Kathleen, I hate that I don't like to cook. I hate that I DO like to eat. And its great fun to tease you about tempting and torturing me with your food pix, tho it IS true that's what you do. LOL. But in all honesty, I envy your beautiful presentations, and your cooking skills, and I wish badly I lived next door to beg for lessons and leftovers! So I hope my teasing has been ok. I really didn't mean for you to think I was serious about "hating your pics". Hope you are about thru with that antibiotic, some of them are too strong I think. I have to be careful which ones my doc gives me. hugs, Karen

I really want to thank you all for your help and suggestions - you really motivated me and I'm putting your thoughts to good use! This afternoon I started painting and moving a few things into her room. I choose Meadowbrook by Ace for the walls and immediately fell in love. So much so that I called DH at work to tell him. I snapped a few pics for you to see even though the walls were still wet in some places. While painting I decided that the accent color would definitely be soft pinks and red raspberry shades. Meadowbrook wall paint. I think that the wall color looks wonderful w/ the maple wood furniture and love how it plays w/ the crisp white trim. Meadowbrook is 2 shades darker than Woodlawn (which is my MBR wall color) and is the closest match (w/o colormatching) to F&B's Pale Powder. I am definitley going to do the white IKEA curtains doubled up as someone suggested in their post! I'm going to try matchstick blinds layered underneath to pick up the wood tones in the furniture. Like I said - this room gets blinding light. Do you think that pink and berry accents will work w/ this wall color? After reading some of the thoughts about kids possibly being creeped out by staring owl eyes I went back and looked at the James Brown art and came up w/ some of these prints. Any catch your fancy for the room?: Here is a close up of the bedskirt and the pillows have a small ruffle of the same check for a border.: I found a small old wooden birdcage in the basement that I thought I could spraypaint white or berry and put butterflies and birds in and hang in a corner. Lame? I still really like the 'foresty' idea and thought I could run w/ it in an 'Enchanted Forest' girlie way (not a Harry Potter way). I can get her a white stuffed owl for her bed! Crazy thought - tell me if I'm taking it too far - What about painting the bureau a soft pink or raspberry color? Too much? Oh - and my mom called today to say that she found the sweetest antique childs rocker for $15 that she bought for her!

Ok here's the update! :-) Success! I used a sew-in interfacing on the top. It worked! (whew) I also put the boning in, figuring I could just remove it if necessary. I used the underlining as well, since we needed body for this top. All worked fine...she loves it! Other info: to cut down on fraying, which both the lining and the fabric were wont to do (haha understatement) I stiched around each edge 1/4" with a straight stitch. Helped a lot. My pinking shears were out of commission and zigzag was a non-starter both fabrics. Not a perfect solution but working fine for now. I used spray on starch to firm up the pieces of the lining fabric only (that dreaded acetate stuff) It was a really lightweight lining. Worked perfectly. For the waistband, I used the sew in interfacing and lining again. I needed to firm up that piece since I knew it was going to stretch out. Excellent results. The BB-Satin gathers and drapes beautifully. I have a lot left over so am going to sew a little wrap and a bunch of hair scrunchies for her friends. So now we're waiting for her new crinoline so I can get the skirt hemmed. (hints for this?) Now for the "bad" news. Even tho I measured and re-measured the top is an inch too small from under the bust to the bottom. Top and bust are perfect. I didn't have time to do a muslin model but you can bet next time I definitely will. My solution will be to add lacing instead of buttons so it can be adjusted. (and she prefers the lacing idea anyway.) I'll turn it inside out, rip out the straight seams on the back pieces (the ends) and insert loops and a strip of material. The loops will be taken up in the seam. Before I do this I think I'll make up a model to test. Any suggestions welcome! I haven't sewn lacings before, so I'm off to Joanne's or Hancocks to look at patterns. I'll get the instructions and read them over for technique. Thank you to everyone for the most excellent information. It is turning out to be quite an adventure!

The things to look for with a sample dress: stains, tears, missing pieces (beadwork, straps, lining, petticoats, etc.), and fit. Have the store's seamstress look over the gown with you in it. She should tell you if she can alter the dress well enough so that you look your best while not compromising the design and look of the dress. Get someone's honest opinion - bring a friend or family member. Both of you should look at the dress carefully with you in it and with it on the hanger. Make sure that you get everything in writing. Specifically ask the store what is included in the $150 alterations - bustle, hem, fitting, fixing beading/embroidery, replacing beads/zippers/buttons, etc. Get a menu of services and the costs of each alteration. I think the dress is lovely. If you like it and think that they can make it work for you, then go for it. I think that they are giving you a very generous deal. By the way, buying a sample dress is such a great way to save money. I have known many people who have purchased a sample dress for their wedding. I didn't buy a sample dress, but I considered it. I tried on many of them and went to a store that specializes in selling designer sample dresses - how else could one get a $8000 retail Vera Wang gown for about $1000? Part of me even wished my dress wasn't quite so pristine - before I even walked down the aisle my hem was dirty. What's great is little things like that (even though it appears that it is filty when you look at it) don't show up in the photos and most people don't notice. You will look just as lovely in your dress as you would in a new gown! No one will know/guess that your dress was a sample! :-)