Fabric shopping in Philly

Went to Philadelphia today, and picked up the velvet and buttons for my 1844 gown, among other things. So now I have everything I need for the gown itself. I was going to start the petticoats yesterday but I couldn't find my white muslin anywhere. I'll have to pick some up from Joann's tomorrow. On a slightly related note, how wide did the skirts tend to be in the 1840s? I'm half tempted to do everything on the cross grain, and just use the 5 yard piece I have for the full skirt. Otherwise, I'll just do 3 panels of the plaid, but it's only 44" wide. I just feel like that might be too narrow.

One of the other stores in Philly had the most gorgeous teal/peacock green heavy silk satin, for an amazing $19 a yard. I'm half tempted to go back and get it, even though there's probably only 3 yards or so. It'd be enough for a long-sleeved 1650s bodice, at the very least. Maybe tomorrow. It really was an amazing color, even if I do prefer the bluer end of the teal range.

Time to pass out now. *running on about 2 hours of sleep*