Just kidding, apparently, on the Disney posts - though I promise I'll get them up eventually! (Too many people waiting for the play by play, and I HAVE to do it before it starts fading from my mind...rephrasing, as it will never, ever fade from my mind: before my detail accuracy fades into a loving wash.)

But I do want to post my Next Project plans! I so enjoyed making my clothes for the trip, and I even more enjoyed being able to create exactly what I wanted, that I'm carrying on with it. Next up was a dress inspired by this simple lovely and a pair of mustard tights. I loved the dress on the hanger, but there were four different kinds of not-happening for me - I love sleeves, and those barely fit the name. I loved the color, but the fabric was a little wimpier than I want for winter. I love love LOVE the Peter Pan collar, but with my round face, it invariably looks too cute and I look six. And for the fourth, I knew without even trying it on that the cut would pull in the worst places and sag everywhere else. But I had those mustard tights, and, darn it, I was going to have something new and wonderful to wear with them.

So began the search. I ended up settling on Simplicity 1586 - a very classic sheath with princess seaming. I haven't actually worn anything sewn like that for a very long time - haven't seen anything sewn like that for a long time, not where I shop! - but it's so flattering, and I loved the potential for color blocking. And while it's available from the Simplicity site, I cannot bring myself to spend that kind of money on tissue paper - Hancock Fabrics had one of their amazing pattern sales, and I snagged it for $1.99, along with a Cynthia Rowley pattern for one-day-when-I'm-skinny.

(I'd say you can't beat it, but I did just a few days before - they had all their Butterick patterns for $.99, and I picked up seven costume patterns in varying sizes and one 40's inspired for me - my listed savings at the bottom of the receipt were $91.08. It was a good, good day.)

So, I had my pattern: now the hard part. Picking out a fabric. SIGH. So, so many options. The pattern lists pique, poplin, sateen, wool, crepe, silk, linen...and a whole bunch of other stuff that just boiled down to stable and sturdy. Well, I can do that! I decided a double knit was what I wanted - something with a little give, something that can get tossed in the washer, something with color options, and something CHEAP. Double knit it is.

I'm still finding my way around the world of online fabric shopping. I'm a dedicated, soul-sold Amazon shopper, so finding some of these sites that look like their hosted by geocites is uniquely terrifying - you're not getting any of my money, late-nineties time travelers! I have ordered from fabric.com before with good results, so that's my starting point for any project. After several days of hemming and hawing, and going from one navy-with-black-polka-dots dress to one black and one color blocked (essentially my wearable muslin - I have a feeling I'm going to require a great deal of tweaking on this pattern, AmazingFit or not), I ended up with two and half of the last four yards of a solid black and this royal blue for the center panel piece:

(Image taken from the fabric.com site)

So that's the color blocked piece, which I know, I know - is exactly what they have on the envelope. I never claimed to be particularly original. But I will be adding sleeves to mine, because-gross. Scoop neck, just like the envelope...I'd be bothered by it, but it's going to be just so cute I can't care.

The second one - the real one, destined to be worn with the mustard tights - I decided I needed to make black, as my February dinner show requires a black cocktail dress. As I mentioned, though, they only had four yards of the black that I was using for this, so I needed to find something else that was the same content. Of course, I'm just not that lucky. I DID find, though, a lovely (what I'm hoping is) dark grey chevron - a very fine line, tone on tone pattern. I would have ordered a swatch to be sure it was dark enough to read as black, but as I'm cheap and hate paying for shipping (let alone paying for shipping TWICE) I swung for the fences, bit the bullet, and just ordered it. Isn't it pretty?!

(Image taken from the fabric.com site)

The plan for that is to get one of those ever-so-trendy exposed zippers and run it all the way down the center seam of the back panel, and then! Oh, and then - I'm so excited for this - my fabric searches led me down some wonderful alleys, one of which was full of trim and piping and LEATHER PIPING. Black leather piping all down the princess seams on the front panel. I'm ever so excited - almost bigcited, but that will come after the tears of frustration when I can finally wear them.

I love having a plan, and I love having a project - I can't wait to get the fabric in and get to cutting!

Disney: Overall Thoughts

I was going to just jump in with my little trip report for posterity, but I wanted to give everything some context first. I studied and prepared for this trip, with the help of the Disney site, of course, and TouringPlans.com (which was an excellent resource in the parks, particularly), but also disneyfoodblog.com, disneytouristblog.com, and nerdsinwonderland.com - they are all experienced hands and had writing styles I could actually stand to read on a regular basis; two tests that lots of blogs failed miserably. <She said smiling.>

Even with all my months and months of preparation, I was in no way prepared for the breathtaking amazingness of it all. Every corner I turned, I was overwhelmed by the attention to detail, by the obvious care and concern taken, by the unanticipated emotional impact that it had on me. It's trite but true: it's really is a magical place, and I can't wait to go back again.

Coming up next: Day 1 report and pictures (hopefully...)!