Steampunk Outfit - Bustle Done

My next dress for the Elf Fantasy Fair in Arcen will be Steampunk based (read: very Victorian upper class Steampunk based). And in order to avoid more stress like last time with the Mombi dress, I really have to get started. And so I am, very slowly and tiny bit by tiny bit but things are coming together.

Today, I made the bustle pillow. Most bustle skirts are made with complicated wire contraptions which will not survive air transport so a bustle pillow is really my only option. I got my idea from this picture which I found somewhere online a long time ago:


No, the photo above is NOT my creation. I would like it to wherever I found it but it's so long ago that I really have no idea...

My other reference was my neck pillow (sadly no picture but it's blue fleece so am sure you can imagine it LOL) that I was playing around with one day. No, I have no idea what I was thinking either at the time but the thought of making a bustle pillow that resembled the neck pillow came to mind. So, using the above photo and my neck pillow as a reference, this is what I came up with today:


Not bad huh? It's made out the a bedsheet that was leftover from a Leia dress I had to make once for a friend's daughter and white lining. The bedsheet is on the inside of this as it is sturdy and will (hopefully) prevent it from opening up too soon. I had all these materials still lying around, so still on the frugality radar here. The ribbon I got about 18 months ago for only £1 and were intended for this outfit anyway so we're good there. The roses were purchased on ebay years back where I got an A4 sized envelope stuffed with these ribbon roses for about £7! Total bargain! And the best frugal bit is the stuffing. Nope, no fiberfill for me here... for the last few months, I've been saving all the cutoffs of everything I've been making and putting them aside. With the Mombi dress, that bag was full in no time! And there you go: free stuffing with fabrics I would have otherwise thrown away :)


Ok, so much on the frugal issue. The bf asked (and rightly so), why add all the ribbons, bows, and roses if it's a bustle pillow and the dress will be going OVER the bustle? Well, my theory is that this would have technically been underwear (albeit not made with those materials) and just like we do today, surely underwear in those days would have been decorated a little? Plus it looks so cute now! Yes, I'm very pleased with it :)

To show it off, here is one last photo of it on the doll (I was wearing comfy clothes and covered in threads so I had to post this on the doll):


It is not as blue as the bottom photo shows, thats just the lighting. So bustle done, now for the rest of the skirt...

Argh, the picture makes the ruffles look crooked... I tried so hard to get them straight... try not to pay attention to that please!

Comments

  1. Interesting, I found you via Creative Share on trendy treehouse, stop by to see me sometime
    www.chicmodernvintage.blogspot.com

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