Today, October 29, 2012

Today’s project:  Does this bustle make my butt look big?

I know this will be the biggest shocker of all time, but today I worked on my Steampunk outfit.  I know, I know, didn’t see that one coming did you?

Well at the risk of boring you, Dear Reader, here is the next element of my costume:  the bustle.

Since I managed to create at least a temporarily working bustle piece, I was able to fold and drape the fabric on the back of my dress.  I have already sewed an underskirt (bits of which you have seen in previous posts) so this bit is more dressing than practical.  I like to make my bustles separate so that I can mix and match the parts with other skirts and jackets.  Although I’m not sure I will ever pair this with something else, I like the idea of options.  I’m a changeable creature at heart and parts that are inter-workable are wonderful!

Here is what I started with as inspiration for this whole piece:

I know it just looks like a bundle of fabric, but it started life as a comforter.  Really.  One of those double-sided numbers with the floral on one side and the plaid on the other. I took it apart before I snapped a pic, but here is a similar one:

I have to admit, I’m a sucker for a cute plaid or polka dot pattern.  Addtionally, I love to explore color for my Steampunk pieces.  Usually there is nothing but drab browns and blacks on people at the cons and my Steampunk Sister and myself were kinda tired of seeing the same ol’ color scheme.  Our solution: we will wear pinks and blues and reds and not apologize for it one little bit! Yeah!

The usual asthetic of Steampunk is one of a kind of ‘rough and ready’ traveler, so the brown and black isn’t totally inappropriate, but really isn’t our style.  Also, the Victorian pictures from the age may be in black and white, but that doesn’t mean that all the people dressed in shades of grey.  In fact, quite the opposite, as my research shows descriptions of gowns in glorious oranges, yellows, pinks and blues.  To give the feel of a ‘vintage’ look overall, I choose muted versions of these tones; giving the impression of a faded photo.

Here’s the look I’m aiming for:

Fortunately, Steampunk doesn’t really require re-enactment level shapes (although there are many people who do go all out period-wise, and it is a glorious sight – I applaud those who take the time and effort to make something truly authentic).  I’m really just hoping for the overall impression of the shape to imply the time period.  As such, my bustle is waaaay smaller than what the historical era would call for, but I think you get the idea.

Here are some more shots of the finished product:

Details, details:

With the jacket:

A friend recently asked me: ‘Why, oh WHY, did the women do that weird thing of putting extra bits on their buts and hips.  Why purposefully make yourself look bigger than you are?’

My answer is a simple one, because my opinion is, the reason is simple… All of these pieces are designed to make your waist look as small as possible.  Corsets were created to literally make your waist as small as you could physically tolerate, but all the extra padding everywhere else leant to adding to the illusion.

Some days, I wish we still bought into this idea. At least then I could claim that that round thing following me around was a pillow.  Yeah.  That’s it. A pillow. 

[That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!]

Today, October 28, 2012

Today’s project: Recreate the past with modern stuff

More Steampunk!

(I know, I know, you are shocked and surprised!)

There is a fabulous piece on YouTube (find it here) from a museum in Nevada talking about Victorian dress.  The clip shows a woman putting on all the trappings of a 1860s era lady and is fascinating from a research point-of-view.

One of the segments has the curator showcasing different period bustles.  When I saw this one:

I totally fell in love and said, ‘I WANT one!’  It is a ‘collapsible’ bustle – for easy travelling.  And it’s just so durn cute!  I also felt it would be easier to wear throughout the day than a full bustle piece.  This one should sit right under the small of my back and will make reclining in a chair a more pleasant experience.

Well, since there isn’t a Victorian underthings store down the street, I realized I needed to create one.  I talked to a crafty friend of mine and he had some great ideas and advice.  One of the concerns we discussed entailed (no pun intended! Ha!) when I would sit down or bump into something.  You don’t want your bustle to crumple!  Oh the shame!

Ok, it needs to be made of something strong enough to hold up the fabric but light enough to wear all day and flexible enough to ‘bounce back’ when pushed on.

Let the hunt begin…

Tonight on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, our intrepid wild-craft explorer Rora hunts down a material cheap and workable for bustle creation.  Let’s check in and see how she’s doing.  What’s that she’s found in that cave underneath the kitchen sink?  LOOK OUT RORA!  Oh, my!  She’s found a discarded milk jug – clever gal!

Ahem.

Sorry, not much sleep last night – makes Rora a bit punchy. =)

Anyways, I cut up the jug into strips the longest way I could and fenagled them into a form that seemed to match the piece in the video.  I, of course, didn’t have exact measurements and such, so there was a lot of guess work and playing with my dress form to get a shape and size that seemed to work.  It’s a bit ‘lumpy’ because of the nature of the pre-formed material I was playing with, but as it will be covered by a big swatch of fabric, I didn’t think that would matter.

Here’s what I ended up with:

I used scotch tape at first to fasten everything together because I wanted to be able to adjust it without destroying the piece if I needed to take it apart.  Then, when I decided it was ready to be stuck together more permanent, I used staples at the joints.

However, I was concerned that the staples would catch on my fabric when I wore it, so I covered the whole thing in a layer of duct tape.  I also thought that it looked a little more ‘punky’ that way, too.

Finally, I had some grosgrain ribbon in my ribbon stash and I stapled two lengths to either side of the piece in the approximate same place as the original bustle.  Since this tie will be visible in my final outfit, I attached two d-rings to one end so that it will be adjustable and display something interesting when wearing it.

After working with this piece for a while, I figured out that the ties in the original aren’t just part of the collapsible part but helped maintain the shape.  What made this revelation for me was that my creation was losing it’s shape a little from the pressure of the ties around the waist pulling against the tension of the material.  Therefore, I added these little ties:

Here it is in action:

I needed to finish this element before I moved onto the next part of my costume – the bustle.  I can’t be sure I will get the look I want without having the support of this underneath the fabric.

So there it is!  The next element to my Steampunk lady!

I’m not sure what I had the most fun with, the creation of this or the research to find something that would work and would still be reminiscent of the history behind it.  I’m gonna go with both!

Today, October 27, 2012

Today’s Project:  Punk it up!

The other day, I had a lovely lunch with my Steampunk Sister in which we had yummy treats, great conversation and plotted our plans for our next adventure: TeslaCon. Squee!

As we were solving the world’s problems and designing some kick-butt costumes, my friend pointed out that we had about a month to get our act together.  The result of that little fact-nugget?  Rora panicked!

I had already begun the bigger of the two (or three) outfits I had planned as new pieces for the con, but realized that I really needed to get my butt in gear.

My poor sweetie, who is very supportive of my creative craziness, is surrounded by fabric, thread bits and weird metal widgets.  Good thing he loves me!

Which means, Dear Reader, you also will be inundated with Steampunk over the next couple of weeks….sorry about that! =)  Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll break up the creative monotony with other little projects; gotta keep you guessing!

Today, I thought that I would show the jacket that I worked up for my newest piece.

Here is what I bought at the thrift store:

It is your typical hip-grandma number, but I really liked the embroidery, which is accented with seed beads.  This has a Victorian feel, I think, since many items were hand embroidered and beaded.  I also like the detail of the exposed serging on the seams.  I thought that this lent a little to the ‘punk’. However, the shape and cut are all wrong.  Plus, I wanted to add some of the fabric that I’m planning on using for the bustle to tie the look together.

Here is the result:

Details on the collar…

And the cuff…

Sew some gears on it and it’s Steampunk!

The back…

And there we are, Dear Reader, the first step in outfit number one!  Prepare for more adventures in fabric, duct tape and hot glue as we create two more outfits and all the gadgets and doodads that go with it!  YAY for adult dress-up!