A Victorian Corset from Simplicity 5726 (2009)

  After I finished Eowyn's Shieldmaiden Dress a costumer friend of a friend of my mom's said that it made her want to teach me how to make a real corset. I haven't seen her since, but I'm sure she'd be glad to know that in 2009 I left plastic boning behind and did it. …

1878 Natural Form Bustle Overskirt from TV234 (2011)

    I purchased this pattern using Christmas money with the goal of making myself a Steampunk outfit. I found a brown linen pinstripe at Jo-Ann's and went to work. This was my first time using a Truly Victorian pattern and it will definitely not be the last. The most difficult part of this skirt …

Steampunk Embroidery

For my new Steampunk outfit I decided to try my hand at embroidery to embellish the corset. I found several downloadable hand embroidery patterns at Urban Threads. I bought some embroidery floss and tried one out on a scrap of fabric left over from my Medieval Dress. The test square turned out much better than …