Well 2020 kind of feels like we are making our way through a game of Jamunji.
Here in Australia it all actually kicked off just before Christmas last year with some pretty huge bushfires in just about every state of our sunburnt country. In South Australia in particular we lost 2/3 of the beautiful natural forest on Kangaroo Island and very large chunks of the Adelaide Hills. I would like to thank all the CFS and community groups for all the awesome backbreaking and heartbreaking work they did in bringing the fires under control and picking up the pieces of lives and businesses damaged and destroyed.
In February I had to cancel the tabletop gaming expo I had been building due to the companies who had been on-board with the project from the start pulling out stating that they were now too busy to be involved which meant I now would not have sufficient funds to pay for venue etc. Dice / AGE is still floating around in the back of my mind and I would love to get it going again if possible but will need more support and commitment from interested parties for this to happen.
I remember telling my biggest supporter (who was preparing to travel down from Queensland for the event) that I had to cancel but the other event they were interested in - the Adelaide Steampunk Festival which I also manage - would need some apocalypse level event to stop it going ahead.
And then the virus hit.
I feel like the world heard what I had said to my friend and said "here, hold my beer" then proceeded to screw up the entire planet with COVID-19.
As a result I would have had to cancel the gaming event anyway as we went into lockdown mode in order to halt the progress of the virus. Something, here in South Australia, we have been successful in doing. We currently have no active cases and while our border stays closed this will remain.
We are now in June, and after a couple of months of working part from home and part in the office (did I mention that along with making chainmaille and managing events I also work full time in an office) we are starting to get somewhat back to normal. For given degrees of normal. There are some things that will never go back to normal.
On to my projects.
With both the Gumeracha Medieval Fair and Barossa Medieval Fair now postponed due to the virus I have shifted my creative focus to my new Steampunk costume.
Before we went into lockdown I joined a new group here in Adelaide called the Tea Scouts and im using this as my inspiration for my new outfit (uniform).
As an outfit im somewhat bodging a few different styles and parts together.
The base dress is based on my medieval dress which is basically like this one but without the sleeves. For ease of wearing I chose to build it so that I wear a longer sleeve top underneath.
Our troupe colours are light khaki (ie sand) and royal purple.
For this project I have made the base dress from sand coloured drill fabric.
I plan to wear this over a matching coloured shirt or shift.
My modifications to this pattern come on the back. As a means of inserting a fuller section to the back of the dress I am inserting into the centre back seam a pleated section much like those on Rococo style dresses. Unlike actual Rococo style dresses though im starting this section at the waist level so that it looks more like a mini bustle.
I could technically wear a bustle pillow underneath to make it stick out but I probably won't.
For this section I have chosen a thicker and slightly fuzzy fabric in a matching colour so that it gives an additional point of interest.
I am yet to decide if I should leave this section slightly longer than the rest as a train of sorts or simply trim it to match.
I have been building a whimsical purple bustle to tie over this section to form the more Victorian silhouette along with a purple underbust belt like corset to tie it all together.
Over this I will wear my sash which is in the same light khaki/sand colour with purple piping around the edge. For this im planning on adding some pockets to turn it into a utility sash so I can easily carry my phone and other small items I might need when running around the steampunk festival making sure everything is running smoothly.
Hat wise we are meant to be making garrision hats (the little military ones often seen on female officers in the movies) but the pattern for them is doing my head in.
My style is more mini top hat which I know how to make and have made to match my dress.
If I still feel creative after all that I might build myself some new matching wings.
I am also still trying to decide if I want to brave the world of corsets and learn how to make my own Victorian style one to wear underneath it all. I think it may give the whole outfit a much cleaner look and if done right corsets just feel awesome.
I do have the option to disassemble my wedding gown and then re-cover the corset bodice housed within but even after 8 1/2 years of marriage im still unsure if im brave enough to do something like that rather then keep it in storage or sell it off.
It was expensive. More so because bigger body means more fabric means bigger price. The fabric and lace on it is beautiful. The bodice and part of the skirt are however covered in masses of tiny glass beads.
To this corset end I have been somewhat wandering down the rabbit hole of how to guides and videos on drafting and modifying patterns, on putting a corset together and on the different styles of corsets.
If your on youtube I recommend some of the sewing videos by Morgan Donner and Bernadette Banner who both have done episodes on design, construction and wearing of corsets among many other things.
Anyway, I feel I must sign off here.
I will post more as the outfit progresses.
Tea Prepared!
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