Edwardian Blouse Overhaul

A while ago I needed a quick victorian-ish blouse under my 1895 bicycling outfit for a GBACG Event.  I bought one from Gentleman's Emporium, and it worked just fine under an 1890s jacket.

When I needed a shirtwaist to wear for an Edwardian event at the Niles Canyon Railway and Essanay Silent Film Studios in April, I decided to adapt the shirt I bought to be more appropriate.

From the Stash:

• purchased shirt
• 3 yards insertion lace
• White silk fabric covered buttons

Purchased:

• 3 yards edge lace
• 3 yards insertion lace

Original shirt 

Insertion lace

I used the shirtwaists from Women's Fashions of the Early 1900s: The Unabridged Republication of New York Fashions, 1909, as inspiration.  

The original shirt had a double ruffle down the front.  I removed the under ruffle and the plastic buttons from the front.  The poofiness of the front ruffle was still a bit too much so I tacked down the fabric on both sides of the shirt front.  I added 2 parallel rows of insertion lace over each side of the center front.  This had the effect of moving the fullness out from the center front.  I also replaced the lace at the ruffle, cuffs and collar.

 Shirt, Version 2

Filming at the Niles Canyon Railway

EL wire steampunk bracelet

This bracelet is a variation of the class project I taught at the GBACG Costume Academy in March 2012. Instructions for the flower bracelet.

From the Stash:

• All the leather
• Battery holder

Purchased:

• EL wire from Cool Neon
• mini inverter

I used a basic gear template to cut out two large gears with circles underneath in place of flowers.  The templates are from a foam steampunk class I took at Costume College two years ago and never used.  The gold colored rivets are rhinestones that are spray-painted and then glued on


Gear templates and leather scissors 

Band cut-out using gear template



Leather components



Like the Flower bracelet I punched holes in the gears for the battery holder leads and the inverter wires.  I then soldered these together underneath so that they are sandwiched between the gears and the leather wristband

Wiring connecting battery to inverter 

I've found that these connections are fairly fragile so in the future I'll probably totally cover them in hot glue to keep everything together.


Battery holder and inverter

Final Bracelet: