[Battle] Tauriel Cosplay - Fabric and Pattern

So, sorry not sorry about that little cliffhanger in my last post... hope I didn't leave you guys hanging too long... but I was kinda having fun with that... ;D

So, the other day (as in, last Saturday) I went to Joann (you know, the fabric store) for the first time with my oldest (eldest?) sister, Alissa.

Which was an experience in it of itself... as they had more fabrics (and higher prices o.O) than I had anticipated. However! With the help of Alissa (no seriously, I wouldn't have survived without her. xD), I was able to decide on fabric for my "Battle Tauriel" dress.

See, what made the trip "interesting," was that I really didn't have a set idea for what color/material I wanted. I was originally thinking light green suede...

...but ended up with this (which I'm [now] convinced is 900% better than green suede would have been for this costume. ;))

So, I'm kinda notorious for not using fabrics for their intended purpose. And, with that said, the material is 5 yards of Sew Classic's polyester crepe suiting in "medieval blue". xD Yeah. Like I said. Not for intended purposes. ;D

But in all seriousness, this fabric is lovely. The drape is absolutely gorgeous, with just the right weight. The crepe-weave is super cool, too. From far away, the texture looks so cool... then you get up close and it's even cooler. ;)

Also, the color! Ahhhhhh the color. IMHO, 'tis just divine. As you can see, each picture made it look a different shade (and none of them are edited, either). In natural lighting especially, the color goes crazy - morphing from jewel tones to a slate grey. And the chain mail (if you don't know what I'm talking about, you can see back in this post) looks quite pretty and feminine against it, the colors reminiscent of Arwen's requiem gown in The Two Towers.

And a bonus is that I actually look good in this color. Which wouldn't have been true with the suede I was considering. So there's that. ;D

Next up: The pattern.  I also got this at Joann, and it just happened to be on sale for 2 bucks! *Happy dance.* ;) McCalls's 6818:

I'll be following view B mostly, though using the sleeves of A (normal long sleeves). I plan on doing some alterations to it, because, as I'm sure you can see, it's not perfect. But it's got some great potential.

I'll be making the skirt come completely around the front (though keeping the slit down the center), lowering the waistline just a bit, and making the collar smaller, to be more like the collar of Tauriel's archer dress.  And as for the cape... I'm probably going to nix it, but it's still a possibility. We'll just have to see. ;)

So you guys are no longer in suspense -- yayy! ;D Let meh know whatcha think of the fabric and my pattern plans and such. I always love hearing you guys' thoughts. :)  Btw... the design of my costume isn't quite complete yet. There's an aspect or two that I'm still pondering, which I'll share soon (once I actually, like, make up my mind. ;D)

Lastly, I've got at least 3 cosplay posts swirling around in my brain that I just need to write up... Because, like I've said, there's been quite a bit of costume happenings lately. :D