Thrift Store Steampunk at Costume Academy

This is what I wore last Saturday in St. Louis at the Midwest Costume Academy.

It is supposed to be a "non costume" event, but last year I made myself a fairy sweater from some things I found at the thrift store. Not REALLY a costume, but costume like. So, this year I decided to see what else I could do in that vain.

At the end of the day, Sheila Lenkman, tied this bustle on my back side ... ha ha. I like the concept, but would have done something to the shirt to make it drape better, if I had planned for this.

I bought a lot more stuff than I ended up using. Maybe there is a second thrift store Steampunk in my future??

And this is how I originally mocked up all the pieces before actually cutting into anything. Turns out this looked a little more like a costume than I felt comfortable wearing that day. So let me show you how I modified the pieces I ended up using.

First the skirt. I bought a skirt that was WAY too big for me, because I wanted to use the excess fabric to bustle up. I could have bought two skirts and combined them someway, too.

I put a bunch of exterior pleats in the back. I wanted the front to be smooth.

I sewed a series of ribbons to the inside of the skirt, making sure both sides were symmetrical.

Then experimented with pulling them up different amounts, until I liked how it looked and  pinned the ends to the waist. I was going to actually sew these ribbons, but then got so busy, I ended just wearing the pins and decided it was part of the "look".

I cut the sleeves off the shirt planning to fit the shoulders and armhole so I could put the sleeve back on with a puff at the top, or something, but liked how it looked better sleeveless.

This ruffley red knit shirt I found at the thrift store, too. I thought I could cut off the ruffle and do something clever with it, but it looked so good as is and was so comfortable, why make more work for myself?

This picture shows how badly this shirt fit. Well, it is a man's XL ... again I bought large because I wanted excess fabric to do things with.

I re-sloped the shoulder, took in the side seam near the armhole, but flared it out to the full size at the bottom. Then I cut the armhole in so it fit and finished it with bias tape. The pre-made kind from a packet.

I wanted the front more open and the collar set out wider. So I cut the collar free almost to the shoulder. Then hemmed back each front 2 or 3 inches and set the collar back down so the edge of the collar met up with the front edge of the shirt.

I pleated up both sides of the shirt and used a BIG safety pin to hold the pleats but, again, never had the chance to actually sew those pleats.  I was going to wear this lacey vest, but thought it made me look fat when I was getting dressed in my hotel room.

Last thing, I made a pleated cummerbund with fabric from the sleeves ...

that laced in the back. 


If I wear this again, maybe I will add to it with some of the other thrift store things I bought. Or, maybe I will never wear this again. Time will tell.