Steampunk Pirate: The Corset

As I mentioned a little while ago, there is a pirate parade on the horizon here in Tucson--something I absolutely cannot resist. I started making plans for a pirate costume almost immediately, but those plans were a bit amorphous at first. There were the obvious things, well, thing. (Well, alright, I did it for the hat.) But beyond that, the world was, literally, my playground.

Serendipity, that unpredictable but charming beast, was at work, however. There is a blog that I follow-- Multiculturalism for Steampunk -- and the charming writer of that work has initiated a challenge which I found very inspiring. Since this week's challenge is the Airship Pirate, I think Serendipity has been working over time. Her challenge caused my mind to travel down the various pathways of interest and occupation in my life until I settled on the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire for my particular sources of inspiration.

Fortunately for me, because I spend every Monday night singing the folk music of that area with the ensemble, Mzekala, I already have a great fondness for and familiarity with the Balkans. In my capacity as blog writer for Mzekala, I have already done a fair bit of research on the costumes, cultures and traditions of the Balkans. This gave me a good start on ideas for the costume, and I decided I would give my corset a little Balkan flair.

Earlier I mentioned the Ottoman Empire, and it was most certainly on my mind. During the 19th century, nationalism was on the rise all over Europe and nowhere more so than in the Balkans which were then a part of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire was a quite the melting pot, and in some parts, it was extremely cosmopolitan. Cultural elements spread across the empire, in particular elements of fashion and ornamentation-- the fez, for instance, or the wonderful gold-work embellishments found on many garments.

That Ottoman presence in the Balkans gave rise to the very class of people I wanted to represent for the pirate parade: hajduks or, as I saw them called someplace, land pirates. Outlaws, rebels, heroes--these men were as diverse and hard to pin down as the Balkans themselves. They were, without doubt, deeply important to the independence movements across the Balkans, and they were most certainly the kind of colorful, romanticized figures in folk culture that pirates have become in modern popular culture. In the hajduks, I saw an opportunity to re-imagine an airship pirate who could be a heroine as well as a rogue.

Now that I had an idea for what I was doing with the corset, it was time to start the sewing. Well, the fun sewing. I had already tracked down, mocked-up and fitted a pattern but now I could have fun giving it that Ottoman Empire era Balkan flair. I knew I wanted to do some gold-worked arabesques on the outer fabric and hoped that I could find some pre-drafted embroidery patterns to work with. I had very little luck in this regard so I ultimately stole borrowed an embroidery design from some Turkish trousers. Thank you, Max Tilke.

Initially, I had a demented plan to make part of the embellishment look like meshing cogs and gears. I thought it would be a nicely subtle nod to steampunk. Hah. It was so subtle that they shall forever be remembered as sunbursts, not gears. Our little secret, dear readers, the "rays" mesh just like gears. Well, a costume piece is always improved by a little humor.

Once I had the design, it was merely a question of endurance as I couched 12 yards of gold cord across the outer surface of the corset. (A great deal of tea and many Dr. Who episodes were sacrificed for this part of the project.) Later, I'll write up the actual making of the corset but today, I wanted to feature the design elements and the inspiration process.

If you are curious about the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire, let me suggest some further reading.

Bai Ganyo: luckily for us, this book was recently translated into English. It's an excellent translation and a wonderful look at 19th Century Bulgaria culture. You can read my discussion of it here.

Black Lambs and Grey Falcons: a collection about 19th century women travelers in the Balkans, not the famous and similarly titled Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, which is also a good read.

Oriental Panorama: British Travellers in 19th Century Turkey: a book I perused while learning about hajduks. I found a copy to read in part here.

Imagined Communities: an incredible work on Nationalism and a must read for anyone interested in that topic.

And finally, here is a nice history overview of Ottoman Empire as it began to fail.

The history of both the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire is so immense that no list, especially one so short, can ever be complete, but these are a few nice places to start.

~La Cucitrice

Steampunk Pirate: Three Hour Zouave Hat

After looking through a number of pictures of Zouave Vivandiere and Zouave troops, I was slightly obsessed with the soft hat I kept seeing. There were quite the array of hats that Zouaves wore--everything from fezes to kepis. The soft cap with tassel, however, really caught my imagination, and so I decided I would make one for my upcoming pirate costume. (Click on the image for a link to a nice blog about Victorian era military units and the Zouave Vivandieres in particular.)

While I could not find an image that gave me a really good view of the construction of that soft cap, I thought I had a general enough idea of its shape to make my own. It reminded me a bit of the cap worn by the Greek Evzones. I was able to see a little more detail on some of those caps so that informed my design decisions in part. Once I had staked out my mental image of the design, I spent about three hours putting the hat together. It was a fun and easy project.

There are a few things I might change for a future version, but overall, I am quite happy with my little hat. Since that's the case, I am going to share a step by step look at how I put this together so my dear readers can make their own little cloth cap if the desire ever arises.

I started by hitting my fabric stash for some scraps that were the right color and weight for a soft fabric cap. I picked the same fine wale corduroy that I used for a pillbox hat not too long ago. I measured out a sizable rectangle of fabric-- the circumference of my head with a little ease plus 1 inch for seam allowance and 10 1/2 inches for the height. I tracked down some linen-cotton blend fabric in the same pile of scraps to be the lining and cut it to match the outer fabric.

I sewed each rectangle along the short side to make a tube. This would be the body of the hat and lining. I used a 1/2 inch seam allowance which is not quite standard but I find it is easier to measure consistently than 5/8 inch when I am putting together something quick like this. Once I had the seams done, I pressed them open.

I matched the two tubes, right sides together, along the seams, and pinned around the bottom edge. I sewed this together and then pressed the seam allowance toward the corduroy. I also folded over and pressed a half inch around the two remaining raw edges of the fabric tube. All of the machine stitching was done and it was time to sit down to do a little hand sewing.



I decided I would gather the linen-cotton fabric and then simply pleat the outer corduroy fabric. I used a dark-brown matching thread to do the pleating and ran my stitch through the crease of the pressed fold on the lining fabric so that it would be invisible once I was done. I pulled the gathers closed and ran a few quick stitches across the small hole to tie everything together. Large gathers worked best so this portion went by quickly.

Pleating the outer fabric was a little trickier. It took me a few tries to get a feel for how wide I wanted the pleats to be and what angle they needed to follow in order to make a nice circular shape. I made a solid stitch through each corner of the pleat to tack it into place as I went. When I got to my last pleat or two, I sewed in the tassel with a few solid whip-stitches which I then concealed under the final pleats. Once the pleats were in place, I took a few last stitches across the small hole to tie everything together as I did with the lining, tied it all off with a French knot and then covered the opening with a button in my stash.

The final test was putting it on to see how it fit my face and how it draped. It fit reasonably well. In future, I plan to add an extra 1/2 inch for more ease around my hair and more length to the short seam so that it drapes a little more dramatically. Also a note of warning, check the tassel length. Mine is a little on the dangerous side length-wise as it can swing right into my nose and mouth while I'm walking. A little longer tassel would certainly avoid that issue. Fortunately for me, I've never balked at a little tassel to the nose.

~La Cucitrice

Steampunk Pirate: Turkish Trouser Madness

These trousers are perhaps my favorite recent project. They went together amazingly quickly and turned out to be extremely comfortable. Indeed, I find myself wondering if it is entirely seemly for them to be so terribly comfortable. Initially, I had intended to find a boldly striped cotton fabric, perhaps in a red. I rather thought red stripes would be a smashing look for a piratical costume and also thought I might be able to wear the red with the sporting jacket I made last month.

However, during my journeys to the various fabric pushers vendors in town, I found that none of the offerings appealed to me. I returned to my trusty stash where I discovered this delightful striped brown linen. I had been saving it for a different project entirely but decided it would be perfect for piratical Turkish trousers. Moreover, I had it on hand with enough to make up the trousers. Clearly, the costume muse was busily at work!

The hard part of the project came next. I needed to pre-shrink and iron the fabric and then cut it out. Usually, this part of a project is merely tedious, though necessary, but because of the sheer volume of fabric needed for the rather flamboyantly full trousers, there was a great deal to iron. A very great deal. I believe at one point I may have begun to mutter vehemently against the wrinkly qualities of linen. Fortunately, pirates do not feel a need to iron their trousers on a regular basis so once made up into a garment, these trousers will likely never see an iron again. (At least, I assure you, gentle readers, that when I am dressing as a pirate, I feel no need to wear wrinkle free trousers.)

Because in the past I have been used to altering my patterns to fit, I was prepared to make some adjustments to these. However, because of the style of construction, there were no alterations necessary. I cannot recall the last time I simply sewed a pattern with the pieces as drafted. Oh the simplicity! I made two small changes in how I put things together but they required no change to the drafting. Rather than making the bottom casing a hidden affair with elastic, I left the that casing visible on the legs and ran a ribbon through each channel which I tied into a bow as a closure. (I cannot abide elastic around my joints unless it is too loose to be of any utility.) My other small change was to the side opening on the trousers. The pattern calls for a facing from the back half of the opening, ostensibly so that if there is any gap in the opening one will be modestly covered. However, I decided to bind off the front edge of the opening at the same time I did the facing.

Once the facing was in place, I faced the monumental task of gathering up the rather tent like garment into a distinct waist and legs. There were shenanigans involving Mr. Monte, the super dog, and even a feline assistant or two. There were also long stretches of Dr. Who while I diligently applied needle and thread to the task of gathering up the fabric. In truth, pinning the gathers so that the fabric was even across the waist and leg bands was rather time consuming, but all in and all, I felt it came out nicely. (And Monte, while he clearly questioned my sanity, was wonderfully patient as a model.)

The remaining steps flew by in a matter of moments at the sewing machine. Though I broke the work up across several days, I know that I could make these trousers again over the course of a single day. Quick, comfortable, and, I think, delightfully piratical, these trousers are a pleasure to wear. My only concern--a minor one born of my own old-fashioned style--is that the fabric is rather more sheer than I realized. Were I to make them again out of a similar fabric, I might try flat lining them. For now, I am throwing caution to the wind. I can't quite imagine a pirate wearing a slip under her trousers.

~La Cucitrice

A Costume's Progress: Steampunk Pirate

Gentle readers,

I have been working on a rather large costume project the last few weeks and I promise to start posting about that work. However, I thought I should give the background and inspiration for said project. As you might have noticed, I have in the past been more than a little friendly with the world of Renaissance Faires. I also have a rather extreme fondness* for hats. In the insular world of the Renaissance Faire, those of the piratical persuasion often have the most fabulous hats. Imagine my glee, then, when I heard that the local steampunk community was holding a pirate parade! I could combine my fondness for hats, my appreciation for the more flamboyant piratical-wear, and my current interest in the Steampunk community. And that, my dears, is precisely what I have been working on these last several weeks.

My dear auntie gave me a fabulous pattern set from Laughing Moon Mercantile for Christmas. The sporting jacket which I shared recently came from this set of patterns. In that package was also the delightfully named and intriguing Turkish trousers. My auntie encouraged me to make up these trousers right away and so with the pirate costume in mind, I dove right into Turkish Trouser Madness. They were quite fun to make, and I think they will be splendid to wear! (I shall write about these trousers very soon. )

The costume also requires, in my mind at least, an appropriate vest or, in this case, corset. I have been madly working away on the mock-up and intend to start the actual garment this week. There are plans within plans for this pattern which my other dear auntie on the west coast gave me. I am entirely inspired by the gold work embroidery of the Balkans and of North Africa and have decided on this basis alone that my pirate costume will be something of a re-imagined Ottoman Empire bandit. Certainly in the Balkans, bandits were rather revered as rebels in direct opposition to the Ottoman rulers. They were romanticized, balladized, and probably a number of other things which are much less charming to discuss.

This Ottoman influence led me by various pathways toward Zouaves and Zouave Vivandieres. So while I am working on the corset vest, I will also be creating my take on the hat I see in many old photos of Zouaves. Oh, I could just make a fez--and believe me I have thought about it!--but I am curious to try something a little different. (After all, I can always make a fez, too. Just for fun. Because fezes are awesome. ) When discussing any kind of piratical attire, one must take careful consideration of the hat*.

Once the pants, vest and hat are complete, I will move onto the less pressing but none the less fun garments: spats, a shirt, and a piratical sash. One simply must have a sash! I have one or two sashes that might suffice but I'm rather in the mood to make one that will coordinate with the ensemble. The spats will come from the same set of patterns that I've used for the trousers and sporting jacket. In our Tucson climate, the spats will provide the advantage of a saucy look without the warmth of boots. Of course, the top is the least critical item of the whole list and so that shall wait for the end. If time permits, I may put together a sheath for my wooden Tai Chi saber so that I may be piratical while swashing my buckle. Or is that buckling my swash?

~La Cucitrice

*I'm sure I can stop wearing hats any time that I want to but why ever would I want to stop wearing hats?!