The Airship Project: Mrs V

A couple years ago at Dragon*Con after the Steampunk Ball and, apparently, much alcohol, some friends of ours decided that we needed to have our own Steampunk Airship. For those of you new to steampunk, I'll sum it up by saying that it's a world where today's technology has all been reimagined to run off of steam, and it has a very Victorian aesthetic (although some folks are starting to move into other areas as well). It's pretty cool, and there are some crazily creative folks out there doing it! But back to me...

So these friends of ours, with the help of much alcohol (I think I mentioned that), set about assigning parts. My husband, bless him, can't find his way out of a paper bag without a GPS, so of course he was given the position of ship's navigator (Rex McNally). How did Rex get this coveted position given his innate handicap? Well, because he's the boytoy of my assigned character: Mrs. "V", also known as "the money". In exchange for giving Rex a chance to live out his dream, "V" fronts the money for the whole shebang (it also gives her something to talk about at those dreadful tea parties).

So, here's my husband in his Rex McNally get up:

No, I didn't sew that. He invoked his astonishing powers of "Captain Off-the-Rack" to put that together. Not too long after this whole thing kicked off, if I recall correctly.








As for me? Well, I have this horrible habit of wanting to do everything "correctly". So if I was going to do "V" as a well-to-do society lady, then I was going to do it right! Right, in this case, means "start from the inside and work your way out", so now, two years later, I have reached this stage:

Yep, that's right, two years later and I have ....


... underwear.



I'm such a quick sewer.




There's also a corset that I bought, but I wanted to show my friends I'd actually accomplished something, so it's not in this photo. :)

For the terminally curious, that's the 'Chemise and Drawers' pattern from Truly Victorian. It works up pretty easily once you figure out the fabric origami in the leg ruffles. :) I imagine all that will be quicker now that I have a ruffler and a gathering foot for my sewing machine! If I had a time machine, I think I'd go back to the Victorian era and punch the first guy who made all those ruffles fashionable. Yes, they're pretty, but Oh! such a pain! :)

This weekend involves massive sewing: the petticoat for "V" here, work on my Imperial Officer I talked about earlier, and another costume that is the brainchild of some other friends of ours (our friends get us into so much trouble, I swear .... ). More on that one later! :)

Episode I: A New Hope ... oops, that's Episode IV

To sum up the history in a nutshell, I'm not a costumer. Well, not really. I was in the SCA for about 20 years, so I did stuff like this:
  

(my dress, not his stuff. BTW, the veil over the shoulder?
Ladies, white can be see-through. An important lesson.)

 


... but I wouldn't consider that real costuming. Not really. Hence, my assertion I'm new to this whole cosplay / costuming thing. :)  









Now my husband (that's him in the picture up there) is a HUGE Star Wars fan. As in "amaze you with random trivia about characters that only appeared once in a comic book in 1978" huge. So when we left the SCA and he rediscovered the 501st Legion, I had the brilliant idea of making him one of these:



(screen capture from, I think, Empire Strikes Back.
Most definitely property of Mr. Lucas.)




... because it's all cloth, right? And those other costumes, like stormtroopers and stuff, they have plastic! So this has got to be easier, yes?

Sometimes I laugh at how naive I was. But mostly I cry.

See, while I'd done dresses that were fitted, I'd never done anything that was tailored. And to do that uniform correctly, tailoring is involved. Talk about a steep, steep learning curve.


About a year after the project got underway (and 7 months past my original "get-it-done-by" date), I attended a panel at Dragon*Con where the 501st folks were discussing the different costumes. Someone in the audience said how easy the Imperial Officers looked, and the panelists just smiled and one made the comment that you shouldn't be deceived by the fact that it's all cloth. I wanted to shout, "Hallelujah!" from the back row. You see, it was finally done, and my husband was wearing it at that very panel. And here he is:



(Dragon*Con 2010)





I can't even tell you how many things I want to change on this costume. And how much I really, really wish I'd straightened him up before we took this picture. Ah well! He likes it, it got him into the 501st, and he is loving it there! :)



BTW, the hat, while finicky and time-consuming, is my favourite part of this costume.







So there you are. My initial foray into the world of costuming / cosplay. I've been asked when I'll make mine, and my usual response has been "when I get over the trauma of making his." That time is now, and mine is underway (with so many lessons learned!). But that, and the other current projects, are topics for other posts.

Until then, I recommend a nice light Pinot Grigio for the spring evenings. And white wine is so much easier to get out of fabric when you spill it. :) Always practice safe sewing!