Bridesmaids' Dresses: The Fabric!

I'm moving along at a snail's pace on these dresses, but hey, at least the fabric is here and washed!

We ended up with three shades of green jersey. From lightest to darkest we have avocado cotton jersey (sold out), green cotton jersey, and olive bamboo jersey. All three are from Nature's Fabrics. Jeanne was wonderful to work with after there wasn't enough yardage for a single color. She picked out a few coordinates, emailed me photos, and got the package out right away once we had decided.

I'm sure jersey isn't at the top of everyone's list for bridesmaids' dresses, but I'm beyond happy that there isn't any polyester involved. I wore a RTW polyester shirtdress last week, and even though I was indoors most of the time, I was sweating like crazy! I can't wait to wear a breathable natural fabric at the wedding.

Next up is gathering measurements, printing the pattern, tracing, and making bodice muslins. Of course, my printer has been acting up, so a run over to Office Depot is in order. A note about Named Patterns; their PDFs come grouped in sizes of two. For example, size 0 and size 2 are in one PDF, size 4 and size 6 in another, etc. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but now I'll have to print a few different sizes to cover everyone. And I still have to trace, because the pattern pieces overlap.

Colors in first photo are more true to life.

And a little legal note, I believe that if you're making garments to sell, there are strict rules about purchasing patterns each time, licensing, etc. I am not selling these dresses, I'm simply being reimbursed for cost of materials. I believe that would fall under personal use and not commercial.

I hate it when sewing prep work takes longer than the actual project, but hopefully by this time next week I'll have something to show for it!