Progress so far

It's starting to look like something. Not finished, mind you, but far enough along to give you the idea.

I went shopping yesterday and found some inexpensive trim. Once I started playing around and pinning it on the skirt this is what I came up with.

I decided to remove one of the velvet bands. I didn't find forepart fabric yet. The red is just a piece of cotton I stuck in there for contrast.
I've got the bodice about half done. I cut the bodice, flatlined the pieces, and played around with trim placement yesterday. I spent all of today binding the edges, stitching down the trim, and stitching the three pieces (back & two front pieces) together all by hand.

I sewed on just a few pair of hooks and eyes so I could put in on Bertha. I'm afraid that even after I get all the hooks sewed on there will be a gap that will need to be filled with the stuffed tubes suggested in the Margo Anderson pattern instructions. Then I will move on to the tabs around the bottom and the paned upper sleeves. Good thing I have two weeks to get this done :D