SteamPatrick's Day Accessorizing

You'd think there'd be enough time in three months to get some serious work done on our steampunk clothing. Jeremy and I have realized that this is why some people live their steampunk persona all the time, because it's hard to get anywhere with it otherwise.  So considering that we only have steampunk events about every three or four months our clothing is coming along at a very slow pace.

In the end I had no new clothing pieces but two great new accessories.    The first is my grandmother's cameo.  It's a beautiful antique piece. 

The other piece is a fun (not old at all) pendant pocket watch that my sister found, knew I would love, and bought one for herself and sent one to me!  It was an awesome surprise since I recently came across some of these watches and thought they were totally classy.  I love having accessories that are strictly feminine since a lot of times girls will adopt boy styles to look like they belong in the same "group."  Sure, everyone can wear steamer goggles but girls should have some of their own accessories as well. 

Also my sister added a hidden picture of Jeremy sporting his "friendly chops."

So where's my corset? Well, currently it's like this:

The left is a muslin (half).  In the middle is one half.  There are three layers.  The outer layer and a canvas lining attached on the end is the actual lining (all crumpled up at the top), that gets sewn on as you place the bones.  On the right is the half of the corset that I've started sewing bones into. 

As of Halloween I had all the outer pleather-stuff pieces cut out.  So I did make a ton of progress since then.  I cut out two more sets of the 12 pieces, and got them all sewed together and got 7 bones sewn in. 

It's definitely interesting to watch the shaping com out.  Of course it is also agrivating.  I can't use any pins because the pin holes in the outer fabric (if I can even call it fabric) would be permanent.  Also that "fabric" is so sticky I can't slide it through my machine!  I have the whole working area of the machine covered in shiny-side-up freezer paper so that I can get it to slide through.  But it started out pretty well.

I got some nice channels sewn in.  See how the boning raises up a little bit "filling out" the channel?

Well then it started to do this.  Obviously I'm having some HUGE problem with the tension of my sewing machine.  But I've tried everything!  I''ve adjusted both the top and the bottom thread tension both up and down!  I don't know what to do. 

So that's when I give up and pack it away.  . . .curses. . .

So I'll pull it out again sometime on a day when I have patience to spare and try to figure things out.  But needless to say--I was not wearing a corset for SteamPatrick's Day. 


Next and Last up in the SteamPatrick's Day Recap: Serious thoughts that relate to real life and our practice of a "Steampunk Lifestyle."

$15 and a Thrift Store

With the season of "legitimate" public costuming quickly approaching I have been itching to get to work on my steampunk clothing.

Yes- literally itching.

It's that feeling on your hands after sorting through racks of junk of countless concourses of other human beings at the thrift store. And you have to use three baby wipes when you get back in the car to wash up before you start to feel even a little bit normal.

I have found some real winners though, and I now have a great stash of materials to work with.

Not convincing? Check out that plastic-y fake leather jacket towards the front--Winner!  Ton's of potential for working on my outfit.  

Here's some of my inspiration pieces (with elements I like) that I gleaned from the Internets. 

 That is a Steampunk Princess Leia.

Yeah she's pretty cool. I like that her corset is a halter top--it kind of looks like a gun sling or whatever you call those things.  I also like her packs slung over opposite hips.

 I really like this skirt.  I don't know that I will go this direction on my current costume, but I do appreciate the layering of different fabrics and materials.

 This is great.  I like the industrial zipper and the buckles.  And I would wear this dress to church--it's not over the top costume-y.

Here's a picture of an actual period dress in the style I'll be gravitating towards.  I think I'll be doing an overskirt similar to the one in the picture.

I did some reading on Victorian-era clothing, and it's amazing--overnight I've become a huge critic.  I see people's outfits that combine pieces from conflicting periods and want to yell, "No!  That's wrong!"

But steampunk is a fantasy genre, so I should probably lighten up and let people do whatever they want.

Because I certainly plan to.