"The Dress" (part 2)

After looking at the local fabric store and seeing their limited selection, I decided I would need to order the fabric online. I have a full time job and the weekends were full so I was unable to go to Dallas, Austin or Houston to the larger fabric stores. Maggie Grmela recommended http://www.fabric.com/. Great suggestion!

I found the satin I wanted. Medium weight duchess white satin. I was not sure that medium weight was correct. But light weight would not have worked with the dress Sarah wanted. Since the skirt had folds that would need to keep their place, light weight just would not do. Same thing with heavy weight. I was afraid that the heavy weight fabric would not drape the way we needed it to.

Now this is where it gets scary. How much do I order??? The fabric was reasonably priced but I did not want to order too much and I certainly would not want to run out. Luckily, the fabric I chose was a fabric that the website said that much was available and is always on hand. The Vogue pattern called for 10 yards of fabric with a different lining fabric. But I knew that I would have to line it with the same fabric since the folds of the skirt would be turned out. Also, because the panels of the skirts would be much larger to allow for the folds, I guessed 20 yards at least. Then, if time allowed, I wanted to make a detachable train. Another 10 yards? What if I made a mistake cutting the fabric? After considering all of this, I ordered 35 yards on October 5, 2011.

With the fabric ordered, I turned my attention to the embroidery and bead design. Sarah wanted the design just along the neckline. Thank goodness! I would never have been able to do any more before mid-November. Like most brides, Sarah did not want Kevin to see “the dress” but she did want his input. Keep in mind that Kevin knows that all I made lately are Czech costumes. So, I think he was getting a little worried about what kind of dress I would make. Understandably so! In Nebraska, Sarah wore all of her kroje. So he saw first hand how really pretty they are, but let's get real, that kind of a dress would be a bit out there for a wedding. No worries!

We assured Kevin that, though Sarah's dress was shaping up to be original and very unique, it would not look like her Czech costumes. So, as I looked for embroidery designs I wanted something that I would be able to do in a short amount of time, did NOT look like embroidery from a costume and something that was more in keeping with the design. The only way I can describe the dress is classically elegant. I gave Sarah several choices for a design but the one she chose (not surprisingly) came from a vintage embroidery book I had ordered a year or so ago. The design was for a simple summer dress but when Swarovski crystals, pearls and beads were added it would be perfect! See the photos for the design but the photo was taken on a practice dress and is not the fabric I used.

The only other suggestion Kevin had was that he did not want it so “bunchy” that they could not dance. No problem. Sarah and I secretly knew that if we could, somehow, make the dress she wanted, it would be perfect for dancing...especially for the Grand March and polkas!

I made a practice dress (not fully put together) to see if I could get the folds of the skirt correctly. I took the pattern pieces for each panel and added, what I can only refer to as, 'wings”. Making the practice dress really helped. Even though I did not have time to finish it like I should have, at least I could get the skirt panels correct.

When the fabric arrived, I could not wait to get home from work to open it. It was absolutely perfect. I rolled it out on the table and thought...”now what?”
To be continued tomorrow...