Instant Gratification

I am looking for some natural-fiber velveteen or velvet to replace my dusty plum (which had unintended one-way stretch) for a new English gown I need to make asap. So, maybe someone out there in lj-land has seen some for a decent price.

I am picky about color but not limited to one or another. I want something that isn't super common, so no jewel-tone burgundy, blue, emerald, etc. It has to go with black and ivory fixin's, i.e. I have black passementerie for trim, black silk-satin & black on ivory crewelwork for sleeves, and ivory voided velvet for the forepart. The main body of the dress can be any period color that is interesting... I'm leaning toward an apple green, a salmon pink, a dark plum. I once wanted orange but that would make it a Halloween dress. See what I mean? I'd love to use dark red but they get a little pissy about wearing the same color as the queen.

So, the fabric can be all cotton or any natural fiber blend involving cotton, silk, linen, or mohair. No synthetics please, and I'd like to keep it under $8/yard - not easy but not unheard of. My eyes are starting to blur from looking and I'm sick of vendors that aren't truthful or knowledgeable about the fiber content of their own products.

Seen anything? Anyone?

So I meet my mom yesterday at this fabric-by-the-pound place I like to go, and wouldn't you know it? I found something amazing. I got cotton velveteen for about $4.25/yard, 48" wide, in the most scrummy shade of purple. I can only describe it as dusty grape. LOL! It's not red enough to be called plum, but it's not shockingly vibrant enough to be grape. But it is just lovely.

The problem is it's staring to creep into my thinking about the PDSvN dress. I've stalled on that because I don't want to work on the overdress until I get the kirtle done, and I am bored to tears with the strapwork I decided to add to the kirtle. ugh. But I've been thinking a lot about it lately, like I'm gettin' ready to start on it again.

Now I find this purple velvet and I think, "Wouldn't that look amazing with all the silver braided trim on it?" And I want to slap myself. My other option for it is to work it into a new project with black and white. I have a really neat piece of off-white cut velvet, a small sample square of creme cotton with all-black crewelwork on it, and 3 yards of black silk duchesse satin, and a few yards of a really nice black 2" wide braid. I'm starting to think of a dress that's all purple with the black braid on it, the creme cut velvet underskirt (maybe I'll chain stitch some of the design to make it stand out), and I think I can get a pair of fitted sleeves about of the crewel work piece (definitely if I add maybe paned satin sleeve heads).

Ok, in typing this out, I think I've saved the teal on the PDSvN dress and come up with a plan for the purple. :-) Now it's just finding the time... I have to finish Claire's little faire dress (which is turning out very cute) by the end of the month so I can get to work on the green Skeeter suit for April 22nd. We'll see how far I get on that (and how hard it turns to be since I've never made anything like that before).

The order I attack the purple vs the teal also depends on whether they have a contest this year... Didn't someone out there have a different name they used for this color purple so they didn't get nailed by the costume police for wearing the queen's color? I need the ammo if anyone remembers it!