Theresa LaQuey - guest blogger - Steampunk #2 - part 1

Continuing from Monday ... My sister Theresa's stories of her terrific series of Steampunk costumes.  The story picks up after the first pattern has been published and Simplicity wants another ... YAY!

Lest I forget to mention, I was very fortunate in having a previous client, Tricia Roush, who had become a very successful milliner and has so kind in lending her hats to Simplicity for the photo shoots.

After that pattern was such a hit, a second one was requested from me.  I once again did a bit of research, and also really wanted this one to have a totally different feel from the previous one.  I thought, well since the last package had a long reddingcoat and a corset that covered the bust, I should do a short bolero, a corset that cuts under the bust and a much fancier skirt.  Here is my sketch for that idea. This also includes the swatches I had selected.  

After I had figured out that I wanted to do a bustle skirt with an apron front and side cascades, I realized that with Steampunk you could get away with all sorts of odd things, so I thought, mini-bustle!  Mini-bustle with a bolero that has more of a boudoir feel to it.  Here is my sketch of that idea. 

and also my breakdown sketch of all of the different parts in both views.
-- 
 Theresa LaQuey

You can see, she has nicknamed this pattern Steampunk #2 - the sequel!  

In the next blog on Friday, Theresa will talk about her fabric choices and she has a bunch of cool personal photos of these costumes with some neat close ups.

But, I thought I would share the photos of her muslins now.  She makes the most beautiful muslins. They could be worn as finished garments themselves. As a matter of fact her first Steampunk costume pattern was supposed to only have one garment photographed, but when she sent in her muslin for approval, the folks at Simplicity thought it was so beautiful, they photographed the model wearing it and used the computer to add some color. This would be the tan one on the left.

So, please enjoy the muslins for this pattern below.