Steampunk Parasol Holster

Whenever I am at an outdoor costumed event that lasts a couple of hours, I tend to bring a parasol to help with the sun, I tend to have a translucent skin tone and I want to keep it that way!!  For events that last longer than a few hours, I would tend to leave the parasol because I didn't want to carry it around, since I have a horrible habit of putting things down and forgetting them.  Recently, I had been seeing a few things on pintrest and etsy for parasol holders and I decided that I could try to make something to suit my needs.  I also felt it would be great to have it in time for the upcoming 3 day convention in Tucson, AZ I attended.

The first step I did was to trace the outline of the umbrella onto the leather and then add a half inch on each side for the rivets.










Next, I placed a piece of leather over the the parasol and fitted it to the piece underneath.  I then measured out the holes for the rivets and punched them out.

 

 I then decided it would be nice to have my fan handy as well, so I measured out a place for the fan and a covering piece.






To help decorate the holster, I embroidered the steampunk sinbonnet sue design from Urban Threads

Next, I sewed the fan pouch onto the top parasol cover and riveted the four corners down.







To finish the main body of the holster, I riveted the top piece to the bottom piece.  Boy did my hands hurt after this project!  With all the hole punching and riveting, I definitely had to develop some muscles in my hands.

To attach the holster to my utility belt, I made black leather loops that attached to the grommets I put in the holsters.

Here is the pic of the holster on the belt!  I am pretty happy with how it came out.  I wish my riveting was more even, but oh well, it still looks pretty.

  

Steampunk Tweedle Dum Cosplay (WWWC outfit #3)

For the last day of the wild wild west convention, the group I traveled with decided to do a group costume theme of Alice in Wonderland.  We had made these group costumes for an event last year and did updates for this convention.

The inspiration for my tweedle costume is based on the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland, but with a Lolita/steampunk twist.  The reason for the Lolita twist is due to my Tweedle Dee, she prefers the Lolita style for her steampunk costuming.

These two outfits on the right, were found on pintrest and used as the inspiration for the skirt.

For the skirt, I found red and white striped fabric to use for the actual skirt and I used black fashion leather to make the suspenders and serged them with red thread.  I constructed a muslin pattern that is similar to a gore skirt pattern, but it is shorter and I fitted it closer around the mid section and flared it more on the bottom.  I then used the muslin as the lining with interface for the mid section.  In the back is corset lacing to tighten and better fit the skirt.  The pictures below show the skirt finished and how I attached the buckles for the suspenders.

I used yellow and white striped fabric for the bloomers underneath, that show when the skirt is hiked up.  I used a PJ bottom pattern that I use often and made them into shorts.  I then added ruffles and eyelet lace to the bottom.  The shirt was bought at Torrid on clearance.          

The first time we wore these outfits, we were going to an amusement park and I didn't want a lot of fluff to make the rides cumbersome, so we went without petticoats.  For  wild wild west con, we decided to add poof with petticoats.
In the final version of this outfit, I am wearing an awesome yellow hat, with a hand crank gear propeller.  While I came up with the idea of a propeller on a top hat, it was my friend Dalbeth and her husband who designed and created the mechanism on the hat.  I am hoping that she will post it on her blog. Diary of a Wandering Costumer

Men's Corduroy Jacket turned Vest

This vest was made from a corduroy jacket found at a local goodwill for 99 cents.  The first thing I did was un-attach the sleeves, making it a vest.  Next I altered the bottom of the jacket to fall to a point.  I trimmed the arm holes and pockets in a dark brown leather like materials.  Unfortunately, I did not secure this brown material well enough the first time and I cut the back a little too short for it's owner.  To fix this I bought new material to line the pockets and added a strip of the new material to the back to elongate it.

   

Outfit Number 1 for Wild Wild West Con IV

I am in the process of gearing up for Wild Wild West Con IV (www.wildwestcon.com), coming up the first full weekend in March.  This is the outfit I plan on wearing on Saturday night.  I am planning on wearing a utility belt, head gear and black lace gloves to finish the look.  This outfit is using petticoats and a 4 Gore skirt that I had made almost two years ago.  The new pieces are the front apron/bustle and the peasant shirt.  The corset is one I bought online a while ago.

For the shirt I used the Simplicity Pirates of the Caribbean pattern number 3677 as the base.  I found the fabric for the shirt in the remnant section at a local fabric store.  Unfortunately, I ran out of material to do the long sleeves, so I altered it to make puffy sleeves and added a gold trimmed white lace around the neck line.  For having to work with the scraps of fabric to make the sleeves I am super happy for how it came out.

For the over-skirt, I asked for help from my friend Dalbeth (Diary of a Wandering Costumer).  I had never made a bustle on my own without a pattern and she was a great help! The front apron has 3 bunched areas down the middle, which ended up creating unexpected pockets to store stuff in!  To decorate the back of the skirt I added black bows and some cool copper buttons, to where the fabric was bunched.  

Here is the whole outfit together:

              

Evolution of my brown steampunk costume....

I am attending Wild Wild West Con in Tucson Arizona in March and I am in the process of getting my costumes completed.  I usually stay away from the generic brown, which is the most popular color for steampunk.  Heck, there is even a saying that Steampunk is what happens when Goth's discover brown.  I have one outfit that started off as a thrift store alteration, that I keep evolving into different versions of the costume.  Here is the representation of what has happened to it so far:

Steamstress Bracer

This is my new piece for my steampunk character!!  In my local steampunk group, when I first joined, I was one of the few who knew how to sew my own costume.  I was also known for bringing along a sewing kit/costume repair kit with me everywhere we went. I was trying to come up with accessories to help put the "punk" in my steampunk costumes and I thought this would be fun to make, since it is an accessory that played to the above traits.  To create this bracer, I came up with all the bits that went onto it.  The scissors were a gift from a fellow member of the steampunk group I am in. I ordered the bodkin (yarn needle looking piece) on ebay.  The thimble was a cheap one I had in a sewing kit and I bought new bobbins and threaded steampunky colors onto the bobbins.

Steampunk Watch Cuff

In steampunk, I follow a beginners rule for costuming: Start with a Victorian base, then "PUNK" it.  I find that the easiest way to punk it up, is with accessories.