20 January

Caught up after this one!  Hooray!

I've nearly decided not to do the interlining - or at least not the boning.  As I cut the neckline, I don't have to worry about my underwear showing, and the dress is fairly form-fitting and structured, even in a toile.  I definitely don't need the boning.  I may still put in the underlining, just to add stability, though.

I purchased all my materials today!  This was exciting, although also a bit overwhelming as I spent more than I have on any other single garment I've made.  Less, though, than I would have spent to purchase a similar gown, so I'm still glad I'm making it!  

The fabrics - velvet on the bottom, lining to the right and netting at the top.  They really are all black!

List of supplies:

black velvet, 100% cotton - about 11 yards.  (It was in two lengths, each about 5.75 yards, and I don't anticipate needing all the yardage, but better safe than sorry and I can always make something else with the remainder.)

lining fabric - 8 yards 

black netting - 6 yards

black thread - one very large reel

7 yards black lace hem tape/facing

20" invisible zipper

I'll use some ribbon I already posess to bind the netting, and already have the stiff cotton for interlining.

Just for fun - the earrings I'll wear with the dress! They are much more "sparkly" in real life, but my lighting was bad.

I'm off to pre-wash the fabric (100% cotton=machine washable, hooray!)  That will probably be all for today, since I'll line-dry the velvet and I anticipate that taking quite a while.  But tomorrow I should be able to cut everything out!

(I ran a line of zig-zag stitching along each raw edge of the velvet before washing, as I didn't want it to fray away too much - this seems to have been effective as it survived the washer quite nicely!)