New Sewing Patterns - Fall/Winter 2012

Vogue has released its Winter/Holiday patterns and there are a few of possible note.

V8858 - Is a skirt with lots of cascading ruffles.  It's difficult to really classify, but I could see it with a steampunk outfit.
V8849 - I originally noted this pattern because I thought it was a shirt with a bustle-like tail, but actually it's a dress.  I might use just the bustle-y fall on something, though.
V8866 - This suit features a jacket with a nice ruffly peplum.  The jacket would work very nicely with many steampunk outfits.
V8868 - This is a strange collection of "hats" that are actually various styles of fascinators.  I'm not clear on what the pattern actually includes, since mostly these are various combinations of feathers, flowers, and veiling, but they might be useful?

V8869 - A collection of men's hats, a couple of fedoras and a newsboy hat.

The only pattern with the slightest steampunk interest in the new McCall's patterns is this pattern for various hats and gloves.  The large sun hat and the military cap might have some steamy use, but you can probably find free patterns online.

Butterick hasn't released anything for Winter yet, but in their last batch they had an 1837-1840s dress that might be interesting for someone looking for a very early Victorian style. (I actually held this post hoping Butterick would put up new patterns.  Which means it will probably happen tomorrow.)

Simplicity meanwhile continues to create for the steampunk audience.
1732 Misses Costume Coat - Is a really nice Victorian styled coat good for steampunk or everyday wear.  It also has three different lengths.  If I had any need for a new winter coat (or, you know, ANY winter coat, really) I'd be all over this.
1772 Misses Steampunk Costume - So...this pattern was released a couple of months ago and I complained about it on facebook, but didn't post it to this blog.  I really, really dislike it.  I don't see much about it that is steampunk.  Possibly goth.  Corpse bride, maybe.  But...this is not up to the level of their other steampunk costume and really reads like an attempt to capitalize on the success of their other steampunk patterns.  Some people have disagreed with me and said they like this.  And that's ok. But I don't think it is very steampunk.  I don't know.  Maybe it could be.  But I don't like the example dresses and until I see someone make something awesome from this pattern, I will continue to dislike it.
1745 It's So Easy Men's and Boy's vests  - These are nice double breasted vests, although I wish they included a collar option.  The "It's so easy" patterns are good for beginners, though, and are cheaper, so this might be a good beginner vest pattern.

New Look
6166 - Misses and Men's Vests - These are some very attractive vests for men and women.  As a matter of fact, the men's styles are some of the best steampunk vests I've seen in a pattern.  This is a MUST BUY.  (Hi, I hadn't seen this before and I'm excited!)

Burda Style
7151 - This pantsuit includes a tuxedo style jacket for women, something I know people have looked for in the past.
7154 - This is a cape pattern for a long or short evening cape, no hood.
7156 - Historic Undergarments - I'm puzzled by this pattern.  It's a chemise, drawers, and "corselette" and they call it "medieval."  I'm not sure, well, WHY?  And what is a corselette with "sewn-in stays"?  It looks like a mid-bust Victorian corset pattern to me, but whether it's any good is a different question.  I would avoid this on the principle of "I'm pretty sure these people can't tell one time period from another."

Book Review: The Court of the Air

The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt - This is a very difficult book to talk about. It has its good points, and there were times I was really enjoying it. But there are also a bunch of things that were simultaneously making me NOT enjoy it.

This is a steampunk fantasy, and fantasy is a very important word for this book. The author does something that I HATE in fantasy novels: he refuses to use the normal word for something. Everything is some made up fantasy word. And none of this is ever explained, you are just meant to pick up the meaning from context. But when every other word is gibberish, it's a tiring read. And there were words that I honestly never had any idea what they meant. 

The main flaw of this book is that it WAY WAY over complicated. There are constant introductions of new characters, new races, new political factions, new plots, new words, new technology, new magic, new supernatural spirits, etc, etc. It's just piled on and on and there's no time to understand any of it or breathe or live with the characters. The characters are poorly serviced, since they are little more than plot points with names that run from location to location and watch things. Then when it's time for them to do something, they use some power have just inherited from (take your choice) a magical object, a mystical spirit, a previously unknown power, their mysterious and heretofore unknown heritage, or some other unexplained supernatural force. 

The steampunk cred of this book relies both on the fact that the fantasy world bears some vague but mostly unexplored similarities to 19th century England and that there is a lot of steam-powered technology around. But actually, the tech is pretty much all tied in with the race of "steammen" who are not created by men but by each other and are independent people. But the more the steammen are explored (and they are the most interesting characters, in my opinion) the less their clockwork bodies and spirits have anything to do with tech. It's really all mystical. So that's why I say this book is a fantasy novel with steampunk trappings. 

There's a lot more I could say about this book. For one thing, it deals a lot with government and politics and revolutions. And that part of the book is really disturbing and depressing and unpleasant. It's pretty successful, since that's what it's obviously going for. But it's not a fun, light adventure like many/most steampunk novels. 

What's really frustrating about this book is that somewhere, under all the confusing, over-complicated plots there is a really good book. But it feels like the author just got over-excited and tried to throw an epic fantasy series into less than 600 pages. It's possible to have a plot about political revolution without having 7-9 (depending on what you count) different sides being involved. The story would have been much better served by being simplified and slowed down so that the reader had time to connect to the characters and really grasp the world. I don't have a problem with complex fictional worlds, but my god, you've got to pace yourself.

I don't understand how there is a second book in this series. There doesn't seem to be any need for more, since pretty much the entire battle for the future of the entire world was shoved into this book. I honestly at this point don't feel like reading more. I'm exhausted by this damn book.

And finally, lest you think this is simply me being crabby, check out the book's reviews on Goodreads.  Almost every review says exactly the same thing as mine.  

Simplicity 1819 Corset Pattern

Of all the Simplicity steampunk patterns, my new favorite is Simplicity 1819.  All of its components (with the possible exception of the shirt) are attractive.  I've made the long skirt, which is a nice all-purpose steampunk skirt.  I intend to make both the bolero and the short overskirt eventually.  And now I've also made the corset.

I totally ignored the instructions that came with it, of course and just made it the way I would any corset.  This is an unaltered version of the pattern, since I made it as a display sample, not to fit someone particular.  I really like the finished look.  It would probably be a pretty good first corset pattern for someone to work with.

Upcoming Events

I have realized that I never talk on this blog about what steampunk events I will be attending.  I don't suppose many people actually care, but I'm all for spreading the word about events, so, ok.

For the most part I am limited to attending events within comfortable driving distance and/or events I can vend at and make my costs back.  I would love to attend the large events in other states, but can't afford the travel expenses.

This coming weekend I am going to the Texas Renaissance Festival for the unofficial Steampunk Invasion Weekend. I won't be camping, because I'm too old and broken for that, but I'll be there Saturday.

I'm vending at the Showdown at Unobtainium: Tesla vs Edison on Nov 10-11.  This looks to be a really interesting and fun event.  They're aiming for an immersive experience of a steampunk town.  I'm really looking forward to it.  It's happening on a farm about 30 miles south of Austin.

I will be attending Dickens on the Strand in Galveston, TX, December 1-2.  Not vending this one, but will be around all weekend enjoying the amazing atmosphere of this festival.  We missed last year due to emergency medical issues, but I"m determined to be there this year.

After that my schedule gets real vague.  There are several events in March that I want to attend/vend, but I haven't committed to anything yet.

What is everyone else planning on?

ETA: And now that Comicpalooza in Houston in May is having Abney Park, Professor Elemental, Frenchy and the Punk,and Marquis of Vaudeville, I've signed up to vend there.  It's my first actual 2013 commitment!

Tutorial: Adding Faux External Channels to a Corset

In my post about the three most common methods of corset construction, I talked about the pros and cons of using exterior boning channels on your corsets.  The main pro, in my opinion, is that they look really nice, especially when made in a contrasting color.  The cons are that they are time-consuming and not as durable as some other methods.

There is an alternative to actual exterior channels that gives you the look without the cons: Faux Exterior Channels.  Stated simply you create faux channels but simply sewing strips of contrast fabric over your interior channels at the seams.   I decided I wanted to do this for my most recent corset, and thought I'd show you how.  I experimented with a couple other ways to do this, and found the following method the easiest to get consistent results.  This is also very similar to the process for making exterior channels, except I'm not putting bones into these.

1. Cut your fabric strips.  I cut on the straight grain for these, since there is no need for extra stretch.  It's easiest to do this with a rotary cutter and good ruler.  I made these strips 1 1/2" wide.   The fabric is satin remnants from a yard sale bridesmaids dress.

2. Fold your strips in half lengthwise with wrong sides together.  Pin, but do not press.

3. Stitch the strip into a tube.  I stitched about 1/4" from the edge.

Dieselpunk Aviator Hat Sewing Pattern

I have a brand new sewing pattern for sale today!

It's a pattern for a Dieselpunk* Aviator Hat.

Like all my patterns it comes with a full-sized printable pattern and a set of instructions with full color step-by-step photos.   I'm calling this an intermediate level pattern because it requires more comfort sewing than my other patterns, which are good for beginners.  The extreme curved seams of this hat make for slightly challenging sewing.

This has definitely been the most difficult pattern for me to develop so far.  I was starting essentially from scratch, looking at pictures of various styles of aviator hats and a few minimal tutorials.  So there was a lot of experimentation and frustration.  I've been working on this pattern off and on since about March, I think.  Ultimately, I think I ended up with a pretty good pattern.  With it you can create a hat that really fits your individual head.  It comes in three sizes to fit heads from 19-24" around.

The pattern is on sale on my etsy for $5 for a downloadable and printable pattern.


* Or steampunk.  Airship pirates need headgear, too!

Tutorial: Painting a Steampunk Gun

Painting a toy gun to serve as a steampunk prop is probably one of most common projects for people who are new to steampunk (and plenty who aren't new.)  But I've been seeing a lot of photos around the internet of steampunk guns with paint jobs that are...well, half-assed.  I see a lot of what I assume are guns that were taken outside and coated with one color of spray paint, or that were broken down and different components were spray painted a couple of colors.  That can be a good starting point, but I don't think it makes for a very attractive finished object.

So that's why I wanted to write up this tutorial, because I realize people just may not know how to make their guns look cooler.  Of course, painting guns is not my primary type of crafting.  It's been over a year since I painted anything, but I did do several guns when I first got into steampunk, and I think I got pretty good at it.  I also benefited from attending a gun painting panel led by my friends in Airship Isabella, so I have to shout out to them.   I also don't get into more heavy-duty modding that involves cutting, reshaping, or adding to the gun.  I stick with painting and then maybe gluing some stuff to it.

The Before

The gun I'll be using in this example is a Nerf Furyfire, which is essentially a Maverick with a long pump-action barrel.  My husband got it for $1 at a yard sale. (He was really sad when I stole it to paint for this article.  He wanted to do it.)  You can use any type of toy gun you want.  I've painted a $1 water gun from the grocery store and was really happy with how it came out.  Nerf and the Nerf wannabes (like Buzzbee) are the most popular.

Step One: Disassemble your gun.  That's, of course, if your gun is a complicated model with many different parts like a Nerf.  (You can't take apart small guns, usually.)  They are easy to disassemble, you just need a set of tiny screwdrivers to get into those holes on the back and  take the screws out.  Carefully lift the top half off, watching out for possible flying springs.  (Don't lose the springs...or ANY of the parts.  Get a ziptop bag and label it to put all the small pieces in.)  But before you touch ANYTHING on the inside of the gun, STOP AND TAKE A PICTURE OF THE INSIDE.  Take several, including close-up shots of how all the little pieces and springs go together. Otherwise you will never get the gun back in working order.  (If you fail to take a picture, or lose your pictures, or need extra help try googling.  There are forums devoted to nerf modding and people post pictures and tutorials up.)

Why are we taking the gun apart anyway?  To paint more easily.  There are places you won't be able to paint with the gun still assembled, places that will show.

Step Two: Sand off any raised writing. That includes the company logo and safety warnings.  It's easiest to use a dremel-type tool with sanding attachment.  Or you can sand it by hand, which will take longer.  If you really don't want to sand it, you can plan to cover those parts with something that you will glue on later.


Step Three: Clean the gun. Your sanding has left a lot of debris on the gun, plus there is always oil from the hands of anyone who's played with it.  Even brand new guns usually have some sort of oil or coating on their surface from the factory.  These things will all prevent paint from sticking to the gun, so you have to get rid of them.  Remove the dust and debris first with a swiffer cloth or wet cloth.  Then you want to clean the surface of the gun with rubbing alcohol to get rid of any oil or coatings.   Let the gun dry to insure all the alcohol has evaporated before painting.

Step Four: Spray with primer.  Don't skip this step!  Lay all your gun pieces (except pieces that are purely internal) flat in an outdoors area.  Spray with primer lightly, avoiding any drips or pooling by keeping your coats light.  Better to do a couple of thin coats than one thick one.  I use regular spray paint primer in black.  I prefer black because if the surface paint wears away anywhere, it looks more natural for black to show through.  Also when you can glimpse the inside of the gun, like down the barrel, black looks appropriate.  I've heard that some people use the "Fusion" brand of spray paint because it is supposed to bond permanently with plastic, but I prefer primer.  It creates a better surface for painting, and gets away from the shiny plastic texture.

Step Five: Paint a base coat. Now we are getting to the fun part. Now you will start deciding how and with what you want to paint your gun.  If there are pieces that you want to be all one color, you can use a spray paint as your base coat.  This is definitely the fastest method.  Personally, my favorite thing to use on guns is Rub n' Buff.  It's a wax-based finish that comes in a bunch of metallic colors.  I like the look of it as a base coat because it creates a metallic finish that is shiny but not plastic-shiny.  You can apply Rub n' Buff with your finger or with a brush.  For large areas or fine detail a brush is probably the easiest, although you will probably ruin your brush because it doesn't just wash out. Use a stiff, cheap brush.

You can also use acrylic paint.  My husband prefers acrylics because they are easier to paint fine detail with, are cheap, and come in a lot of different colors.  Acrylics will take several coats to cover evenly.  But so far we haven't noticed acrylics being any less durable than other choices, so long as you seal them at the end.  On this gun I use acrylics for the brown wood color and the metallic green.

Now, what colors to paint everything?  Obviously this is where your artistic vision comes in.  I tend to choose colors as I go, deciding on what I want the largest parts to be and then deciding on each section as I come to it.  I recommend you think about what each part of the gun would be made out of and then paint it accordingly.  Materials that might be used in a steampunk gun include: brass, copper, steel, iron, wood, glass, sci-fi glowy power sources and gold or silver inlay.  So, get all your parts painted with a base color.

Step 6: Add detail painting.

Book Review: The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - You may have heard of this popular novel and you may have heard that it is steampunk.  Or might be steampunk.  I'll get to that in a minute.  First, what is this book about.  Well, it's about two magicians (real magicians, that is) in the late Victorian period who set a challenge between two of their students.  The venue for this challenge is a new circus.  The circus is only open at night, and presents mysterious and wondrous illusions to attendees with the assistance of magic.  The story follows several different point of view characters and jumps around in time a bit as the characters come into contact with the circus.  Honestly, it's difficult to convey much about this book, as so much goes without explanation for most of the story.

I found it to be a very page-turning and absorbing novel.  It reminds me strongly of Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norell.  The way that magic interacts with the everyday world is similar, although this is a much less dense book.  It's also impossible not to think of the TV series Carnivale, since that is also set at a circus and involves a supernatural battle between two sides.  Ultimately, I feel a bit disappointed by The Night Circus.  What kept me turning the pages was a desire to understand the many mysteries presented, but ultimately few of those mysteries are explained.  It feels a bit like a book with a huge amount of style but not as much substance as I would have liked.  The way the story is told is clever and atmospheric, but I didn't ever connect very strongly to the main characters and therefore never really felt much impact from the story.

Now, is this a steampunk book?  Well, not exactly.  It's set mostly in the 1890s and 1900s, but the time period doesn't really have a huge amount of importance.  Beyond a certain politeness of manner, there's not much that is Victorian in character.  The novel describes the colors of clothing, without ever talking about the style of them, so it's actually easy to forget this is a period piece.  And since most of the character are either circus performers or magicians they are pretty out of the Victorian mainstream in attitude.  There's not really any steampunk technology involved, either.  The fantastic elements come from magic, not technology.  Thought there is a clockmaker character, he mostly just makes really amazing clocks.  So this is a Victorian fantasy novel rather than a Victorian science fiction novel.  I certainly recommend this novel to steampunks, as I think many steampunks will enjoy it.  But I can't honestly call the book itself steampunk.  Now if a film was made of the book, I would probably call it steampunk without hesitation, because the clothing and design would be a wonderful combination of Victorian and circus, in black and white.  It would be impossible to call the clothing anything but steampunk.  So it does occupy an interesting ambiguous position.

This isn't a perfect novel, in my opinion, but it is one that I recommend to fans of historical fantasy.