2007 brought my first time at Costume College. I had heard about it for several years and always really wanted to go but it just never worked out. Finally I was able to get in and it was a lot of fun. There are so many classes going on and so many different costume things to learn that it was all a bit overwhelming. And of course, all the costumes. There were so many completely and totally amazing costumes that I felt completely out of my league. It is recommended to not wear costumes to class and only during the special costume events. I followed that but thankfully many others didn't. Plans were made immediately to ignore that advice next time around. However, the costume that caught my attention the most was this one, an Artisan apron.
This costume seemed infinitely practical for me. Sewing almost always results in me being covered in threads and when I venture into other crafts, the results are more often than not worse than just thread. So, the apron seemed to be a necessity. A quick dig through the stash resulted in only two real choices - I needed a sturdier fabric (no chiffons or velvets) and at least 5 yards. I tend to pick up not so practical fabrics so I only had this black fabric and a white twill that had enough yardage and wasn't already claimed for something else. White twill in a working apron seemed like a very bad idea so I went with the black.
About this time I realized that I wasn't going to get a few costumes done in time for Dragon*Con and I needed at least one more. Since this costume looked pretty easy to make and I had such a nice fabric for the apron, it seemed perfect.
The shirt is a handkerchief weight linen/cotton blend. I love this fabric and at one time had over 16 yards in my stash. I think I'm down to about five yards because I use it for everything I possibly can. Because I love this fabric so much, it seemed wrong to fuse cheap interfacing to it and then serge the edges so I used silk organza and hand finished all the seams. Yes, I was trying to get this done quickly and yes, I really do need someone to remind me of these things every five minutes so I don't go crazy with the details. It closes with hooks and thread loops down the center front and the cuffs are French cuffs but instead of cufflinks, I use screws and wingnuts.
The fabric for the petticoat is the only piece of fabric I bought for this costume. And if I had checked one other bin, I wouldn't have had to buy it since I already had 10 yards of this exact fabric. It's a pretty simple gored skirt with a straight ruffle attached to the bottom. The back has a lot more fabric than the front because I wanted the straight front look with plenty of fullness in the back. The tie is the same fabric that I used for the binding of the vest. Nothing too special. The skirt and vest are made out of a red shimmer fabric. The skirt is a half circle in the back with pleats at center back. Because of the crazy bias going on there, the pleats are a bit difficult to manage but once they're in place, they stay very nicely.
The vest is very fitted with an assymetrical front. There is some lightweight boning to prevent wrinkles but that's all. I decided against steel boning so I could just throw it in the washer/dryer and that works amazingly well. Unfortunately, the vest is all but hidden when I'm wearing the apron.
The apron did end up being the last thing I made even though it was the first thing I wanted. Everything on here came from stash except for the actual accessories. And while I love the silver clasps that hold the accessories on the apron, they are not to be trusted. All of them actually held up all day except for the one holding my purse. Fortunately, the people at Dragon*Con are extremely nice people so when my purse did fall, someone grabbed it up quick and returned it to me immediately. I hadn't even had time to realize that bump I felt was the purse falling. Lesson learned. Pin or sew down the straps to all accessories before attending a convention. It's all right if things fall off while I'm sewing but losing my ID right before a flight is not a good thing. So huge thanks to whoever that was!
And now for the fun accessories. The costume looks just fine without them but it's so much better with them.
First off, the goggles. I tried looking for someplace to buy goggles but could only find outrageously expensive ones or extraordinarily cheap looking ones. Then I stumbled across website describing how to make your own from parts of a door handle. I promptly went to a hardware store and searched through all the door handles. Nothing was working at all so I just wandered through all the aisles. I finally came across door stops, the kind with the rubberish dome in the middle, and they were perfect. The right size, easy to get just the part I wanted and most importantly, cheap. Cheap pair of sunglasses, vinyl scraps (I will be using leather in the future), satin scraps and I was set. I rather like the way they turned out even if I can't wear them the way I had planned. I wanted to wear them on my head but they looked like weird antennae and that wasn't the look I was aiming for. Around the neck works just fine for me though.
The rest of the accessories were considerably easier to come by. The monkey pin was already in my collection since I love the evils and it seemed somehow appropriate for a steampunk costume. The scissors and watch were necessary because this is my sewing apron. I rarely wear watches anymore just because I don't like things on my wrist constantly but the clip watch is perfect. And since the scissors fold up, the tips won't snag on anything or poke through holes which has been an issue in the past when I just throw scissors in a pocket. The iPod pocket was another concession to the fact that the apron really isn't a costume. I sew at odd times of the day and neighbors generally prefer I don't have music up as loud as I need to hear it over my machines so iPod is the way to go. I don't plan to have it with me at conventions so it will just be a cool pocket to store programs or somesuch. The other pocket is intended to store paper, cards, seam ripper, tape measure, seam gauge.... And separate 'pockets' for pens/markers. Cool looking pens and my sonic screwdriver for conventions, colorful sharpies for sewing. The purse that can only be kinda seen is just for conventions and will be replaced soon. I needed a purse quickly so picked up a remnant of seriously cheap fabric instead of the nice silk I wanted. Kinda hard to justify silk for a silly last minute purse. Should have gone with the silk. The cheap fabric left my hands black after just a few minutes. Lesson learned. The magnifying glass is just there because it seemed really necessary to have one at the time.
Last few pics are the ones I got in quickly at Dragon*Con. This costume has ended up being my favorite and was also the quickest/easiest to make. It received the most comments at Dragon*Con of any that I wore and with the exception of the shoes was extremely comfortable and easy to wear. Wonderfully easy to pack as well. Maybe it's not such a surprise that I have several more steampunk costumes planned...
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