Ok, time for a progress check against my original to do list, and a few to-do's to be added as well.
Tasks for today: Cover 30 buttons and adjust the bust on the mockup to fit better.

Mockups
Before anything else, complete as many mock-ups as necessary to make sure the pattern design and fit is perfect.
Calculate yardages required using perfected mockup DONE (ok, mockups not finished but its close enough)
After purchasing lace, adjust pattern if necessary to place points of scallops over seams.

Shopping
Foundation materials
-White Coutil (Purchased, www.fabricland.co.uk)
-Wide Plastic Boning (Purchased, fabricland)
-Narrow Plastic Boning (Purchased, Fabricland)
-Power Net (Purchased, fabricland)
-Hook and Eye tape (Purchased, Fabricland)
-Silk Dupion for lining (Purchased, Silk Baron)

Interior Fabrics
-Polyester lining (Purchased, Fabricland)
-Dress net to interline Skirt (Purchased, fabricland)
-Cotton Lawn to interline bodice (Purchased, fabricland)
-Horsehair Braid for hem (Purchased, fabricland)

Outer Fabrics
-Power woven White silk Dupion or Duchesse Satin (Purchased, Silk Baron)
-Tulle (Purchased, Fabricland)
-Lace
  – must have a Scalloped edge, between 6” and 10” deep, the deeper the better
  - Must have (or be pieced to) long strips, 2-3" wide, which can be used for        covering seams.
  - Must have motifs which can be used to decorate skirt panels - about 7" long, more than one design would be great
   - Must be able to peice together to completely cover bodice and sleeves
Narrow Piping cord for Roleux loop (Purchased, Fabricland)
Cover buttons (Purchased, Fabricland)
Zip (Purchased, Fabricland)

Inner structure
Cut out coutil
Cut out Power Net
Cut out lining
Assemble
Add Boning
Add Hooks and Eyes

Petticoat
Draft Pattern
Cot out and assemble
Add net
Add detachable train support

Lining
Cut out lining
Assemble lining
Attach Lining
Attach zip
Attach inner structure to lining at side seams

Dress
Cut out Fabric
Cut out interlining
Cut out Net
Hand tack interlining to fabric
Hand tack lace to fabric to Godet level, front and back seams
Stitch seams to Godet level, front and back seams
Apply Godet to net
Apply godet to fabric
Stitch and Trim side seams in net
Stitch side seams in fabric
Make and apply rolleaux button loops
Cover Buttons
Stitch on buttons
Make sleeves
Attach sleeves
Cut skirt facing strips
Apply facing and horsehair to hem of skirt

Trimming
Cut out lace
Pin on lace
Allow to stretch and reposition
Attach lace

So this is the second mock up. The bodice still needs fitting adjustments, but I'm happy with the skirt :) In this version, I've stitched horsehair braid around the bottom to get an idea of how it might end up looking. Its looks great on the dummy, but only after I drape it how I want it! Conclusion: I need to add a petticoat to hold things in the shape I want!
I'm thinking one like the bottom left on this page, with a hoop, net over the top to hide the lines and then a removable train supporting section. I want to dance at my reception so this seems like the most practical combination.
And now i'm up to date with all the things I've done in the past and all the photos on my camera!

So this is my first attempt at the underbodice - I was actually surprised with how effective it was, it really did flatten my tummy without feeling too uncomfortable.
The pattern ws made by drawing in underbust and low hip cutting lines on the pattern I came up with below, cutting the coutil exactly to this pattern and the powernet about half this size.
The instructions I followed are here
However, I do think its a little too tight - its difficult to do up, and even more difficult to swivel round after I've done it up at the front. I think the coutil section is fine, its the powernet that needs more space - I guess since powernet comes in different strengths this is something that probably just comes down to trial and error.
It also needs boning added at the back to keep it from bunching up vertically, and I need to find white lingery elastic to finish the edges of the powernet.

So this is my first mockup, using the patten drafted above. Its made from cheap curtain lining with a zip bunged in (since you can't pin things on your own back!) I've discovered a camera with timer and tripod are invaluable when trying to fit things on yourself - you can get shots from all angles without having to twist round to point the camera at the mirror. For this first bit i was most interested in making the bodice fit right - I (mostly) like my curves, and my boyfriend loves them, so what I'm aiming for is something that fits like a glove but doesn't smoosh.

So what do we think of this first mock up?
1. Yuck my tummy sticks out! Plan for this is an underbodice from hip to underbust level, made of coutil at the front and power net at the back, fastening with hooks and eyes and lightly boned with rigeline.
2. Top back is too wide - plan is to move the shoulders out to deal with this, which will probably mean I need to trim the arm holes
3. On the subject of armholes, these need filling in at the front as this is going to be a dress with sleeves (counterintuitively larger than neccessary armholes make itdifficult to move your arms)
4. The zip needs to be a bit longer - I had to wiggle to get in!
5. Its too tight across the bust, so I'm going to add about 1cm to the curve on the side front pieces.
6. I want to bring the front side seams in, co the center front panel is narrower - just to keep nice lines when it comes to adding the godet and lace.

The other thing I did was work out the proportions for the godet - I printed out a couple of shots of the dress and guesstimated things like what proportion of the total height was taken up by the godet, where they fell in relation to knees, waist etc. This let me draft rough patterns - basicly segments of circles with radius equal to the length of the gap in the side front seams for the front godets, and the same but with a big extension for the train and making it as wide as the fabric would allow for the back.
Its tricky to get the effect cos the fabric just hangs but I think I'm on the right track.