Started - April 2013
First worn - CostumeCon 31, Denver, CO (2013)
Reference Pics
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
Concept drawing
 |
| Trying to decide between the two |
 |  |
 |  |  |
Pulling it all together
April 4, 2013
Trying to decide between the skirt and trousers. I really like the idea of having a gold petticoat and bloomers. It sounds fun and quite fluffy. However, I'm not very comfortable in a short skirt. I've never thought I had good legs and this would show a lot of leg. Plus, just thinking of a trapeze artist doing their thing, it seems the trousers would be a better fit. Looking at historical pics, it looks like most did a short bloomer like thing but I don't like that so much. It has to be a silly fluffy skirt if I'm going short.
April 11, 2013
Yes, my cat is a wonderful fabric weight. The fabric is not going anywhere when Koko is on it. Doesn't matter that she's a tiny little thing, she holds it still. Even if you don't want it to stay there.
May 5, 2013
The wig is done! Except for the hat but the wig itself is done! Of course, with the monk's tonsure thing it has going on, I really do need to finish the hat.
 |  |
I followed this blogpost from LACMA to make my wig. I padded up the wig form as my head is a bit bigger and draped wet buckram over it. Let it dry and trimmed it down to a good wig shape. That sounds a bit easier than it actually was. It wasn't hard so much as it was painful. Buckram has very sharp edges and I had to keep trying it on and trimming it down. There was some scratches, a lot of wondering why I ever thought this was a good idea and quite a bit of whining.
Once I finally managed to get it to a proper shape, I wired the edges and padded it with an interfacing fleece. It was so much better to try on at that point. I wouldn't say comfortable though because it is rather rigid but not uncomfortable.
The paper twist proved to be difficult to find. I ended up ordering it online and had no idea how much I was going to need but since it was cheap and the shipping was a set price, I ordered a bunch of it. I ordered six little bundles and ended up using less than two. I was nervous to start gluing the hair on as hot glue guns and I have never gotten along but this was actually quite fun. I started off with a base layer that was just flat to cover up the white fleece and then glued the curls on. The paper twist takes curl really well just by winding it around a pencil or other round object. I had a bunch surrounding me so I would have varying widths and then just went crazy. It was so much fun that I didn't stop to take pics once.
I had realized from the beginning that I would have a bit of a problem securing this to my head once it was done. Unlike the mannequins from LACMA, I would be moving. And unlike normal wigs, you can't pin through the 'hair' to secure it. The solution was to leave a hole that the hat would cover up. I could then put my hair in a bun that would stick out the hole, use ginormous bobby pins to pin it to my head, and then slide the hat into place.
The braid will hopefully cover up however the hat is attached to the wig. I'm thinking whopper poppers at the moment but I'll wait until the hat is done to be sure. The roses are just temporarily stuck in there but I think they will be necessary. All the brown just kinds of blobs together and the roses separate it a bit. They are just something that I have in my stash so I think I will need to pick up more.
May 7, 2013
Muslin mockups are all done and that means the collar shape is finally decided on. I wanted to embroider it in a scroll design similar to Antonio's but that had to wait until everything fit properly. Got the collar figured out and then drew in the design, scanned it in and digitized it. I really love being able to digitize what I want.
Test run was done on my Evil corset fabric scraps. It was there and I couldn't be bothered to go look for another scrap. Used the gold thread I plan on using though since I've had problems in the past with metallic thread. This stitched out beautifully though and I'm ready to get started on the velvet!
May 9, 2013
Trousers are mostly done! The silk dupioni I decided to use needed a bit of extra body so I flatlined it with some wonderfully soft cotton sateen. Love this fabric! I wasn't sure of the right way to close Victorian trousers and then decided I didn't really care as this is steampunk and not historically accurate but I didn't want it to be visible. I ended up going with a hidden front placket. I actually really like the way it turned out.
And yes, they look ridiculous. I wanted poofy pants but they are ridiculous.
 |  |
They look more reasonable with the waistband. Still poofy! And these also show the gold trim I decided on. This is weird trim and impossible to stitch on without it puckering the fabric. I'm okay with it because I don't have the time to handstitch it all but I was glaring at it a bit as I was sewing it.
May 10, 2013
Back to the wig! The monk's tonsure has been bothering me so I grabbed a scrap of fabric and started experimenting. And this is the result!
 |  |  |  |
I know Antonio had a tassel and not a feather but this feather was the perfect blue and so fluffy that I don't care. Also, I found a fake flower thing at Jo-Ann's that had these little red flowers and green leaves that matched perfectly. I was looking for more red roses like what I had but when Bryan found these, how could I say no? Plus, they were cheaper.
And for the bodice, I discovered that my plan was going to change a bit. The plan was to have white ruffles edged in gold down the front. Well, that looked too much like a ruffled tuxedo shirt from the 70s. But the ruffles without the gold still looked tuxedo shirt. The fabric was somewhat bunched up and reminded me of Kaylee's fluffy ballgown bodice so I decided just to gather it instead. Not what I had originally meant to go with but it makes me think of Kaylee rather than powder blue and peach tuxes.
 |  |
Embroidery is done! The collar is quite long and my alignment did end up slipping slightly but by less than one inch so I'm calling it good. The embroidery for the shoes is done as well but after I took the pic. I also discovered that I don't really like the cotton lining showing. It's gold and sateen but it doesn't really match with the sheen of the rest of it. So I went digging in my stash and found this gold silk taffeta. It has the perfect sheen. Of course, there isn't enough of it so I'm only using it where it might be seen - the peplum in the back and the underside of the collar. But the bodice is all cut out and ready to be sewn!
 |  |
May 11, 2013
It may not feel like as much after yesterday but the collar is attached! I'm very excited to see it finally come together.
May 14, 2013
Sleeves! My original plan for the sleeves was to have the velvet be like a petal with a full white undersleeve. However, I'm running out of time and I don't think it will look quite right now. If the underside of the velvet is going to be seen, and it would be if it were a petal like thing, then I would want it lined in the gold taffeta. But the taffeta is far too stiff for a petal like thing. So, I grabbed the mockup of the hat, cut off pieces in a vaguely sleeve shape and basted it together to see what it would look like. Turns out, I like it. After a brief debate of how much white should be showing now, I started sewing. I have to say, these were the quickest and easiest sleeves I think I've ever drafted. Went together quickly and work really well.
 |  |  |
May 16, 2013
Got everything done but the shoes before the flight. Thankfully, they are entirely sewn by hand so it's not a problem. Was rather funny waiting in the airport as several guys asked me what I was making. They won't have ribbons to tie around the ankles as I couldn't find a ribbon I liked with it. The red of the velvet was impossible to match and using non-metallic gold just wasn't working for me. So, no ribbon. The costume is done before the con starts so I consider that a huge improvement over last year. Maybe I will learn not to wait until the last minute.
No comments:
Post a Comment