I now have a lot of Steampunk hats and decorations for them but this is the first one that I have made from scratch. I was taught how to make medieval headwear by the very talented Kat a long time ago so I have used the same techniques here.

I was aiming for a small pill box type hat so first cut out buckram stiffening then lined it with wadding before sewing the outer fabric on. The lid was also lined with felt to give it an edge to help sew it into the top of the hat.

The blue embellishment was made in the same way with stiffening and wadding and then sewn to the hat. The ostrich feathers came from Ebay, they are just tucked in at the moment but will be pinned in when I wear it.

The lace came from stash, I think it is some my Mum may have bought here in Spain and I have embellished it with seed beads. The hat has been sewn to a headband covered in lace so I can easily wear it without pins.

I have blogged about the outfit pattern before but realised I had not specified which one it is. The pattern is Butterick B6305 and is part of their history collection, dated 1870-1880.

I have modified it a lot, as you can see the original pattern has a very fitted front with a bow at the back and an apron front. I am not very good at making fitted items, I blame my generous bust 😉

As I was quite short of time have opted to leave the front as fold over reveres, embellished with some lovely lace that I think I bought from a Steampunk market. I have a cameo brooch to keep it closed.

I just made my own pattern for the cuffs as the ones on the original pattern are very complex but I think they look pretty and showcase the blue fabric really well.

As it is a looser jacket it did not look right with either apron or bustle so I have just made a little drawstring bag in blue to complement the outfit. I still have a complete jacket minus sleeves cut and sewn, as I was going to use the same material to line it.

I also still have the front jacket facings in blue and additional material so may come back and make a more fitted blue and cream one when I have more time. Saying that I don’t have any time do I, even now I am retired and I still have two more lots of material to make outfits with that I haven’t even started, but you never know!

The skirt is very simple but I am pleased with the neat pleats and darts. I had to cut the skirt much narrower than in the pattern, the material is very stiff and so it would not drape with that amount of width.

The material is beautiful, but as it is very stiff I have had to hand finish most of the jacket seams so that they won’t rub but it should be fine to wear now. I do so love the fabric, and am so pleased that it has finally been used after a mere 16 years in stash! It will be lovely to have a new outfit for Whitby.

I have also finished some little felt and Liberty flowers that I am intending to add to my purple top hat for decoration for Steampunk and re-enactment events. I like to wear a top hat in the evenings when we go to the beer tent.

The templates for the flowers are free ones from here and I used the same ones when I was making my 1940s felt flower corsages.

I backed the Liberty with iron on interfacing so that I could use the flowers raw edged.

I am looking forward to some lovely celebrations here this week as it is my 60th birthday 🙂 We are going for afternoon tea on the actual day, one of the bars here does a gorgeous afternoon tea and they even do a really lovely gluten free one! We tested it out a couple of weeks ago with my sewing group and it was delicious.

shall miss Spain but my 90 days are nearly up so until I return will be thinking about the epic sunsets like this one the other evening.

The sky was an amazing colour and I was out for quite a while taking pictures. We haven’t had one like that for a while but they are always amazing in autumn.

I will be having an epic adventure in Katy though, so won’t be too sad. I will be back as soon as I can from the road via the miracles of the WordPress app, with hopefully some great pictures from our re-enactment events. Fingers and everything else crossed!

Have fun until I see you all again, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.