Steampunk Masked Ball - Melia's Gown

My sister and I are going to a Steampunk-themed Masked Ball, and as is par for the course for me RE: costuming, even though we've talked about it for what seems like ages, we've kind of started a bit late!

While I'm not a stickler for Victorian-era accuracy (I honestly don't know enough to be a stickler!), especially in a Steampunk setting, I do like to do things at least a little bit right, which means proper underthings!

I am pretty excited about her gown - it is going to be pretty awesome, if I do say so myself! Melia has been such a trooper, bearing the brunt of the 'grunt' work - pre-washing, ironing, cutting out, etc.




Thankfully, I have a victorian-esque corset in the stash that fits Melia well enough that we do not have to start from scratch!  (Even though we should make one specifically for her one of these days....)


I also have quite a selection of bustles to choose from in my costume closet, so that is taken care of too!  I made this bustle a few years back for my red and gold stripey victorian, and if I remember correctly, I used  a modified Truly Victorian TV101.

(Bertha (my dress dummy) has no junk in her trunk, and the bustle is not as boufty as it is on a real human form!)    

The 'real' sewing started with the petticoat.  We used TV201, with a few modifications.  I found that I like the way the back hangs over the bustle if I turn the pattern piece for the back upside-down, and put the curve at the waist, and the straight edge along the bottom.  Totally personal preference, and probably doesn't make that much difference in the long run.

We also made the ruffle quite a bit deeper than the pattern; but there you go.  I can never follow directions.  (Pretty sure I'm allergic to people telling me what to do!)

Melia found some amazing 109" wide white muslin on an incredible sale, and we'll be using it for both of our underthings!






And here is where the REAL fun starts!  Quite a bit of the bits of both of our gowns is coming straight from the stash - all that is purchased in this picture is the muslin and skirt lining (ok, not in this picture) and the wide gold trim!

The pattern is pretty much exactly the petticoat, with a smaller ruffle at the hem.

Stay tuned for more sneak peeks into both of our costumes!

Once upon a time, I knew how to insert polls into my blog posts, but that knowledge seems to escape me at the moment!  At any rate, dear readers of this blog, would you be interested in seeing more details, how-tos and 'dress diary' type information on this blog, or would you rather visit a sister blog (pun totally sorta intended) which has been more or less costume oriented?