Put a Button over it

Yeah, that's the great thing about steampunk. If you screw up, you can put a gear or a brass button over it.

Crystal has started the sewing of her pleather corset, and Sam is currently disassembling a clock which my dad donated to salvage the gears. I just finished making a blue lace choker which I am rather proud of. This thing has been taking up all of my crochet efforts for the past couple of weeks, and I am thoroughly happy to see it finished.

 Here's how it looks when its on:

I found the pattern through Ravelry: http://www.theanticraft.com/archive/lugh06/asphyxiation.htm
I would eventually like to add a brass button or copper gear to the center of the rosette.
I did modify the pattern by adding a few ch5 loops to secure the rosette to the individual motifs, and I added some ch10 loops for button holes.

Help from Dad

Ok, so I got Dad interested in helping to build the steampunk stuff. Which is great, because he knows way more about hardware than I can shake a stick at. He let me do through boxes of spare parts that he had in the garage, and took me to Home Depot to fill in the gaps. Donna also got into it, donating an old 80's vest to the cause. It was already covered in gold and silver buttons of every shape and size, so it looked steampunk enough. I tore of the plastic looking pieces and intend to replace them with buttons or gears.

Here is the start of my "backpack":

Got some aluminum duct stuff from home depot, plus a plastic freezer mug I got from goodwill. We cut the handles off the mug with a handsaw, and sanded down the stumps. Then we cut the aluminum ducts to be as tall as my backpack should be. That part is still in progress, but we drilled copious holes in the scrap segments and put those inside the mugs with battery power christmas lights. Its nowhere near finished, but its definitely a start.

Anyways, I drove back to Missouri today, and was able to share the boxes and bags of scrap pieces with Sam and Crystal. Crystal was pretty busy working on cutting out the pieces for her pleather corset, but Sam couldn't help digging into the pieces and building his gun.

Here is Sam trying on the vest and the coat I brought back, and then with the gun he made in about 2 hours out of the scrap boxes. The only tools required were a pair of tin-snips (loaned to me from dad) and a screw driver. The hose will eventually connect to his back pack. The base of the gun is a flint spark igniter gun that was for my dad's hot air balloon. It still sparks, but dad said it didn't work well enough for him to use, so he donated it.

Raiders of the Lost Costume Closet

Got to Michigan around 2pm today. Dad was on a conference call, so I amused myself by raiding what is left of my once glorious costume closet. Yes, the really impressive victorian pieces (a lace/velvet overcoat, and an underskirt made of LAYERS of pleated silk) either got donated to the theater or ran away with Julia, but there were still some good pieces yet to be had.

The Black lace shirt is REALLY pretty, its just WAY too small for me. I picked it up at salvation army years ago for my sister, but since then my step-sister has been the only one small enough to wear it. I would guess its a size 6. The coat is my dad's old Make-we-merry piece. I think it would look good with a hat or belt, but those are easy enough to come by. The last dress is one we used as our "victorian school girl's wear". It is full length, and stretchy, so i think it fit me when i was a size 12, but i didn't bother trying it on too see.

This skirt made me SO happy to find it! It has been in storage for so long that I think the trim is starting to come off, but that is an easy fix. The panel in the front has a matching vented panel in the back which makes a slight train. So pretty, but it doesn't fit me anymore. I have several sets of hooks-and-eyes in the back, so I think it will fit sizes 6-8, maybe smaller. It doesn't fit me though :(

Like I said, some of the really nice pieces have disappeared, but they may turn up in some other area of the house. There is also the chance that I can get them back from the theater if I really get desperate.

I plan to raid the workshop and see if there are any useful metal pieces laying around that I may be able to get my hands on. If I am really lucky, I can get my dad re-interested in victorian costuming and the whole steampunk thing, and he'll help me out with some of the metal and wood work.

Clay and Paint

So we got some sculpy brand clay at Joann's the other day for about $2.50. Also bought some metallic acrylic paints for about $2 a bottle. We were able to mold and model about 20 gears out of the block of clay, and painted them after they baked. The paints we bought were by Deco art, and the copper color (worn penny) was awesome. The gold and silver were thin and took 3 or 4 coats. I dug out another bottle of silver I had from a different project, but it was just as thin. All together, though, it just took some extra patience. I think spray paint will be the way to go once we use up the acrylics that I bought.

Goodwill = Win

Went to goodwill after my final today, Vicky went with me to help search out things that might qualify for victorian costuming.

Here's what we found:

Leather vest is a men's Large, Grey pinstripe is a Mens XL

I liked the yellow/brown skirt, think it will match copper accessories well.
Its not floor-length on me, but it will look awesome when its picked-up.

The teal is a nicer material, but shorter.
Probably good for layering or bustling

 

These shirts were a great find.
The lace one on the left is perfect for under a corset/cincher. (Sm/M)
The one on the right has the high neck and buttons. (M/L)
Both are very victorian and will match any colors.

I liked the black dress mostly for the waistband,
would look great as a top with lace at the collar. (sz 8)
White one will look good as is. (sz 12)