What a Charming Notion, Eminently Practical and Yet Appropriate as Always

Recently I completed my first large project (Simplicity Steampunk Pattern) and I enjoyed it. It took me roughly 25 hours including tea breaks and faffing about taking photos here and there. This project has inspired me to do two things at some point this year.

The first thing which it has inspired me to do in branch out into corset making. The simplicity pattern included a boned bustier. I had never worked with bones or anything even almost that complicated-looking ever before, and it was a pleasure to make. I am obscenely proud of it, even though it refuses to photograph properly. This learning curve has made me find someone who wants a handmade corset and will happily cover materials, so that project will no doubt be documented here over the next few weeks, along with market coverage etc.

The second thing that it has inspired me to do is to create the outfit above, for myself or a customer. It is a beautiful outfit, so very lovely. I plan on researching what it was made out of for the film, and try to find appropriate materials which I imagine will be a thick, printed cotton. I have no idea how I will find an appropriate pattern, I may have to adventure into making my own from existing patterns and my own intuition. I am also considering changing a few parts of it slightly to make it a little more wearable, since it looks like it'd be a pain to wear for anything more than about an hour.

I will take lots of pictures and update regularly as to how both these projects are going, along with photographs and reviews of the things I use during the projects, and how we get on at trading events, of course!