Goal Accomplished: Victorian Bustle Dress

I've said it before, but what initially started me on my journey to steampunk was that I wanted a pretty Victorian bustle dress. I couldn't afford to buy one online, so I started putting together a thrift store steampunk outfit. Eventually, I started sewing. I set myself a goal for this year: make myself a full Victorian dress in time for Dickens on the Strand. Well, I've finished it a few months early...











I probably should wait and make a grand entrance in person and surprise everyone, but I'm just so excited to be done with it.

This is made using the Burda 7880 pattern. The only change to the pattern is the sleeves. The original sleeves were too small in the shoulder, so I had to add more pouf and I borrowed these from the New Look 6599 Blouse.

The fabrics are all 100% cotton. The solid purple is cotton sateen and the patterned fabric is plain old quilting cotton. I omitted the lace called for in the pattern and used ribbon by itself for trim, and fringe for the front swag. I may try to add more fringe to the back of the bustle and possibly more ribbon, but I'm not sure. The bustle is supported by a bustle pad. I'm not wearing a corset underneath in these pictures, but I hope to have one completed eventually that works underneath this dress. The buttons came from this ebay seller, whom I recommend if you need a lot of buttons and want to choose your style precisely.

Recommended Steampunk Patterns

In response to someone's question elsewhere, I decided to go ahead and put together a list of steampunk sewing patterns from the major pattern companies. This isn't an exhaustive list, but it's a place to start.

Simplicity:
This is a good men's pattern. It's got a good vest, shirt, and frock coat. I made the vest from this pattern.

Here is a pattern for a Western saloon girl, and some more burlesque looking outfits, which can be a popular steampunk look.

This has a men's and women's driving coats and his and hers hats.

Simplicity has two steampunk dress patterns that are nice: here and here.

Burda

Burda has this nice Victorian dress. I've just finished this pattern and will be posting about it soon.

They also have a complete men's outfit here.

Butterick
Butterick has this brand new pattern for a Victorian evening gown.

There's also this jacket and skirt combo.

They have two Victorian jacket patterns here and here. I've made the first one, pictured in this post.

Butterick also has a lot of accessories like hats, gloves, and headpieces so it's worth it to look around their historical patterns.

McCall's

McCall's has this Civil War uniform, which could easily be made more generic for a military steampunk look.

This gown is called Victorian, but it's a little weird to me. Feels more Rennaisance, but the bustle is nice. I used the detachable bustle from this pattern to make my black bustle.

New Look
The above patterns are all from the costume section of the pattern catalogs, but there's a lot of other patterns out there that can work for steampunk. I mention some of them in my last post about this season's new patterns.

But this women's blouse is pure Victorian, except for the short sleeves (which is a plus in my book.) It's in my "Must Make Soon" pile.

There's also Truly Victorian, which has a whole site of awesome patterns, mostly women's clothing. I highly recommend both their patterns and their customer service.

As for fabrics, I tend to go for home decor fabrics first as they are heavy and luxurious and have more antique patterns. They can also be really expensive, so it's worth it to look for sales, coupons, and remnants. All of my husband's vests have been made from home decor fabric from the remnant bin. I also really like brocade. My newest love is cotton sateen, because it's cheap, but still gives you the look of semi-shiny nice fabric.

Coming soon on this blog: Hopefully my thoughts on San Japan and other recent local steampunk events, gun modding, budget steampunk tips, and more on my current projects, including a complete Victorian bustle dress and a new corset.

Steamy Sewing Patterns

The pattern companies have just released their Fall patterns, and since I'm going through and marking down which ones could be steampunked, I figured I'd share with you all.

It's So Easy, Simplicity 2122 - This is a nice bolero jacket with a slightly Asian feel. It's their EASY line, so it should be simple, and it's also only $2.99 regular price.

It's So Easy, Simplicity 2309 - Another steamable jacket, with a very nice newsboy cap.

Easy Simplicity 2081 - Not really steampunk, but cute 20s-30s cloche hat.

Easy Simplicity 2130 - This is kinda a weird pattern, but I like the harem pants look for steampunk, particularly in a capri length. I think this pattern could be useful, especially if modded.

I'm quite disappointed in Simplicities costumes. The new ones are all children's or super slutty. The possible exceptions are this bellydancer skirt and this ghawazee pattern. The latter in particular could make a great non-European steampunk outfit.

I'm also disappointed that this Men's vest pattern is now out of print. I've used it to make two vests now, and I love the versatility. It's possible that you can still find it in stores, or online, and I recommend doing so. Here's one of the vests I made with this pattern. The other one looks totally different, but I don't have a decent picture of it yet.

From San Japan 2011

Of course, there's this actual steampunk pattern from a few months ago. I've made the jacket, and again, don't have a picture yet. But in case someone was unaware of the pattern, I had to throw it out there.

Butterick has this new corset pattern. I like this pattern because it has a version with straps and it also provides what looks like full breast coverage. I own this pattern and am going to play around with adding more curves to it so that it has a more traditional corset shape.

This Victorian evening gown is GORGEOUS and probably a must-buy if only for the bustle. It also has a nice Disney princess vibe going for any ladies who grew up wanting Cinderella's ballgown.

And those are all the new patterns that I found of note. So keep an eye out for your local fabric store's next $0.99 sale!

One more bit of eye-candy. My husband is wearing the second version of the above-linked pattern in this picture, though you can't see the detail. This is from San Japan last weekend. I'll get a post together about that eventually.

From San Japan 2011