Couture? Oooo, You Must Be Good!

Ever since Mary asked me if I'd like to help with the construction of Stephanie's wedding dress, I've been haunting fabric stores in my town. My town has two. No worries, I can travel, and I've set a limit of a 50 mile radius for fabric store hauntings - no need to overdo it and get burned out right away. Of course, if I happen to be somewhere much farther away, say, the Twin Cities, all bets are off. I'm in a fabric mecca and who knows when I'll be back again?

Actually, I do know when I'll be back again - the first weekend of June, so I can relax on the fabric store envy for now.

Back to the haunting. Since Mary lives in the Twin Cities area, and Stephanie lives in the Los Angeles area, and I live far from civilization in the Central Wisconsin area, we're doing a good bit of texting, e-mailing, actual chatting, and picture sharing.

Typically I'll proceed after such an exchange in the firm belief that I can find the exact material in the exact shade that's just been described verbally or pictorially, and I'll hie myself to a corresponding fabric store and ... wander around, looking at all the gorgeous fabrics - bridal silks of course, and tulles, certainly, but also decorator fabric such as would be suitable for curtains or upholstery, and jaquards that would be perfect for a kimono or a special occasion skirt or jacket ... and then I find the book section of the store and look through several of my fondest desires, and then remember that I'm there for fabric for flowers to embellish Stephanie's wedding dress, and wander around for another 30 minutes or so, trying to find the bridal silks again, all the while keeping up a brave front, acting like I know exactly what I'm doing and that I have every right to be there and I've done this so many times that frankly, I'm a little bored with it by now.

Except that this is my first time working on an actual couture dress. And this first dress is a really big deal. Big important day. Wedding dress for one of my most favorite people in the whole world. I want this to be beautiful. I want her to look like a princess on her wedding day. I want her to be pleased with our efforts. No, I want her to LOVE what we've done! And I really, really don't want to disappoint her.

So, I find some suitable fabric for wedding dress flowers, and go up to the counter to have pieces cut.

"I'd like 1/3 yard each of the dupioni and the crushed tulle. And 1/4 yard of the polyester lining material, please."

"Oh, these are gorgeous fabrics! What are you planning to do with them?"

"I'm helping my sister make a couture wedding dress for her daughter. I'm making flowers to embellish her dress with this fabric. Well, this fabric is a prototype. I'll be sending the flowers on to my sister to see what she thinks, and my niece will have to approve them as well."

"Oooo. You must be good!"

They're right, you know. I must be good. We all must be good, to pull this off! And we're going to do a beautiful job of it! Stephanie's going to look beautiful! We are going to be so proud of the dress we create, we may even go into business!

I can see it now....