Thanks for the advice everyone.
I did a toile in cotton drill for the dress and cut all the layers of tulle out and basted them to the toile so I could reuse them for the final version. Unfortunately I forgot that in my first toile I had altered the bottom of the (pencil) skirt portion so my tulle ended up too big
so I had to gather it slightly which was probably a good thing anyway, to create more volume.
I ended up cutting 2 layers of stiff tulle (red below), and 3 of soft bridal tulle (the flesh coloured below). I think I would have preferred 4 layers of the soft stuff, however I miscalculated my fabric requirement and didn't buy enough
The first photo below shows my toile without any horsehair braid in the hem, second photo with my fashion fabric over the top I have sewn the horsehair braid into the very bottom layer of stiff tulle - lining not in yet.
I'm happy with how pouffy the skirt is, and how it moves (i can't help it, every time I try it on I have to twirl around
) and the horsehair braid makes all the difference to walking in it!
My silk was too narrow - and I was going to waste so much fabric cutting the circle skirt. As I ordered on etsy from india, and the event being less than 2 weeks away now, there's no opportunity to get more, and I still need a lot to drape over the whole dress. So I took a leaf out of history's book and pieced together my fabric to cut the skirt out economically. I challenge anyone to work out where the seam is!
I still have to drape more tafetta over the top so hopefully the extra weight won't hold it down too much, if it does I still have the ability to add more layers of tulle if I need.
As it's got a small train I will need to bustle it up to dance, I'm worried people will step on it and rip the silk. I am also hoping I will have time to make a removable dust ruffle/balayeuse (I learned a new word!) as it will definitely get dirty from dragging on the ground. But my oh my, she is delightfully dramatic!
I'll be putting a full write up in my other post in the costume board, if anyone wants to read any more, however lets just say that I think that this dress will be able to stand up on its own once it's finished, with all the layers in there
oh, and bonus cat pic;