Fabric painting (Posted 16th June 2013)

I used a soft metallic fabric paint, dabbing it on delicately with a sea sponge.
I used a test piece to get the effect right first - too much paint looked too blotchy and bold, pressing the paint into the fabric meant the gold metallic effect was lost and it looked brown instead.
So I used a very light handed touch which also meant I used less fabric paint.
Note: fabric looks really light here because I've laid it on a white sheet for painting.

End pieces (Posted 16th June 2013)

If you look closely during the one episode where she's walking into shot - you can see the large gold pieces on the end on the stringed beads. I searched for something similar but decided to make them from scratch.
I made a paper template using some earrings I'd found which were the size I wanted, transferred them to worbla, put a hole near the top of each, heat molded them a little, sanded the edges to protect the dress fabric, painted gold then aged them slightly to make them look like brass pieces.

Beads (Posted 16th June 2013)

Here's the selection of beads I've chosen, looking carefully at the reference material.
I'm going to be using chain links to string the beads together that hang from the waist piece, which will also save me trying to knot them individually onto thread so they don't slide.

Slippers (Posted 14th June 2013)

So on closer inspection the footwear seems to be those Aladdin style slippers. I managed to find a pair to modify that weren't the cheap looking curly toe fancy dress or pixie type. They seem to be gold in the one scene you glimpse them, so I covered the slippers in fabric and painted the soles - first with fabric spray which rubbed off too easily, so now I'm going to use a couple of layers of gold leather paint instead.
The gold fabric looked too plain so with some artistic license, I added stitch detail with gold embroidery thread. So far I've stitched around the edges and top but will also be adding a simple design on the sides too.
And because they are actually slippers - they are the most comfy footwear I've used for cosplay!

Dyed fabric (Posted 14th May 2013)

So the screen used fabric changes a LOT in different light. Top shows it as a pale almost green tint (this is the closest IRL), second shows a close up (a lot more blue depending on lighting!) and thirdly is what it is now after I dyed it.
I first hand dyed it using turquoise, darkening it in the process - finally I carefully used RIT colour remover. This removed just enough of the turquoise dye leaving the pale blue colour.
I tested this technique on a piece first and the bright turquoise hand dye was the only blue that took to the fabric and left the right amount of colour after the whole process. Next to add the gold paint print.

Detail (Posted 7th May 2013)

Clearer photo of the pieces.

Corset/shoulder pieces complete (Posted 7th May 2013)

Two set's of strong magnets for the corset pieces were too powerful and wouldn't set after being glued, so I used a weaker magnetic strip on one side and attached four of the strong magnets on the other which were fixed to strips of clear plastic - which provided a larger surface area to glue it in place.
Now I can snap the two pieces closed at the back without assistance and the magnets stay in place.

Corset progress (Posted 27th April 2013)

This is how the corset piece will sit, no matter what type of glue I used the magnets were too strong and kept snapping off stuck together. So my last resort will be to use gold cord but this will require help to tie it, which I'd rather not need all the time.
I'm going to try magnetic strip that isn't as strong as the magnets but hopefully strong enough to keep it closed at the back.

Corset progress (Posted 9th March 2013)

Heat formed the two separate pieces for the waist and decided it was no good gluing them together at the front as the whole piece needed to open like a hinge to wrap tightly around. So I've used invisible string to keep the pieces flush together at the front whilst still being flexible. The pieces overlap at the back so I'm planning to attach small strong magnets to keep the end's level where they cross over.
I've been priming the shoulder pieces before I spray paint them in gold leaf.

Shoulder pieces (Posted 7th March 2013)

Finally got around to heat forming the acrylic shoulder pieces, pretty easy and fun to do. Need to remove the backing paper on the one piece but for now it helps me identify which is right/left.

Corset/shoulder pieces (Posted 14th February 2013)

I had these pieces laser cut out of 1/8" acrylic following the designs I drafted, I'm very happy with them. I made a paper template first to get the size, shape and angle of the waist piece and using multiple references - not just from Dany's costume in the show.
They were scanned in and converted into a vector. Small holes were added to the shoulder pieces where they will be stitched to the dress. The waist piece had to be two pieces to be the correct sizing and will be fixed together at the front after heat forming using acrylic cement - I've tested the glue and it seems to be really strong but I'll still be reinforcing the front section.

Screen used fabric - The Berwick Street Cloth Shop (Posted 14th February 2013)

It will need to made slightly lighter, I'll be adding more blue to match the on screen reference. I've bought a cheaper, similar weighted fabric to make a draft version first.