Progress- Finally!

So, after over a month of having this whole dress thing sit stagnant, progress was made today: I roped mum into this whole endeavor, and... *drumroll* found a lovely fabric for the outer dress!!

We went over to Hancock today (after having a great deal of dificulty finding the stupid store- it was only with my Mogul's help that we really did), and lo and behold, they had a WAAY supperior selection of upholstery fabs than JoAnn. I was in heaven, and probably spent waay too much time oggling at all the lovely fabrics. There was a 50% off sale on, conveniently enough, on most all of the decorator fabric, so I had my run of the place. what makes it even BETTER was where I found the piece i decided to purchase. After much digging by both me and mum, one of us finally unearthed this non-pretenious looking cotton thing. It's a brownish-gold back with red flowers on it. I know it doesn't sound like much, but the flowers are so terribly period, I couldn't resist! I'm planning on pairing it with a nice burgundy underskirt once it's all done.

So yes- I got fabric. Only problem is, it won't exactly match my fan, but oh well- how bad can it be, right? Maybe this will convince me that I must learn to make my own fans. As for other accessories... well, let's just say small steps, right? All I ended up getting today was the outer fabric (which was around $22... not bad for almost 5 yards!!): no underskirt fabric, no muslin, no trim, and certainly no grommits (which I, by the way, am having a devil of a time finding- eek!). But there is hope! With the fabric purchased, there's quite a lesser liklihood of this project ending up kaput due to lack of remembering: now all I have to do is work dress-making into the already hectic schedule of 2 jobs!!

~r