Sakizo's Juliet: Part 1: Mock ups and under dress

Sakizo's Juliet. Also known as: ARRGHwhydidIchoosethiscostumewwwwwhhhhyyyyy?! This costume is super detailed, and I have no idea whether I can get it all in there, but I love the design and want to give it a go. I've bought some string pearls, cord, lace, paint, and trims. I already have polymer clay, a mask,gold satin, and some red stretch velvet. I've also got scraps of white organza and poly-dupioni, and some white silky material. I still need like a zillion costume pearls for this costume, and to make a bunch of hot glue gems.   

First thing's first: mock ups. I tried out two patterns. One was Burda 2493 (left), and the other was Burda Danielle (right). I probably would have used Burda 2493 if not for the stripes on the bodice. I didn't really want to pattern match stripes, so I went with Danielle.

I decided that the next step would be making the under dress. I've only seen two people online who have made this costume: Angela Clayton and Lilie Mohiril. I think that both of them made a one piece dress, but I'm worried about it being too bulky. It's also a bit more practical for washing. 

To start, I adjusted the Danielle pattern to make it strapless (though I am adding thin straps to the dress). I made the lining from poly-linen. Not sure if that was a good idea, because it tends to stretch a bit. I added boning: just ordinary plastic boning; to the front and sides for extra support. 

Adjusted the shape a bit, and it was good to go. I cut the same pattern from the silk (the sales assistant said it was silk. I have no clue. I found it in the furnishing section, and it was 10 Euro for a metre but it was about 2.8 metres wide, and it seemed too good a deal to pass. Also, the material is perfect for Godoka). 

Sewed the bodice pieces together along the top and understitched it to make it neater. Also, I should mention how much I love the overlock machine at this point. I overlocked all the polylinen and "silk", and it saved me a lot of hassle. No messy fraying. The only mistake I made was accidentally unthreading part of it, but luckily I had the instruction book and could re-thread it.

Here's the skirt. It's based on the Burda 2493 underdress. I only traced the lower part of the dress, then gathered it to fit the white bodice, and sewed it on the silk layer of the bodice.

I added an invisible zip to the back. Argh, i hate sewing these. They never align properly for me! I sewed up the back and hemmed the dress, then hand sewed on the gold trim. I was very lazy and spray painted the trim gold. I did try using acrylic paint and fabric medium, but I didn't get good coverage - possibly because the trim was originally purple. Also, metallic thread is very annoying to use. I didn't have good luck with any thread when handsewing. All of it kept snapping and tangling. But finally the dress is done.