Another bustle, this time of the tie on variety, and some rambling about my steampunk successes in general

I made this a couple weeks ago and now finally have time to post about it! I was watching my niece Kayleigh again and didn't have time for much of anything while she was around. Now that she's gone I had time to play dress-up (one of my favourite pastimes) and do a bit of a photo-shoot. So without further ado....My bustle!

Right. Now that you've seen it and have had a moment to feast your eyes, I will tell you the story. It starts with a skirt. A well loved skirt that got a little...holey.

Exhibition A

Exhibition B

Please note, the holes in the rear of the skirt, and while your at it, notice the stains and the random red acrylic paint spots.

For a favourite skirt this was a sad occurrence indeed. I felt it was rather in appropriate to wear out-of-doors because of the holes, even though it had a decent lining. And so, for many months the skirt sat in the "fix-it-somehow" pile, though I had no solution for this particular problem. And then, one day, while browsing the internet and researching the style of Steampunk, it occurred to me that I would very much like to have a bustle. And while shuffling though my fix-it and other random fabric piles I saw the skirt and thought: How good a bustle would look on that! And it would solve all hole and stain problems!

Turns out, I had the perfect shade of olive green fabric already and just needed some tulle to give it some flounce and a bit of lace to trim and cover seams....All I needed was some serious motivation. Which I eventually, thankfully, found. I got ideas from all over the internet and sort of meshed them to suit my own needs.

3 layers of green cotton, lined up before tulle.

From white lace to grey lace.

                                             

I only had white lace, so I after a lot of research and brain-storming, I finally came up with idea to make a watered-down acrylic dye with black acrylic paint and some water. I smushed the lace all through it so it was evenly coated and then hung it to dry over my bathtub. You can see the before and after in that poorly lit photo there. I put a few layers of green and black tulle between each layer of the olive-green cotton fabric and carefully ruffled each layer before sewing it together.

While I was deliberating as to how I should sew it to the skirt, my genius husband suggested I simply sew ties onto it, so that I could wear it with said skirt, but then I'd also have the option of wearing it with other outfits as well. I had been talking of making a "tie-on" bustle next and really it was such a smashing idea I couldn't help but comply. I used more of the same dyed lace to complete it and act as a tie as well.

best picture I have of the tie

Looks good with the red purse I made recently

This picture doesn't show off the bustle very well, but I think it's pretty cool

And so there it is. I'm very pleased with it, and it has really motivated me to start collecting more steampunk-style things. As you can see in the last photo above, I've found some jewelry and random objects in my house that do a slick job of looking steampunk when pulled into the right outfit. The medallion/pendant thing on the necklace used to be the stand for the pen that came with our wedding guest-book. The pen had long since run out of ink and the stand had been lying around being useless until I pounced upon it and took it apart for my own conniving use! *cackle*  The "glove" is a bit of lace wrapped around my hand and secured with a safety pin and a plastic gold button that I rubbed with some black paint to make it look like a tarnished brass button..
The blouse is one that my mother made around 10 years ago for my sister who, about 4 years ago gave it to me, who put it into the "I don't know what to do with, but don't want to take apart and don't want to give away pile" and then, while searching for Victorian style blouses in all my clothes, found it again and thought "my goodness, it's perfect!"
And here is a close up of the hairclip I'm wearing:

I made it with some lacey trim (found in a free pile) I wound into a flower, a button I pulled off of an old green couch and then painted and some pheasant feathers (which I bought, *gasp*). Then I attached it to a bobby pin and now wear it on a regular basis.

Soooo....That's about it! I hope you liked it.
P.s I'll do an actual post on the purse I made out of a place mat next time!

Steampunk vest coat refashion

All right, one more post before the big Trip to the Keys. I meant to post this weeks ago but didn't get a chance to because of how busy I've been getting everything ready for going to Florida. Now, however, everything is packed and I am dressed and ready to go and now we just wait until it's time to actually get in the car and go! What a  nice feeling.

So, the matter of the vest coat. At least, I think that's what you would call this garment. It's like a coat but without sleeves, OR it's like a vest but really ultra long...Call it what you will, I found it at the thrift store for $2 and loved it.

Unfortunately, it wasn't my style. I could never wear this anywhere and feel confident in it, even if it did look good on me. So I decided it was refashion time. I needed to give to flair to this business-woman style coat thing.

 Thankfully, a little ribbon can go a long way for giving an item some flair....

And so can a bustle.  Yes. A bustle!

*hearts are floating around my head right now*  Now it's steampunk and I love it. And you better bet your buns that I wore this thing in public and will continue to do so whenever I can get away with it.

The first time I wore it was to a bell choir concert our friend was in. I paired it up with the blue shirt above, an a-line black skirt and some purple, blue and grey striped knee-high stockings. I felt awesome and I received a generous compliment from a girl who turned out to be a fellow steampunker. It gratifying to say the least. I've been wanting to sew a bustle onto one or two of my garments for a year or so now and I'm insanely pleased that I've finally done it. And it looks quite good, though I do say so myself! Now all I need is a pair of goggles and a dirigible!

Well, and a few more steampunk style pieces...This is only the beginning, my friends...

What do you think? Yay or Nay on bustles? Is steampunk your thing?

Dandelion update

Well, it's dandelion season and I've been all of a flutter gathering them and making all sorts of delicious things; from ice cream to pesto. Dandelions are one of the most amazing and useful herbs I've ever met. They really don't get the respect they deserve. I think I'm going to do a little series this coming week on the many things you can do with dandelions, leaves and blossoms. I know the roots are packed with all kinds of good stuff too but I haven't actually done anything with those yet.

Anyway, the weather is blissful and I can't keep my mind on a thing except that I want to be outside. Reading, eating, sleeping, sewing....anything I can do outside these days I try to. I also have some really good refashion bits to update, but since I'm not on my computer I can nary do a thing because I haven't got any photos on here.

I'll get my computer back up and running soon and be on top of this blog again. Right now, I need to go and bask in a grassy meadow while I eat and finish reading The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kitteredge. It has a great storyline. So fascinating and original that I can forgive the sloppy writing and poor character development....Plus, it's steampunk and that in itself is enthralling.
Anyone else out there a fan of steampunk?