Retail therapy is fun!!!
Ok, so I am being eaten alive by thoughts of the gowns I need to make asap - namely, the Viscountess gown - so I thought I'd take my JoAnn's 40% off coupon down today and go get at least the base velvet for it. I still hadn't decided on dark red, dark blue or black, and much depends on the trim I find since Santa did not bring me the trim on my wish list. :-(
I called Joann's before I drove all the way over there and they said they had NO 100% cotton velvet nor velveteen. Plenty of poly, she said helpfully. No, thank you. So Claire and I went downtown. I always forget how close I am and on a weekday parking ain't so bad.
The first store I passed through has 44" black 100% cotton velvet for $3.99/yd, and 60" navy or green cotton velvet of a very nice quality for $4.99/yd. I went in search of trim and would match what I could find when I was done.
Then I found trim. Now, it's not as nice as the stuff I asked Santa for, but it IS handmade bullion trim and it was $5/yd in 5 yard bundles. I got 2 bundles and may get more if I need it. It's bright and dark gold bullion on a bronze shot ground with little olive stones at the flower centers.
Without flash - more accurate contrast
With flash - more accurate color but shows more sparkly than it really is:
I went back to the velvet man and held the trim up to the three colors. The blue velvet was the prettiest but the trim went best with the green velvet. Unfortunately, I really didn't like the green - it was a little too towards kelly and not dark enough for my taste. I ruled out the blue just because the whole dress spectrum I have to work in will be shifted to the blue/teal/green end, so I went with black. It will be very pretty.
And the total bill for this trip was $86 including parking. WOOT! And if anyone is in need of $5/yd 60" navy or mid-green cotton velvet, you can't beat this stuff! Reply here and I'll tell you where it is.
I'll edit this to add pictures of my finds as soon as I charge up the camera battery. And eat some dinner. I'm starving. :-)
I called Joann's before I drove all the way over there and they said they had NO 100% cotton velvet nor velveteen. Plenty of poly, she said helpfully. No, thank you. So Claire and I went downtown. I always forget how close I am and on a weekday parking ain't so bad.
The first store I passed through has 44" black 100% cotton velvet for $3.99/yd, and 60" navy or green cotton velvet of a very nice quality for $4.99/yd. I went in search of trim and would match what I could find when I was done.
Then I found trim. Now, it's not as nice as the stuff I asked Santa for, but it IS handmade bullion trim and it was $5/yd in 5 yard bundles. I got 2 bundles and may get more if I need it. It's bright and dark gold bullion on a bronze shot ground with little olive stones at the flower centers.
Without flash - more accurate contrast
With flash - more accurate color but shows more sparkly than it really is:
I went back to the velvet man and held the trim up to the three colors. The blue velvet was the prettiest but the trim went best with the green velvet. Unfortunately, I really didn't like the green - it was a little too towards kelly and not dark enough for my taste. I ruled out the blue just because the whole dress spectrum I have to work in will be shifted to the blue/teal/green end, so I went with black. It will be very pretty.
And the total bill for this trip was $86 including parking. WOOT! And if anyone is in need of $5/yd 60" navy or mid-green cotton velvet, you can't beat this stuff! Reply here and I'll tell you where it is.
I'll edit this to add pictures of my finds as soon as I charge up the camera battery. And eat some dinner. I'm starving. :-)