Steam Century Mystery Night Is Here!!!!
Mike and I had a great time this evening at the the Mystery. We listened to beautiful music, great storytelling, and made many new acquaintances! The HMA Badger were excellent hosts and we hope to be back for one of the future Mysteries. The next Mystery at Midway Village is set for July 17th. Information can be found on the SCM Page.
We also helped out Gallowglass Academy with the Bartitsu Demonstration this evening. Bartitsu is the martial art style possibly used by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's, Consulting Detective, Sherlock Holmes. Interested in more information? There happens to be a Bartitsu class going on April the 17th. If you are interested you can check out the class information

Mike and I left early, wearing a new corset while still dealing with a lingering cold is tiresome. However, we look forward to crossing into the realm of Steampunk again soon.

Besides getting my new Civil War Dresses done for Naper Settlement, I have my next Steampunk projects in the works.

I think I may put the Jacket aside and focus on something a bit more Edwardian. My mother-in-law gave me The Edwardian Modiste as a recent birthday present and I have picked a dress out of the book.

Or I will go with a dress I just love from Victorian Fashions and Costumes from Harper's Bazar, 1867-1898, the picture is dated 1889.
I also have a fencing outfit to complete....also from Harper's Bazaar and also from 1889.

Day 12 (Steam Century Mysteries is tomorrow)

Accessories make the dress, so pulled out a hat from my early reenacting days. I purchased the hat before I learned that I should be wearing bonnets, not brimmed hats (save for the swallowtail style and those for riding). So this hat has sat in it's hat box for 15 or more years. Now it has a purpose. I put together some Steampunk Style decoration and hat pins to bring it inline with the outfit I will be wearing on Saturday Evening.

The outfit still needs a few extras, such as googles, but I've not found something I like....I will post pictures of the outfits soon.

Day 11 (3 days from Steam Century Mysteries)

Ouch...okay sewing gremlins I get it! I officially give up on trying to finish my new Steampunk jacket after I drove a quilting pin almost 3/4 of an inch under the nail of my left middle finger. It's gross and I'm bleeding and it HURTS. So I just have to concede and wear one of my backup outfits. I will just have to premier the bustled jacket at Cyphan in June.


I have two backup outfits, one the bustle dress I wear for Bartisu Demonstrations with Gallowglass Academy and the other is a co-pilot costume that is more mid-1930's. Since my husband will also be doing a 1930's style costume I think we should match. I will be sure to post pictures of us on Saturday.


But for now I think I will put the sewing to the side. I leave to visit my little sister in California and I should pack and get ready for that too. This blog will go quiet for a few weeks until I get back and then it will be a race to next dresses finished up for the Naper Settlement Civil War Events. They include a burn out floral day dress and a couple of new calico work dresses.

Day 10 (4 days from Steam Century Mysteries)


It's done...It's done....It's done...It's done....The Corset is finished! There were some headaches and lots swearing along the way. But the corset is wearable. Honestly, I still need to cover my eyelets but that can be done later. Of course, now that this one is done I know where I need to change things to have the corset fit and look better; but that will be for version two. For now I am as happy as I can be.

As for the jacket the test fabric/lining will go together tomorrow. I really think I have a shot to finish as long as the basement stays dry!

Day 9 (5 days from Steam Century Mysteries)

The jacket pattern has been drafted, mostly from scratch and the paper has been clipped away. Tomorrow I will finish the corset and cut the lining/test jacket. We will see if we can finish this for Saturday......

Day 8 (6 days from Steam Century Mysteries)

What happened to Day 7 you ask? It was Easter Sunday was a day of rest, family and celebration. No new sewing to report. Not to mention my head cold sucked!

Today, I helped my friend Donna create her first garment for Civil War Reenacting. A work stay from Past Patterns. It's an easy item to make, requiring no busk or boning and will allow her to acclimate to the tight clothing of the period. When she left today she had the bias/cording and eyelets to put in. I am so very proud that I could help walk her through the process. I also loaned her one of my work dresses to try on.

As for my corset. Most of the fixes are in and I've started to work on the dress jacket. Right now with such a short window I have to consider this may not get done in time. With this in mind, Mike and I created a backup plan for me, just in case my cold and schedule get the best of me.

Day 6 (8 days to go before Steam Century Mysteries)

Well nothing much to report today. A Spring cold cracked me up side the head big time. Then, as I was about to put the boning in I noticed things were not right and I had to rip out several seams because a piece had been sewn in upside down. That has been fixed and tomorrow the boning and busk will go in!

Day 5 (9 days until Steam City Mysteries)

What's fun about making a corset....nothing. Now wearing a well-fitting corset is another matter. I really don't have too much to report today. I spent most of my time serging, sewing seams, casing steel boning (and the busk) before calling it quits. At least by the end of the day, my project had the basic shape of a corset. Tomorrow's goal is to sew in all the boning/busk I cased today. I wonder how many needles I will break.

Day 4 (10 days before the Steam Century Mysteries)

Today was a mixed bag in the goals department.

1. Embellish the buttons for the jacket-I have enough of some items, and not enough of others. I took the Pewter buttons (as purchased on the left) and washed them in a bit of Ultramarine Ink to match a bit more with the jacket material and then picked up some embellishment items. I didn't have enough of one of the components to make the buttons match, but that will be fixed tomorrow (completed button on the right).

2. Have my test corset fit @ SCA Practice. Lisa did the fitting for my modified Victorian Corset Pattern from Past Patterns. It went well, with only a few pins here and there. I am very pleased with the results. And the best news is I don't have to cut apart the test piece for pattern pieces!!!


3. Re-cut the corset pattern. I'm taking a break from cutting to update my blog, but the pieces will be cut before heading to bed tonight.


4. Boning and busk layout. I took my steel supplies with me to practice but didn't have the chance to layout the boning (I have too much fun practicing with Rapiers!). This will also be finished up before I head to bed.

My goals for Good Friday are simple...not. Corset Sewing and drafting the Jacket Pattern from the 1889 Garment Patterns book or seeing if I can make some major drafting changes to Simplicity's Civil War Pattern 2887.

Day 3, Part 2 (11 days before Steam Century Mysteries)

After a Birthday Dinner with friends and watching Sherlock Holmes with the husband; I got to work by first sewing on the internal lacing of my bustle. I still don't think I have the correct tension, but I know the lacing needs to stretch a bit.

After tying up the bustle, I went to work sewing the back pleats of the underskirt and giving them a spin on the dress form. Much better!! The final fitting and the waistband will have to wait for the corset and the petticoats layers.



The goals for Thursday (Day 4) will be:
1. Embellishing the 12 large pewter buttons I bought at the Kalamazoo Living History Show
2. The corset fitting @ SCA Practice.
3. Re-cut the corset in the proper material
4. Boning and Busk layout is correct.

On a final note, here is a sample of the fabric for the jacket and over-skirt of my bustle dress. Shown in this photo are the right and wrong sides. I am not sure yet, which is which!

Day 3 part 1 (11 days before Steam Century Mysteries)

Well, the lure of the the sewing table called me back. I put Sherlock Holmes followed by League of Extraordinary Gentlemen into the Laptop and got to work.

First, I cut the gored panels for my underskirt. At first the fabric and I did not see eye-to-eye but things settled down when the cloth conceded that I was right and we were doing it my way. While cutting the fabric I decided that I would need to alter my design a bit with the addition of another fabric for the double-breasted jacket pattern I will be drafting out of Garment Patterns of 1889.

After taking a break from pattern matching my panels, I did a test lacing of my bustle, and boy does it now have Junk in the Trunk!! I pinned the lacing in place and I'm letting it sit on the dress form until tonight when the lacing rings get sewn in.

Then it was back to the skirt panels. The fabric was still giving me trouble. Woven into the plaid design were stripes of heavier thread, almost fine cording so once cut the fabric began to fray madly at those stripes. I sent all the panels through my serger, hoping the pattern would not be stretched out too much. It was a wise move since it actually made matching up the plaid a bit easier...though not perfect. I put in my pleating, dropped it over the bustle and realized that I had applied the back pleats to the front of the dress. I'm going to be pulling them out this afternoon. To the right is a picture of the incorrect pleating.... more later.

Day 2 (12 Days until Steam Century Mysteries)

Well today was a good day. I've decided to use the Past Patterns number 213 for my corset. I'm a bit long in the torso so my first job after cutting out the pattern was to lengthen it a bit. After snipping and taping; I cut out the pattern, wondering why there were so many pieces...Well, I managed to cut all three of the cup styles (B, C and D). Dumb!!

Selecting the C cup I got to work and put the pieces together and gave the test corset a spin on the dress form. Not bad, but I will need a proper fitting on Thursday at SCA Practice. That's all for the day, since I have to see the dentist (did I mention I've already been to the Doctor's office today?), and then watch Sherlock Holmes and Justified tonight. Tomorrow I will start on the skirt. I will leave you with a preview of the fabric I think I'm going to use.

Day 1 (13 days until the Steam Century Mystery)

Well, I've finally begun work on my second Late Victorian outfit. I've been an American Civil War Reenactor for over 20 years and branched out 14 years ago to SCA and about 10 years ago to World War II.





I've always been interested in all things Victorian. As a grade-school student my mom and I read authors such as Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Sir A.C. Doyle and others. The Steampunk Universe seems like a perfect place for my childhood imagination to come out and play. And my creative side gets a chance to design and make clothing I most likely would not get to show off at a historical event. Originally I started making Steampunk Style jewelry (some pieces are available in my eBay store and soon Etsy.com) and then realized I needed to be a bit more covered to attend Steampunk Style Events!

What is Steampunk you ask?
Steampunk is bringing together the elements of a Steam Powered world (the Late Victorian & Edwardian period of history) and mixing in Fantasy and Science Fiction. There is also an important element of Steampunk that seeks to take the modern and reinvent it in the Steam genre. Computers, I-phones and other modern conveniences take on new guises in the Steampunk world.

There are two distinct sources of Science-Fiction for the Steampunk genre. Please note that both lists are not all-inclusive and there is a wealth of books, shorts stories and more that are on the Internet and in bookstores.

First there is the SF that was written and published by those who lived during the LV&E era such as H.G. Wells, Lewis Carroll, Robert Louis Stephenson and Jules Verne. Second, there are the modern authors such as Michael Moorcock (Nomad in the Time Streams series), James Playlock (Homunculus), graphic artists such as Alan Moore (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), Phil and Kaja Foglio (Girl Genius), and anime/manga artists such as Hayao Miyazaki (Castle in the Sky, Howl's Moving Castle) and Koichi Chigira (Last Exile).
As for fashions, the Steampunk world pulls from many sources, some reaching back to the Age of Pirates, others firmly grounded in the time of King Edward II and all points in between. My needle casts in the Late-Victorian period for my clothing.
My first attempt (the blue dress to the right) was done a few years ago and is a nice bustle dress, but a bit early for use with Steampunk. My Second attempt will be pulled from the pages of Ladies Magazines from 1889, and will have a small bustle. I don't have a proper bustle so I will be making that undergarment first.. This is a confidence builder for me as I have lots of outfits to get ready for vending @ Cyphan at the end of June.

I started today (at around 4:00 PM) with some printed cotton satineen that will serve as the fabric for both my bustle and corset. I researched through my own library (over 200 printed sources and nearly 80 gigabytes of digital references) until I found enough pictures to make a rough pattern for a bustle. Including a break for dinner I was finished by about 8 PM. Overall, I think my first attempt isn't too bad. I didn't have any spare steel hoop boning so I substituted 3/8 inch half round reed. I will have to put in a bit of lacing to shape the bustle more but I wanted to give the reed and the fabric a couple of days to get used to each other. Tomorrow, between visits to the Doctor and the Dentist, I will be cutting and shaping my corset pattern. Ick.

Well Here is my first real blog post. For right now at least I've decided that this blog is going to focus on

Just doing set up for right now.....