The Material

I decided 31 yards of fabric and trim were not enough, so I went back to The Silk Road Fine Fabrics and purchased more.  I bought 6 yards of silk organza to underline the skirt and bodice.  Silk organza is lightweight and provides body to the fashion fabric.  The underlining will also hide any hand sewn stitches used for the dress construction.  I also purchased boning for the corset and some more silk thread.

The fabric and trim can be divided into two groups:  stuff you will see and stuff that you won't see.

Here is the stuff you will see:

• Chantilly lace
• Lace and beaded trim
• Silk chiffon
• Crepe de chine
• Cotton/silk blend

The skirt material layered:  lace, crepe de chine, cotton/silk blend

The bodice material:  trim (for the cumberbund), silk chiffon, crepe de chine, cotton/silk blend:













What the cumberbund will  look like:

The material and notions you will not see, but are critical to its construction.  This is the stuff that separates a ready to wear from couture: