How I Made My Steampunk Outfit

Part II

So, the internet is awesome. In my last post I talked about how I turned this:

into this:

All with the help of some package instructions and the internet. Let me tell you, the internet is incredible and makes me feel unstoppable. We have the complete knowledge of generations at our fingertips and yes I use it mostly to look at fuzzy animal pictures shut up but if I WANTED I could teach myself anything. Academics, crafts, I think if I got it in my mind to build a shed or turn my apartment into a pirate ship I could, as long as I had deep pockets and a wifi connection during construction.

So the ugly white dress became an interesting green dress, but I needed more to make it wearable/awesome. I decided to do some ruching in the front, which I have never done before. But I spent a lot of time thinking about how I would do it and decided to go for it. So I got some thread, laid out the dress, went through it a few more times in my mind, punched the needle through the fabric once and then panicked and went to the internet.

But you know what? The internet told me to do exactly what I'd imagined. (High five for me!)

 Admittedly, it didn't turn out exactly how I'd imagined it in my brain, but, eh. Keep an open mind, right?

And then I knew I needed to pull up the train into a bustle. Spoiler alert, I'd never done that before either. I'd never done any of this. But the internet had.

The internet's done everything.

Again, I stared at it, pinned it, repinned it, got frustrated, and went to the internet. I found an amazing video on different types of bustles and surprise surprise, I was thinking of the fanciest kind there is.

I started by pulling up the very center of the back, since it was marked with the applique and was the longest part of the train. After that I was so nervous it would come undone I tacked each layer, strongly. I knew essentially what I was doing but I was also making the technique up as I went along... But it worked out. Then I moved to the right side, put a pin in the seam and then one in between the back and side. I ended up doing two layers, and tacking them both down at the same time. Then I did the same on the left side.

I meant to take more pictures along the way. I also meant to put in more layers. But at this point I was kind of done with this project and it may have been around 2 am the night before Comic Con. So, you get what you get. To make it up to you, here's a picture of me with Nicholas Brendon.

Why? Because I paid for him to look like my best friend, so I'm milking it. That's why.

Ah! The hat. There are a lot of tutorials online to make mini hats and top hats and all sorts of hats. I watched a few videos and looked at a few DIY's and then I grabbed an empty frozen pizza box, scissors, duct tape, and two round things to trace while I watched Arrested Development.

Because Jason Bateman, that's why.

Oh, and genius hilarity, that too.

But yeah.

 

I cut out a smaller circle for the top of the hat, a larger circle for the bottom of the hat. Then I cut a strip and taped it around the smaller circle. To be honest, I just eyeballed the whole thing and covered it with duct tape. 

 

 At one point, I realized that one side of the strip I cut for the side of the hat would have made one side taller than the other. I cut it off, but if I did this again I would probably make if skewed on purpose, because that would have been spectacular.

 

Also, I would have made it an oval because thanks to an idea pioneered by my brilliant mother, I punctured a hole in the side so I could install a clock. A clock. Inside the hat. I told you she was brilliant! The only one I could find small enough on such short notice (did I mention it was the night before?) didn't have a second hand which would have blown everyone's minds but no matter, it worked out. Thanks to a screwdriver to poke a hole, and duct tape to keep things in place. Handy-dandy.

 

Lastly, I cut off a swath of the lining from the front of the dress that I didn't need anymore and used it to cover the hat, since the duct tape didn't really match. I had some tacky glue that I adhered it with. Pro tip, start at the top of the hat and don't worry about the part where the brim meets the hat, since you can cover that with a hat band. It may have been because it was 3:30 in the morning, but I did that backwards. Also, lining is a bit thin so while it worked it would not be my future choice.

But, a couple Arrested Development episodes later, voila! I snipped off a few applique flowers from the underside of the newly formed bustle and in the morning, duct taped it to a headband. (Which I completely forgot to get until I'd finished the hat - isn't it great to procrastinate?)

All in all, I'm really rather proud of how it turned out! It was new, and exciting, and turned out great for my first time, I think. Plus, people at Comic Con were STUNNED at how much work (they thought) I put into it and took my picture often, which made me feel greatly validated for staying up almost all night!

Last life tip I'll leave you with is that not only are heels never a good choice, which I think everyone knows, but they are also never an okay choice. Not even for whatever you're thinking of, and especially not for a day of walking and never sitting down.

But it was worth it!