I'm like a kid on Christmas; patterns are one of my favorite things to receive in the mail. Usually TV gets them to me fairly quickly, but still... I get so wrapped up in these projects that any waiting drives me a bit batty. I usually peruse through the patterns, seeing what needs to be changed and if that will affect the total amount of fabric needed. I put together the totals and head over to one of my favorite places: "Sew What" which, in my opinion, is one of the greatest fabric shops for historic-type sewing. She mostly does decorator type fabrics which is awesome- they are heavier, better quality, and made to last. These dresses cannot be cheaply made or dainty- they get dragged around a ballroom and brush against a million other skirts and uniforms! Her prices are also very fair- I NEVER go to JoAnn's if I can avoid it, the prices are ridiculous for the quality! Here's the website for her shop, she's got some fun stuff!!!
http://fortfabrics.com/. Here's what I am greeted with:
How does one choose?!? Seriously?! I usually wander around and day dream about all of the beautiful things that I could make until something really catches my eye and then the building beings. What if I choose this blue fabric, then what will I pair it with? Would that be just the bodice, or would it be the over skirt? How much does it cost? A lot of these gowns take nearly 15 yards of fabric, I really don't want to fall in love with something that costs $25 a yard!!!
This last trip, I wandered a bit until I found a beautiful, pale green, embroidered satin that I knew was perfect. $18.75 a yard was doable if I made the underskirt of a different fabric, I was vaguely thinking a cream color. The photo here doesn't really do it justice- it is somewhere between jade and sage with cream and cinnamon flowers. PERFECT!!! So I got 7 yards of it, just in case. Turns out that later I needed an additional yard and a half because I decided to do the pannier over skirt in the same fabric, but that is a story for another day...
So, I have the pattern, I have the fabric. Now what? Well, if you are spending THAT much on fabric per yard, you want the thing to be perfect the first go round. So I ALWAYS make a mock-up muslin from the cheapest fabric that I can find. And, in the case of Sew What, I can get $2 a yard drapery lining that isn't half bad. The purpose of the muslin is to work out the bugs and kinks BEFORE you spend beaucoup bucks. Usually, there aren't many changes to be made to the TV patterns because they seem like they were made for hourglass figures like mine. Sometimes there are some re-works, and that is fine. I usually take the time to put on my corset or whatever other undergarment that I will actually wear with the gown to make sure everything fits. I also put it on my dress form, which is adjustable to my size, and make sure everything looks good. If it gets the ok here, then it is time to cut the true fabric.
Pattern layout is SUPER important- all of the pieces will have grain lines on them and it is imperative that you get those lined up correctly or everything will end up wonky. I pin my pieces fairly heavily; better to have a few temporary pin holes than cut something incorrectly! I also try to fit them as closely as possible to minimize waste. Here is how I laid out the lining pieces on some leftover white satin that I had from a previous gown (I try to re-use fabrics for linings since you can't really see them anyway).
I then use my trusty roto-cutter to cut out the pattern pieces. I NEVER USE SCISSORS, that just turns into a cluster... Seriously, though, if you are going to sew, you need this tool. The blades need replacing on a semi-regular basis, especially if you are working with satins, silks, crepes etc. I pay special attention to the little triangle marks on the patterns that show you where pieces should line up together. Don't just cut through those, they are useful!
Once the pieces are cut out, I transfer all of the markings. I will have to do an entry at some point on my favorite tools. It's the little tools in sewing that make sewing worth doing! But that is a discussion for another day...
With our pattern pieces all cut out, marks transferred, we are ready to get moving on this project!!!
Time spent at the fabric store perusing and choosing fabric- about an hour
Time spent making the muslin mockup- about 1.5 hours
Time spent trying on the muslin mockup- 20 minutes
Time spent cutting out fabric, lining and interlining pieces- 2 hours
Time spent transferring marks- 15 minutes
TOTAL TIME SPENT SO FAR: 5 hours 5 minutes.
How does one choose?!? Seriously?! I usually wander around and day dream about all of the beautiful things that I could make until something really catches my eye and then the building beings. What if I choose this blue fabric, then what will I pair it with? Would that be just the bodice, or would it be the over skirt? How much does it cost? A lot of these gowns take nearly 15 yards of fabric, I really don't want to fall in love with something that costs $25 a yard!!! 
So, I have the pattern, I have the fabric. Now what? Well, if you are spending THAT much on fabric per yard, you want the thing to be perfect the first go round. So I ALWAYS make a mock-up muslin from the cheapest fabric that I can find. And, in the case of Sew What, I can get $2 a yard drapery lining that isn't half bad. The purpose of the muslin is to work out the bugs and kinks BEFORE you spend beaucoup bucks. Usually, there aren't many changes to be made to the TV patterns because they seem like they were made for hourglass figures like mine. Sometimes there are some re-works, and that is fine. I usually take the time to put on my corset or whatever other undergarment that I will actually wear with the gown to make sure everything fits. I also put it on my dress form, which is adjustable to my size, and make sure everything looks good. If it gets the ok here, then it is time to cut the true fabric.
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