Preparations for Steampunk World's Faire 2013 and promises of posts to come

I have been sewing like a mad woman since Steampunk Gettysburg (at which I managed to take exactly no photos BAD BLOGGER!)

The sewing marathon has been in preparation for Steampunk World's Faire, which takes place this weekend. I am still putting the finishing touches on my projects, so I don't have time for full write ups right now; however, I'm stuck at the office and in a lull so I thought I would at least preview the coming posts.

This year, I have made three new outfits, a new corset (again), a new bustle, my very first proper petticoat, my first round hoop skirt, and my very first self-draped pattern.

Outfit #1: polonaise in stripes
My friends and I all bought versions of the same fabric. We have visions of all wearing outfits in this fabric at the same time. Silliness.

For this project, I used the Truly Victorian TV 410 (1873 Polonaise) along with a TV underskirt pattern.

Outfit #2: Steampunk Alice in Wonderland
Another friend will be attending as steampunk Ariel, and she talked me into doing another princess. I've avoided doing an Alice costume for a long time, but this seemed like the perfect excuse.

I used the Laughing Moon drawers pattern in white, the Simplicity Civil War Chemise in periwinkle, I made another version of the Laughing Moon Silverado corset in matching periwinkle, the Truly Victorian Walking Cage Crinoline (TV 142) also in periwinkle. I topped it off with a modified version of a 1950's apron from Simplicity. The idea is to give the impression of the Disney version of Alice's outfit, but using a somewhat deconstructed looked.

I was inspired by this image from the Truly Victorian website:

 Imagine this outfit with a blue hoop skirt, blue corset, and blue chemise. Then top it with an apron.

Outfit #3: A ball gown inspired by Charles Worth
I have been drooling over the Worth/Mainbocher online exhibit from the Museum of the City of New York. If you haven't seen it, you must go. It's an incredible resource. Well documented with lots of high resolution images you can inspect for detail.

I have been in love with this dress for quite some time:

The one I'm making has a very different color scheme, but the lines are the same. To make this, I am using the blue corset I made for the Alice costume, then I made the TV 163, the Imperial Tournure (the new lobster tail bustle)

I'm topping that with my first real petticoat, TV 170. I made the version on the left:

I drafted the front asymmetrical drape myself. This is a major jump in my skill set, and I'm ridiculously pleased with myself. I modified the Butterfly Train from Truly Victorian (TV 361) a little because I didn't have enough fabric, but it's looking good:

Lastly, I heavily modified Truly Victorian's 1892 Ball Gown Bodice (TV 490) so it would fit over the bustle. This may have been more trouble than it was worth, but I'll discuss that in another post:

So... I'll have many posts for you in the coming weeks. As soon as I recover from this weekend and get the sewing room back in order.