and base nutrient levels are and what to do to correct any problem areas adn also dig in with these simple soil tests,
1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer you soil will smell.

5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.
to se what else might need be done to make that soil into a good, healthy soil.

Here is a link that might be useful: WSU CES

The lawn forum is also a good place for your question given your ultimate goal. If your area is like where I am, you wont be seeding until fall. I'm suspecting your dry soil is due at least partly to the layer of plastic (someone's idea of a weed barrier I guess -- as ironic as that sounds amid english ivy). I suspect you can get away with the pine needles although really large clumps of them can slow down grass a bit from what I have casually observed. If concerned you could rake off whatever pine needles are loose and easy to remove and leave the rest. While you wait out the summer you may as well germinate the weeds but kill them before they go to seed. Some people even scratch up the soil to intentionally germinate more weeds -- sort of a preemptive strike against the weed seeds (if you are in the suburbs your neighbors might get annoying about this however). It is also likely that a few bits of english ivy escaped your first attack so a few follow ups for that will probably be in order before seeding time as well.