Quick and Dirty: Steampunk Work Apron

Greetings good folks.  Today's focus is on on example of Quick and Dirty steampunk costuming - how to make cool costume pieces without lots of skill, money, or time.

It was approximately a year ago that I decided to finally embark on making some steampunk outfits (having been planning and accumulating brass bits for over 2 years).  There was a general sci-fi/fantasy Convention coming up (Norwescon) in a couple of weeks and, in typical fashion, I decided to make new costumes.  Of course, this meant I had little time.

I wanted a steampunk work apron of some sort.  I had little time, less budget, and was costuming in a hurry.  I decided to find something I could modify.

Hurrah for thrift stores!  I found this large burgundy sleeveless tunic-dress at Value Village for about $5, and decided to use it as my base for a work apron.

Front

Back, with ties

I decided to make it more apron-like by cutting up the centre back to open up the tunic, with the plan of using the back ties to close it.  After cutting it open in the back, I cut and reshaped the garment from the top of the shoulders down to the hem, again to make it more like an apron.  I also removed the ties at the front neckline.

Front with ties removed

Back reshaped - seam binding to finish inside edge

Closeup of reshaped back

This now needed that quintessential workapron necessity - pockets.  I had some scrap reddish-brown leather, and I cut these to the size I wanted and attached them using my sewing machine.  I also made a leather keyfob for a belt out of the scrap leather, and decided to enlist one of my leather belts to wear over the apron waist.

With 2 lower pockets and belt

Detail of keyfob (and keys!)

Still, this was clearly not done.  I decided to add a third pocket above the lower one, with a built-in keyfob / hook, and to add brass findings to detail the outer corners of the pockets.

 

The third pocket ended up being further divided, and decorated with more brass findings.  To finish, I added a small pocket high up, and to close the slit in the neckline, I made a small decoration from broken pocketwatch parts, a freshwater pearl, and a tumbled garnet. 

Third pocket, divided in sections and decorated.

Neckline decoration & small pocket added

This was looking much better.  A wearable steampunk work apron converted from a old oversized tunic-dress.

And voila, the final product - 3 views, 2 different presentations: 

It might not be a show-stopper, but it is effective, all the pockets proved to be super-handy at Cons, and I liked the result.  This was an easy, quick and dirty conversion of a cheap garment into a decent steampunk costume piece.  Proof that you don't have to get complicated, have awesome sewing skills, or spend lots of hard-earned money to do steampunk.

It's My Steampunk, and I'll Dress Like I Want To

After following the ongoing costuming controversy in the steampunk communities, which has recently resurged due to this appalling article, http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/jackalope/2011/03/wild_wild_west_con_eight_overd.php, I was inspired this morning to write the following steamfilk:

(To be sung to the tune of Lesley Gore's "It's My Party")

IT'S MY STEAMPUNK

by Tracey Ernst

It's my steampunk, and I'll dress like I want to,

Dress like I want to, dress like I want to,

You can dress however you want to, too.

Everybody's in bustles and top hats,

I see goggles and gears;

Everyone is having fun,

Why are the mavins in tears?

It's my steampunk, and I'll dress like I want to,

Dress like I want to, dress like I want to,

You can dress however you want to, too.

Playin' our music, we're dancin all night,

Leave us alone with our style!

'Long as we're free in fantasy,

We won't be their rank and file.

It's my steampunk, and I'll dress like I want to,

Dress like I want to, dress like I want to,

You can dress however you want to, too.

- musical break -

You're in striped tights and I have pink hair,

And he's head to toe in orange plaid,

Small hats and brass everywhere,

Why are they getting so mad?

It's my steampunk, and I'll dress like I want to,

Dress like I want to, dress like I want to,

You can dress however you want to, too.


Coming soon to MuchMusic Steampunk channel (wouldn't that be awesome).

Creating a Steampunk WorkCoat

Greetings, good people.

Help yourself to the tea and spirits, and have a seat.   I have another "how I made it" experience to share.

Today, I would like to share with you my adventure in constructing a steampunk coat.  My original thoughts were of a sort of durable lab coat, in a nice practical colour (brown), to wear with various outfits, but particularly over the steam wench ensemble as mentioned in the Bloomer Business post.  I wanted a long coat with full length sleeves and preferably cuffs, with a centre-front opening rather than the more in-vogue mad scientist chef-coat-style side opening.  After much desperate hunting, this was the only pattern that struck me as being close to what I wanted (and I checked men's and women's coat patterns, chef coats, everything):

Now, I will remind you, I have no sewing training, and no experience with patterns.  The bloomers mentioned in previously were my first foray into garment via pattern since grade school.  I embarked on this coat while working on the bloomers (in fact, I started on the coat as a break, when the bloomers went badly).  Because, of course, coats are simple.  Yeah.  Right.

I selected a superb brown cotton duck (I think it's duck) for the coat.  I elected not to line the coat (too much work) but did decide to finish all seams with contrasting (brick) double fold, extra wide seam binding (lots of work).  What can I say, I can be a bit of an obsessive perfectionist, and I did NOT want fraying seams to ruin the look of the garment.  I wanted the inside to be pretty.  I had at hand some lovely leather, and I decide to do the cuffs and the outer part of the standup collar in leather.  I figured my old sewing machine could handle it.  (Cuz that's easy, right?  Cutting and sewing with leather?) 

Please note the pattern is for a man.  I am a woman.  I am also short, with narrow shoulders, substantial bust, and moderately trim otherwise.  So.  Alteration city, before cutting, since there didn't seem lots of room for error after.  Fortunately, the pattern had lines to show where you should shorten and lengthen.  However, there was no indication of whether I was to fold up or down from this magical line.  And of course I had no idea what I was doing, having never done this before.  However, I took my measurements, compared them to the measurements on the package, and, well, guestimated how much to shorten the coat torso and sleeves.  I also knew I didn't want the coat to be floor length, so I conservatively shortened it from the bottom by an additional 14 inches.   

A bigger issue was how to fit the torso around my proportions.  This required extensive modifications to the bodice of the pattern.  Since the pattern was for 3 sizes, I elected to use the middle size for the waist-hip region (I didn't need it snug), the largest size for hips to hem (so I'd have maximum fullness and flare), the smallest size across the neck and top of the shoulders, the armhole on the back pattern pieces, and from shoulder to partway down the armhole on the front pieces, and then I used the largest size the pattern had to offer in the bust region, which included the lower part of the front armholes, and for about an inch or two down below the underarm.  For the sleeves, since they seemed very full when I wrapped the paper around my arm, I opted for the smallest size.

This was all the hardest part, along with getting all the pieces to fit on my limited amount of fabric (bought fabric, then bought pattern - whoops - of course much smarter to do that the other way around).  Then I cut it all out, prayed a lot to the sewing gods, and fit the bodice together.  The nice thing about the coat, was it was all long pieces (2 front, 2 side-back, 2 back pieces), with no waistband crap, so the body gratifyingly went together fast.  I did have to attach the collar at this point, so got to do the leather collar right up front.  By the way, cutting out leather for a fabric pattern - it does NOT act the same as fabric.  (Plus, you try pinning an effing thing paper pattern to leather.  Yeah.) 

Oh, did I mention the back has PLEATS?  Yeah.  Pleats.  I didn't have a clue what I was doing.  Luckily, I managed to figure it out.  Oh, if you are going to sew with patterns, buy washable fabric marking pencils, one white, one dark.  Seriously.  And BEFORE you remove the pattern pieces from cut-out fabric, mark EVERYTHING you think might be relevant.  I ended up doing a LOT of pulling out the pattern piece and marking stuff after the fact.  I know about notches and stuff ... not all the complicated stuff for centre this, pleat marking that ... Sigh.  Live and learn.

I was pretty happy with how this looked, and hurrah, when I tried it on, it seemed a decent prelim fit.  So ... since it looked fine, time to hide those ugly fraying inside seams:

Inside-out, with most seams finished in brick-coloured double-fold, extra wide seam binding

Then it was time for the sleeves.  I cut out and sewed the cuffs first, leather lined with the cotton duck.  Then sewed sleeves together, sewed cuffs to sleeves, and sleeves to coat.  

Both cuffs, leather, lined in duck, sewn together

Frankly - insetting sleeves is a bitch.  Don't let anyone tell you anything different.  "Easing" in a sleeve is a pain in the hiney.  I did lots of online googling to figure out a decent method.  I elected to do what is apparently called "pin-easing".   With lots of swearing and hoping. 

 

The shoulder edge ended up coming a bit further out than I wanted them to, so I ended up redoing the shoulder-arm seam for a better fit (easier said than done - as I decided this AFTER trimming the interior seams).  

First setting in of sleeve

 

These 2 pics above are the arm seam detail after taking them in more.

After this, it was finishing the front seam and doing fancy shmancy stitching where the back pleats were.

I had to finishing ALL the internal seams, and hem it.  I bought Dress-Sew entirely out of brick seam-binding, and still ran out, so I had to use black narrow seambinding I had lying around, for the inside of the sleeves, and a different hemming finish than I planned.

Then, it was how to close it.  I saw and bought these clasps at Tandy, intended for leather.  I pinned them to the jacket, and yes, this was the look I was wanting.

I wanted pockets, and I cannibalized leather pockets (same leather as cuffs and collar) from a previous steampunk workapron that I hadn't been entirely happy with.

The original apron, made from an oversize tunic dress found at a thrift shop

However, when pinned on they looked crap (see below).  I very much want pockets on this ... but I think I need to resize these smaller, and perhaps select a different placement (thoughts, anyone?)

Once the coat was finished, I realized this does not have a "lab coat" look, as I had originally intended, but instead looks more like a general, durable worker's coat (and I think very steampunky).  It did prove to be very practical and handy, especially as its debut was at Steamcon II, in November, where there was much running between two hotels in freezing temperatures.

Alas, I have no photo yet of me wearing yet, but here is the finished product:

Again, as usual, folks, feedback is welcome.  Especially if anyone has suggestions for the pockets!  I really, really want to add pockets.