Land of eternal sundresses

To the sewers out there – do you have one pattern that you keep coming back to time and time again?

I used to buy patterns with the idea of using them once, perhaps twice.  I never really looked at the variations on the cover, because I knew that I only liked ONE of them, and that would be the one I would make (if I made it up at all….).  When I started drafting my own patterns, it was a similar fate.  The empire waist, ruffled front long dress was made in tone-on-tone black striped spandex stretch velvet.  It was never made up in a short version, never made with long sleeves instead of the cute cap/puff sleeves that I originally intended.  The crossover blouse was made up in soft grey knit, never extended to a dress length, never made up in alternating colour blocks.  With the exception of my super-simple dress pants (which I’ve made up in about ten different solid and pinstriped fabrics over the years), my ‘perfect’ t-shirt (which has never once been made up in anything that resembles an RTW store-bought t-shirt) and my corset patterns (which each have been made up multiple times) it’s pretty rare for me to use a pattern more than once or twice.  (Three times if we’re counting a muslin version too…)

McCalls 5659

But… then I found McCalls 5659.  It’s just a simple sundress.  Nothing all that special really.  It has a front and back yoke, with a pleated dress section that hangs in an a-line.  It’s short, but not too short, and even the variations on the pattern themselves are minimal.  It offers inseam pockets or patch pockets (which I’ve never added).  It shows an embellished yoke and a plain yoke (I’ve only ever done the plain version).  There is a hem border on one variation (which I’ve also never done).  Yet, I’ve made this dress up a number of times.

The first variation added an extra pleat to the back, and subsequently all of the following versions have adopted that pleat, but in the first variation I enlarged the hem, adding black godets to the hem.  I didn’t end up repeating that, though I do love this first dress – made up in a fabulous grey, white, black and pink print.  Every time I get a compliment on this dress, I point out that the print is girls with tattoos.

The second variation was a black, ivory, and two shades of grey geometric flower print.  I trimmed the hem in super-wide rick rack, and loved the weight the trim gave to the hem.  (Big wide hems like this do tend to get floaty on a windy summer day!)

The third was a bold red/pink/white/green poppy floral print.  I loved this fabric (and still do!).  The hem got more super-wide rick rack, but this time on the inside, so it looks like a little black scalloped edge.  One of those things that I’m sure only I can see.  The second and third dress variations have gone on vacation with me to a few warm places, and have regularly been far preferable than standard shorts-and-a-tank-top that make up the majority of my warm-weather travel wardrobe.  (Plus, being simple cotton, they wash up in a hotel sink nicely!)

At Dressew in Vancouver I picked up some ‘must touch me’ purple striped silk.  Shades of grey and mauve and purple and pink all muddle together in this fabric.  I also picked up some brighter solid purple silk – which became the lining for this dres and the accent piping and bias trim around the armsyce.  I’ll admit, I’ve only worn this one a few times – it’s so precious feeling, that I tend to reserve it for special occasions.

I’m almost finished the fifth and sixth variations as well – the fifth is another poppy print, this time bright red poppies on a red background.  It’s bold and bright and happy – just right for summer.  Since I liked the rick-rack hem so much, I repeated it here too. I couldn’t decide until the last moment if I wanted a contrast yoke or a yoke in the same fabric – so cut both.  This way, the black yoke is lined with the fashion fabric.

The sixth is a black and purple Hawaiian border print I brought back from my first trip to Hawaii.  I found the fabric among a few others in a very old and worn-out looking fabric shop on the side of a road in a small town.  There were rolls and rolls of fabric to choose from, but I stayed away from the bolder, more garish Hawaiian prints in favor of this one which has large leaves on one end (the hem) and small flowers on the other (the neckline).  I love the way the fabric pieces together to form almost a necklace of flowers in the yoke of the dress.  The hem on this one is more black rick-rack.  I think I’m really the only one that notices…

That’s not all though… I also have cut out a mauve embroidered silk (just waiting for the right lining) and a blue-on-blue Hawaiian print rayon (waiting for it’s solid yoke).  They’re both sitting, nicely labeled in the dining room right now – waiting for their respective parts to join, and move from their pile on a chair to under my needle, and then up into my closet.  They will be versions seven and then eight of this dress… more, I think, than any other pattern I’ve used before.

If you want to try this pattern too – I’ll give you a few hints:

• I found adding the extra pleat at the back gives nice fullness and still stays within the fabric width for me.  ‘Your mileage may vary’ based on your size and the width of your fabric.
• The pattern recommends self-bias for the under arms.  I don’t see the point of this generally, as it will rarely be seen, and since I’ve used cotton for most of these dresses, and solid yokes.  I’ve generally used purchased pre-made bias tape instead, except with the purple silk dress, where I used the lining fabric for the trim.
• Easing the dress onto the yoke almost always ends up with weird shapes.  Instead, I sew the dress to the yoke starting at each shoulder and moving into the center.  When I get to the pleat area I stop and go to the other side.  Then I manipulate the pleat into shape, and sew it down to the yoke as well.  Smooth!
• For the facing, I straight-stitch where the fold line will go – this makes it easier to gauge.  However, I don’t turn, press, and then hand-stitch the whole thing down – too fussy!  I turn the yoke right sides together, and sew from each shoulder as far towards the middle as I can. Then I turn back, and hand-stitch the small opening closed.
• To keep the yoke clean and crisp – a nice contrast for the puffy, floaty skirt portion – I top stitch the neckline, as well as the yoke line from the right side.

I haven’t started an embellished yoke yet – perhaps that will end up being variation nine?  I also have some gorgeous black batiste with ivory embroidery that I’d love to make up in this dress as well, and think that a white eyelet one would be super-cute as well.   Ahh.. so many dresses, so little time to sew!

I thought I’d share with you sewing on the rick-rack trim to the hem to create the little scallops:

Sewing down the trim to the fabric.

Step 1: Serge the raw edge of the hem. With a straight stitch, sew the trim down in the center of the trim, to the RIGHT side of the fabric, along the hem fold-line.  If you don’t have a serger you can zig-zag this edge, finish it with french binding, finish it with hem tape, cut it with pinking sheers, turn-and-stitch, or whatever other seam-finish you prefer.  Ideally I would be a bit closer to the serged edge than in this photo.

With the hem folded back but the trim NOT folded back. I did this on one of the dresses I made, but prefer it the other way.

Step 2: Fold in the hem

With the hem and trim both folded back

Step 3: Flip the bottom half of the trim to the back.  Press the hem.

Top stitching the trim while also securing the hem in place.

Step 4: Top-stitch the very top edge of the trim to the hem allowance and body fabric – catching the trim and the hem in one.

Brooks Renaissance Faire

A few weekends ago I finally got to go to the Brooks Renaissance/Medieval Faire.  I had wanted to go last year, but missed out because of timing (not being a driving-sort makes a big difference as to which events I can go to – especially ones that are two hours out of town!).  This year, however, I got to go!

Years ago I was interested in the SCA – but when the friend I had in the SCA moved away, that interest waned.  But, that does mean I have boxes full of (reasonably) appropriate clothing!

So first up – what I wore…

• White linen t-tunic with red yarn couching in a vaguely Turkish style (yes, underwear as outerwear – it was hot!)
• Brown belt – in a pattern that is similar to what you could get using card weaving
• Peach/green semi-sheer veil
• Faux blackwork purse/reticule

All in all – NOTHING that would actually be worn together if I was aiming for period – rather than “feels period-ish”.   Since I had no idea how dressed-up guests would get, and very little access to my stash due to the never-ending reno project, I was happy with what I picked out.  Since the website talked about people dressing as gypsies and pirates and fairies…. I figured that my costume choices would have a pretty wide latitude.

The Faire itself

Having been to a few SCA events, I think that I had more of that in mind.  At my first event, 12th Night, there was a large banquet, loads of people (all in impressive dress) and it seemed like a lot of activity.  At Tavern it was less so on all counts, but still interesting. At the two war/camp events I went to – there were workshops, vendor areas, food areas, encampments, and just a lot of overall activity.  There were very few people in ‘mundane’ modern clothing, and everyone was dressed up.  Still, from reading online, I figured that the “Renaissance faire” model was a bit different – so while I sort of knew the overall mood of what to expect, I didn’t really know the details.

Fighters

All in all, the Faire was somewhat underwhelming.  We arrived for the last few jousting matches – which was kind of cool, but I had expected more pageantry with that.  We wandered to the arts and crafts area which featured perhaps 5-6 artists – although some of the artwork was very nice, the overall selection felt as though it’s inclusion had been a bit of an afterthought.  Only a few of the artisans were working in styles that suited the event.  (One artist who was working with charcoal/pencil, doing sketches of dragons and knights.)  From there we pretty much blinked and missed a food area – hot dogs and ice cream… and went to the vendor area – with largely theme-appropriate offerings, and a few that weren’t so theme appropriate.  From there we wandered down to the locations of two encampments (the only ones on site), then watched two women do some cabaret-style belly dancing, and four guys (two at a time) do some heavy combat.  While we had a Hawaiian Shave Ice, we watched a woman do a little puppet show.  From there we were ready to go, and passed the petting zoo – comprised of two miniature horses, two sheep, and a goat.

Puppet Show

Perhaps my expectations were just overly high.  Am I putting unrealistic expectations coming from a ‘big city’ perspective onto an event planned by folks in smaller towns?  Do the camping events I have been to just by their nature have more “things” because of all the encampments (and thus, with all of those people staying on-site all weekend, more need for things like food vendors, taverns, etc)? Maybe the lack of workshops/classes is what helped me get more in the mood before? (Not to mention, make it possible to talk to people and socialize.)

Belly dancer

Overall, although it was interesting – I don’t think that I’d make it a destination again.  Perhaps fleshing it out as a day trip to include a visit to Dinosaur Provincial Park (with a chance to change in between!) might make the two hour drive each way more worthwhile?

What do you think?  Have you been to the Brooks Faire before?  How do you think it stacks up compared to other faires or SCA events?

More on Steampunk decorating

For more on the file of Steampunk home dec – I found this article on Geekologie, about a pre-decorated New York City loft.

From Geekologie - click to visit site.

I have to say – it’s not my taste at all – too overdone for my style. Still, I thought I’d share it for others. (And to go with the other articles in the “decorating” tag too!)

Still, the hidden rooms and secret passages might sell me, even if the “hey, let’s nail a bunch of cogs to the wall” doesn’t.

Steampunk – Garments

Steampunk – Garments

So, in thinking of all the different individual garments I would like to make  for a mini-steampunk wardrobe, it struck me that it might be a good idea to outline what I already have, to avoid duplication – or frankly – forgetting about things!

Basics

Skirts - for skirts, long and full seems to be the simplest way to go, although in later period the skirts did get narrower.  However, for the long and full category, I have:

• Long, full black cotton (blend?) skirt (metallic stripe skirt) – purchased
• Long full black and white striped cotton skirt with pleated striped edge and black piping -made
• Long full red silk skirt with black lace overlay – this is more of a costume piece, but might work if there was enough other details going on over top of it to distract from the motif of the lace.  (Spiders) -made
• Long full blue-shot-with-black taffeta skirt with pleated trim and lace overlay. - made
• Long, full black polyester/taffeta skirt (grad skirt) – made
• Long, not overly full, purple taffeta skirt (shot fabric) - made

Tops - The extreme fit of a lot of Victorian tops take them out of contention for me, and make them much less wearable for my body type, however there are a few I have which might work more for casual costume use, vs. anything approaching recreation.

• Black sheered (gathered) top with satin collar – purchased
• Black sheered (gathered) top with satin collar removed – purchased and altered
• Purple sheered (gathered) top with satin collar – purchased
• Red sheered (gathered) top with satin collar – purchased
• Pinkish-purple sheered (gathered) top with satin collar - purchased
• Ivory lace sheered (gathered) top with satin collar – purchased
• Black lace sheered (gathered) top with satin collar – purchased

Corsets – most of the corsets I own are more art or fetish-related than “pretty” to be suitable for a Victorian or Steampunk costume, however the following might work.

• Black cotton twill underbust corset with buckles, would work more for airship pirate/etc than for fancy dress. – made
• Gold overbust silk corset with black soutache, is certainly the right cut and colour. - made
• Purple and black brocade overbust, doesn’t fit as well as I would like. – made

Dresses – I think these dresses are most appropriate for the kind of costumes I have in mind, however they’re also the biggest investment for the least wearability.  That’s kind of a huge downside – on one hand they are difficult to alter if one part starts fitting worse, they require the most fabric and fitting expertise, and they also make the biggest impression- and thus can only be worn so often before becoming “tired”.  I’m a bit hesitant to make more at this point in time, especially considering how unsatisfied I am with my current body shape. Luckily, what I have thus far is minimal!

• Silver taffeta gown – with pleated sleeve edges, black fringe. I made this to go with the blue skirt with black lace overlay.  Currently it doesn’t FIT the way it should, and I’ve got a blue and gold brocade false vest front in it instead to make it fit.  So disappointing - made.
• Black PVC ballgown – obviously not appropriate for most wear – I can’t even really think of how to make it work, only that the cut is about right. - made

Over-garments

Cloaks, Capes, & Mantles

• Long black cotton cape – made
• Long black wool cape with mohair (etc) fulling – work in progress
• Blue linen-like cape with hand-woven brown and navy wool collar - made
• Brown/burgundy/navy cloak - made

Shrugs & Cardigans

• Brown shrug -work in progress
• Brown lace long sweater – made
• Blue and ivory pinstripe shrug – work in progress

Over-tops

• Black lace loose top – the one with the crystal dangles - made

Bustles & Aprons

• Black unlined lace-trimmed bustle - made
• Black unlined lace-trimmed apron - made
• Purple and gold sari-fabric bustle – in progress

Accessories

Hats - I have a number of hats, but not all of them go with all of my ideas for outfits.  Still, they certainly take an outfit from the mundane to the more interesting very quickly.

• Black mini top hat with veil and sequins - made
• Black mini top hat with veil – purchased
• Black mini wellington hat with black and red flowers, ribbons, buttons and peacock feather - made
• Vintage black velvet caul-style facinator with zig-zag detail, pearls, and veil – purchased
• Vintage brown feather hat (1940′s) – gift
• Vintage black top hat (full sized)  – purchased
• Silver taffeta mini tricorn with keyhole- made
• Green shot with brown taffeta mini tricorn with cogs/gears – made

Jewelry – like some of the accessories, jewelry seems to finish off an outfit nicely.  Lucky for me it’s small, easy to make, and generally affordable.

• Tudor-meets-Victorian jet, garnet, black pearl and cameo rosary-style draped necklace - made
• Pearls – so many different styles… – made and gifts
• “Key” pin with charms (more EGL style though) - made
• Pearl and silver heart pin – gift
• Cameo – traditional style – purchased
• Cameos – bat, octopus, skeleton, various colours - made
• Vintage pill-ring – gift
• Green shot with brown taffeta flower pin with veil – made
• White, silver, black and pink silk hair flower pins (2 each) - purchased
• Copper octopus necklace – made

Other accessories – things I just can’t seem to fit anywhere else

• Black stretch ruffled cuffs with antiqued brass snaps – made
• Black and white brocade spats with lace trim - made
• White lace parasol – gift
• Black velvet Victorian style reticule-type purse - made
• White jaquard Victorian-style reticule-type purse – made
• Ruffled black and white plaid bustle-like purse – made

Like the other post, I’m sure I’ll have more to add to this one as time goes by, and I remember things, or see their potential!

Purple toga-like dress

Every year for a number of years (with one or two times I had to miss it) I attended a convention with a Roman theme.  The Friday evening festivities were particularly themed, with a toga party for the meet-and-great.  Each year I aimed to make a new costume – usually hoping to be somewhat in theme, but departing from the normal “bedsheet” which became a staple for the less ambitious.

I thought I’d share some of the process for the purple toga-like dress I made one year.

Initial sketch for the purple toga-like dress

The initial design sketch.

I wanted something that appeared to be one-shouldered, but wasn’t.  Simply because I can’t often get away with not wearing a bra unless I’m also wearing an overbust corset – so this design would have the impression of being one-shouldered, but was actually two.  I wanted a drape effect over the one arm too, and I wanted to take advantage of being able to bead and trim things as well.  My original design also had a silver waist band – but I thought this would end up being  too much fabric, so I skipped it for the final version.  The dress itself I wanted to make to coordinate with a beautiful purple velvet mask I have.

Purple fabrics for the purple toga-dress

The purple fabrics – the lining is just a plain purple silk, while the overlay fabric is a purple netting with attached clear/silver rhinestones.  Both of these fabrics were from Reena Fabric & Saree Centre – as an aside – I went to school with Reena!

Dress (on a way-to-small dressform)

The finished dress (on a too-small dressform, as usual).  The white fabric is an embroidered chiffon (I think from Fabricland, though I forget), while the arm-scarf is purple chiffon (also from Reena’s).  The silver fabric is dupioni silk – I think it was from an Indian fabric store as well.

Close up of the embroidered fabric

Close up photo of the embroidered chiffon, the netting with it’s lining, and the arm drape.

hand beaded on silver silk

On the silver I hand-sewed on silver bugle beads, silver lined clear seed beads, and purple “oil spill” seed beads – they have the effect of changing colours.

Sleeve-esque

The arm drape is trimmed in the same beads, with the corners of the drape falling with tiny beaded tassels.

So, that was one year, another year I made a sheer white sheath (actually a Greek garment called a Chiton) with gold metallic threads running through it, (which I wore a sheer red, and then a red Indian Sari brocade scarf  - called a Stola) another year I made a similar one in a purple sheer with purple sequins (I had a purple sheer Stola for that one).  I actually loaned out the purple one, and still have to get it back!  I also made a one-shoulder gold silk dress with a gold corset to go over it, and have a steampunk-meets-gladiator costume in the ‘work in progress’ file.  Unfortunately, the event has changed a lot, and the time when it’s hosted I have some challenges to attend because of my current job’s annual schedule, so I don’t think I’ll be attending the next one in February 2012. 

Upcoming convention

It has been proposed that I might attend an upcoming convention (erm, upcoming being next summer, thankfully!) and while I still don’t know if I’ll go or not, it has me thinking about costumes/attire.

First up, the convention each year chooses a different theme, and has events centered around that theme.  This upcoming year the theme will be musical, and one of the sub-themes is Steampunk. Of course, this would mean a costume for the Steampunk element of the convention, but also costumes/outfits for all of the others as well….  Looking at photos from some of the public parts of the convention, it looks like while some people don’t really do much for the theme at all, some do just one or two little things, and there is a fairly nice-sized group that really does go all-out in the theme.  (Which, is a lot like a lot of the dress-up events I’ve gone to… where some people go under-board, some go overboard and some float in the middle….)

So… the Steampunk element of the convention is an activity (no, I’m not going to get too specific…), which dictates that the outfit must be something I can move around in a fair amount.  Real corsetry wouldn’t work too well, but corset-like garments that I can still bend and move around in would be fine.

The other themes include:

• Poodle skirts and saddle shoes.  The musical theme is 1950s, though it looks like it’s a short portion of the event, so probably not really important to dress up for.
• Music of the 1960s and the age of Aquarius. This will be a standing-around event, so pretty much anything will go…
• Disco and the 1970s… this is a more social part of the event, and looks like in the past one of the events that a number of people do dress up for quite a bit.
• 1980s – the event actually doesn’t sound like my cup of tea for this one, but it’s very public… very active, and very high energy.  Whatever I do for this would need to be very planned.
• 1990s – it appears that this is the “Cher” event – or rather, Cher’s come-back… LOL (Me thinks that the host perhaps is a friend of Dorothy?) This is another social part of the event that it seems like a lot of people dress up for – more so than they do at some of the other events, so this would be an important one to have a showstopper costume for…
• Finally they’re doing a general rock-star theme for the 2000s, which seems a bit vague to me, but it’s another social part with a lot of dressing up – so perhaps they wanted to keep it really open to encourage people to participate.

So… ideas…

1950s

My first thought when it comes to the 1950s is something with the whole poodle skirt look… then going into the whole big-skirted apron-wearing slightly classier idea… something like this:

From Naxo's Music Library

I certainly would love a dress like that – full skirted with crinoline petticoat, and wouldn’t the matching purse be adorable? Hahaha… Although knowing me, I’d want to do it in a skull and crossbone print or something like that…

Then I got thinking of movies set in the 50s.  Kind of like Grease, but my first thought was the (terrible! funny!) Cry Baby with Johnny Depp.

Photo from the Dreamland News

Which brings me to this photo of Traci Lords from the Horribly Confused blog:

From Horribly Confused

I’m thinking that the neckline on this, with the skirt of the top photo would be awesome… but a lot to pack.  That will be the hard part – and the other problem is that this is only a minor event – so perhaps just a top like this with a pair of jeans (rolled up? White socks?) I think this outfit will be LOW on the to-sew list really, since it’s not a big deal.  If worst comes to worse, I could wear a long pencil skirt like in the Cry Baby group photo above, with a t-shirt and neck scarf….

1960s

For this event, pretty much anything will work, but since I don’t think that it’s a significant dress-up event, it too will be low on my list of outfits.  I am not even sure if this one is a stand-alone event from the previous, or if they’re blending into one another..  I haven’t really thought too much about this, but I’m thinking of just something with a lot of fringe perhaps, or tie dye… neither really appeal to me though.  *sigh*

1970s

Ok, this I’m a bit more excited about – there’s ample room in the late-70′s punk movement… but, I’m thinking awesome costume-fodder in the mid-70′s KISS era…   Silver, black.  Silly cut-outs and ridiculous shoulder accessories.  HUGE platforms (not going to happen – since I won’t want to travel with 40lbs of footwear), bat-wings, silver studs, leather/pleather/vinyl…

From one-Sixth warriors

For inspiration – something from the one-sixth warriors’ message board. Obviously feminized, obviously something that would be a little bit more packing-friendly than huge spikes (hello TSA! nice to meet you!) and 20lb belt buckles… but still something over-the-top and cool…

I found this inspirational photo on a facebook page.

from a facebook page

The iconography of the KISS members might also be interesting – the Star for Paul Stanley, the Demon for Gene Simmons, the Cat for Peter Criss, and the Spaceman for Ace Frehley…. (According to Wikipedia (cus I wouldn’t know!) other members also did the Fox and an Egyptian Ankh – but I don’t think I’d do those two because it wouldn’t be as recognizable as KISS… )  I’m not about to dye my hair or anything, but I could bring one of my black wigs for this one too – though likely not…

1980s

Although the event for the 80s theme doesn’t really appeal to me that much, it’s still a good dress-up occasion, but not something I would want or need to spend a lot of energy on.  Lucky for me, enough things in my existing costume wardrobe could probably go together to create something inspired by either Cindi Lauper or Madonna…

From 80s fashion website

For Madonna – lots of beaded jewelry, lots of lace, lots of underwear-as-outerwear, full short skirts, beaded bracelets.. Although this look is all-white, lots of BRIGHT colours would also work.

From Tickified events

For a more Cindi-inspired look – not that different, just MORE colour – and more wacky-colour combinations.  Again, no hair-dying here, but one of those sideways ponytails would work with whatever hair colour I’m wearing, and perhaps for more of a Cindi-look, some of those bright clip-in extensions?

1990s

So if this is basically the era of Cher, then Cher it should be, right?  Cher is so well known for her costumes, which makes finding costume ideas easy.  The problem – Cher is also known for not exactly wearing a LOT of costume… she tends to be pretty exposed (or at least there is the illusion of being exposed) – which I just don’t have the body for!  So, whatever I do either needs to be a re-interpretation or something where I can cheat on the whole ‘exposed’ part of it.  Either way, there seems to be a LOT of glitz to Cher’s costumes.. lots of rhinestones, sequins, etc.

From SamanthaMo

The matching wig on this one is awesome – and a long/short fringe-hem dress in red glittery fabric would be doable.  I could make the neckline more wearable, or totally cheat with some flesh-toned fabric in there as well.  (Perhaps with some glittery mesh illusion over top?)   The other Cher signature is those huge headpieces she used to wear – all showgirl-style with a bit of an edge, and lots of glitz.  That isn’t going to work so well – since transportation would be an issue.

2000s

For this one the theme is so vague that I just don’t know where to start.  For easy costume-fodder, Brittney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Shakira, Byonce or Lady Gaga would make sence I suppose, but I think the theme is too vague to really help point me in a good direction.  I suppose for this one it will more be a matter of what kind of item would I like to make, and then which female pop star/rock star has worn something similar in a video or photo spread during the general time span?

I looked around a bit, and had really hoped to find some inspiring Christina costumes (I like Shakira better, but don’t have the belly for her costumes, since they’re almost always belly-baring!) but had very little luck.  I liked the Moulin Rouge (Lady Marmelade – 2001) costumes, but eh… I don’t know that I want to do something like that.  I like the 1940′s Candyman video costumes, but since they have their own era, that might not work so much.  So.. it’s on to Gaga.  Who I really don’t actually like that much, but.. whatever..

from Funny Reign

Of the set I saw, I think this would be the most interesting to replicate, and still be very transportable.

Steampunk

Of course, this is the area that I’m the most excited about, which is kind of crazy since it’s just one element of the whole – BUT… be that as it may, it’s still the part that I’m the most interested in doing.  That being said, I don’t see any reason why I nessessarily need to make something specific for this event – it could just be generic steampunk too.  But… why not Steampunk +music?

For inspiration, how about Abney Park, Dr. Steel, Emilie Autumn, or Raspuntia?   Emilie Autumn and Dr. Steel would probably the most costume-y (vs. just Steampunk attire’d).

From the PETA website (with an interview with Emilie):

from the PETA site

and then from the last.fm site:

From Last.fm

I love both of these looks – but unfortunately neither of them (directly as they are at least) would really work for the event – the huge skirt would make it difficult to move around much, and the corset in the first image would be even more restrictive.  Still, the bright pink/red hair (although these two photos show a more subdued burgundy, I always think of her with bright pink hair) would be great – and possibly involve some hot pink corkscrew hair falls… or even some dreadfalls perhaps?

Ah.. just too many ideas!   I wanted to create a category for this though so that I can come back to refer – and once I know if I’m going or not – start sewing!

From Loom

Purchased at Loom on Vancouver Island

A while back I posted about a cute shop near Duncan, BC on Vancouver Island called Loom, and promised to share photos with you of some of the delicious things I picked up.

Purchased at Loom on Vancouver Island

This one is a super heavy wool that blends from soft pink to bright pink to soft purple – I have in mind wool dreadfalls with it honestly, though I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do it at this rate!

Purchased at Loom on Vancouver Island

These ones are sock wools – though I suppose learning to knit would be a good first step!

Gala fabrics

Gala Fabrics

I made a point of getting to Gala Fabrics while I was in Victoria.  They have a Vancouver location as well which I’ve never been to (and one in Hong Kong too according to their website), but the Victoria location is central and was easy for me to get to during a recent trip.  It’s jam-packed (and yet doesn’t feel to crammed) with gorgeous fabrics from around the world.  If you’re looking for quilting cotton or home decorating fabrics, they have them, but where they really shine is fine fashion fabrics.  Here is where you are going to find shelf after shelf of Chanel-style wool boucle, beautiful laces, gorgeous silk brocades, and a huge selection of fine knits.  One of the more unusual sections (at least for me) was their “eco” fabrics – fabrics from bamboo, hemp, seaweed, and organically-grown cotton.  I loved the feel of some of the tencel fabrics, and was totally tempted by the huge selection of velvets.

"eco" fabrics at Gala

However, the one thing that I knew I could get here, that is tremendously hard to find locally is Millinery Veil material – often called French or Russian netting.  I purchased some from them when they came to Calgary for an annual sewing show, and that was on my must-get list visiting the shop in Victoria.  I purchased the narrow width in brown, red, black, and navy (leaving only the white and ivory behind) and also got some black in the wider width.

Netting from Gala Fabrics

I also couldn’t resist picking up some of this hook and eye tape – featuring extra-large hooks riveted to grosgrain tape (with a satin cover).  The shop owner suggested that this would be good for corsets – I don’t know how strong this will be – but I’m willing to give it a try on corset-like tops to start out with – though I don’t know if I’d trust my cinching to this.. we’ll see!

Cool hook and eye tape from Gala Fabrics

Have you been to Gala Fabrics before?  Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Gala Fabrics
1483 Douglas Street
Victoria, BC V8W 2G2
(250) 389-1312

Steampunk in the mysterious sub-continent of India

Once I got started working on my purple and gold sari fabric bustle I started thinking about designing a costume that was not unlike Dragonfly Designs by Alisa‘s Steampunk Geisha costume. Something that would combine something multicultural, along with the Victorian steampunk aesthetic. While I’m sure that I can (and will) wear the bustle without the remainder of an Indian-inspired costume, I also thought it would be interesting to explore further. My one problem (and it’s a doozy) I’m not really all that interested or experienced with Indian fashion.

So… time for research!

Colour

Photo From McKay Savage's flicker roll

I’m pretty comfortable with a monochromatic colour scheme.  Give me a  colour and I’ll find shades and tints and be happy.  I’ll find analogous colours that go with it… blue, blue-green, green… ahhh lovely.  One of the first things I noticed looking at Google images of Indian costume…. Colour.

There are colours that are brighter than I really would generally wear.. (though as I write this I am wearing a black cardigan with a black pair of yoga pants and a reasonably bright pink top (not as bright as the pink in the above photo though…), and MORE colours than I would ever wear together.  Like the above photo.. orange and pink… blue, pink and green, pink and lime… so much colour!   I did notice a number of monochromatic colour schemes though, but I do think that for this to really feel like something inspired by the fashion of India, colour is a really big factor.

Pattern

Photo from Amazing India

Again, this is something very different than what I’m normally accustomed to.  I generally wear small prints, or solids.  A few stripes and plaids perhaps, but nothing too bold.  The above photo is actually a fairly tame use of pattern compared to some of the other things I saw… but.. more colour!

Bling!

From Fashion Clothing Today

Accessories, trim, and other bling seems to be really important to the look as well.  The top photo shows the women wearing multiple bracelets, rings, and anklets -and other reference photos I came across showed the same thing.  This Lehenga might be for a wedding, and thus really bling-ed out.. but I think that this is also something I could consider in the costume.

Scarves

One other thing that I think really is iconic, is the scarf or veil.  Almost always sheer or semi-sheer, almost always colourful, sometimes decorated (and sometimes not), but I think that a head-scarf or shawl-scarf will be an important part of this outfit as well…so then comes how to wear it in an interesting way?

Why reinvent the wheel?

So in my research I also wanted to see what people were already doing, blending Indian and Steampunk together.

The first two I found on the Brass Goggles forums, posted by an individual with the handle “Stella Gaslight” (click for the forum thread)

From the Brass Goggles Forum, photo from user Stella Gaslight

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From the Brass Goggles Forum, photo from user Stella Gaslight

These are really just using sari fabrics in otherwise Victorian/Steampunk costumes.  Still a really nice use of the fabrics, and not unlike my gold and purple sari fabric bustle.

The band Sunday Driver often apparently dresses in a blend of Steampunk and Indian – though I find that it looks more Indian, even though it might sound Steampunk.

Photo from the Sunday Driver Facebook page.

Flickr user GothPanda also posted a photo in her photo stream of a pair of Indian-inspired Steampunk costumes.  I like the one on the left better – a choli top (or rather, a short-sleeved, tightly fitted black top with a round neckline), an underbust corset, a long full skirt, a draped scarf (pageant-style), a bustle, and a belt over the corset and scarf.

Polyvore Steampunk

The above is a Polyvore collection called Bollywood Steampunk created by a user named Pirate Buddah.  This seems to sum up a lot of the different ideas out there, from the embroidered slippers to the henna decorated hands.  It’s not dead on for what I have in mind, but it’s another good inspirational image. (Or, collection of images, as the case may be…)

Other discussions

Although I didn’t get a lot of clear direction, it was interesting to see some other discussions about an Indian interpretation of Steampunk.

• The Steampunk Empire
• Brass Goggles

I think that the notion of blending Steampunk (which to me always seems inherently Victorian, and British) with Indian fashion seems to make sense. There was strong British influence on the Indian people (as colonial ruling class does) and likewise there was a romantic notion of India in Britain (as seen in the old post cards of ‘belly dancers’ and adventurers).  From the Tor website, I found this (copied directly from G.D. Falksen’s article The world is not enough…but it is such a perfect place to start :

“The Indian subcontinent is especially viable for explorations into steampunk in part because of its cosmopolitan nature and in part because of its position as a key portion of the British Empire. Its role as a British colony makes it a natural recipient of Europeanized steampunk, but this should not undermine India’s own unique voice in the genre. Remove the British from the equation (perhaps by a dramatically more successful Indian Rebellion in 1857) and a wholly indigenous adaptation of technology becomes possible. However, it must be remembered that India has a long history of absorbing and blending diverse ideas, belief systems and sciences, and there is no reason to think that it would not give a unique look and feel to its steampunk even while subjected to colonial rule.”

How about Captian Nemo?  From Wikipedia:

“Captain Nemo, also known as Prince Dakkar, is a fictional character featured in Jules Verne’s novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) and The Mysterious Island (1874).  Nemo, one of the most famous antiheroes in fiction, is a mysterious figure. The son of an Indian Raja, he is a scientific genius who roams the depths of the sea in his submarine, the Nautilus, which was built on a deserted island. Nemo tries to project a stern, controlled confidence, but he is driven by a thirst for vengeance and a hatred of imperialism (particularly the British Empire) and wracked by remorse over the deaths of his crew members and even by the deaths of enemy sailors.”

Conclusion

So… I think that I might need a bit more research, or time to sit down and think about some of the ideas that have come up.  Perhaps a chance to look at some Victorian costume along with some Indian costume and see where there might be overlapping ideas… (like the yellow and orange suit waaaay up at the top of the page, and it’s similarity to Victorian bathing costumes for instance… )  Maybe time to get sketching!

p.s.

My title ‘mysterious sub-continent of India’ is straight out of a comment Raj made on the Big Bang Theory while trying to woo some gal. I thought it was cute.  I have no idea if India is mysterious or not.  I also know that there are some that don’t like summarizing all of the religions, cultures, classes, and histories of the people who are in the geographical area all as being “Indian” (just like someone in Vancouver’s East Side likely lives a very different life than someone in rural northern Quebec or in a fishing-centric village on the East Coast) but I’m rolling with it… because being so separated from that culture myself, its a good place to START.

Quilter’s Dream in Edmonton

While up in Edmonton I popped into a quilting shop called Quilter’s Dream.  I had just come from Earthly Goods, which was a wonderful shop, so I had high expectations.  However those expectations were tempered with some negative comments about less-than-attentive service that I had read online.

Faces swirled for privacy

My experience – wasn’t bad by any means, but wasn’t exceptional either.  The staff paid more attention to my mother by far than me (even when she told them that I was the shopper and she was just hanging out); in fact I don’t know if my presence was ever acknowledged until I went and asked someone about something. With that being said, I also don’t like to be crowded when I’m just looking around.

Well-stocked shelves

There were a lot of really nice quilts on the walls, and the shelves were well stocked and well organized. However, overall I felt uninspired.  Perhaps it was the way that things were arranged, but there didn’t seem to be a lot that really jumped out to me.  I did think about picking up a jelly roll (strips of fabric in coordinating prints and colours), but I have seen them cheaper elsewhere, so I didn’t.

Newspaper print fabric

The one fabric I did really like was the above newspaper kind of print – mostly because it reminded me of the fabric used in the Lip Service steampunk skirt I saw earlier that day.  However, I’d seen it at a shop in Calgary as well (and I think at a lower price point) so I didn’t bother picking that up either.

Quilter's Dream

I visited Quilter’s Dream’s south location – they have two locations in Edmonton.  Have you visited their shop?  Share your impressions in the comments below!

Quilter’s Dream
4359 99 ST NW
Edmonton AB T6E 5E4

Phone: (780) 496-9375
Tollfree: 1-877-373-9464

 

p.s. sorry for the iPhone photos!