Granite State Comic Con

This weekend (Saturday and Sunday), Kelley and I will be exhibiting and selling our wares at Granite State Comicon! You can find us in the Artist’s Alley, booth number 907. I’ve included a map below with our table circled.  Granite Con will be held at the Radisson Center of New Hampshire, 700 Elm Street, Manchester on September 28th & 29th.

The spaces for Granite Con are not as big as the one we had for Connecticon, so we won’t be able to bring our vertical displays, but we still plan to pack our table with leather masks, armor and bracelets, handmade jewelry, costume accessories, hair pieces and more! Kelley will be doing face paint and balloon animals, and I’ll have my caricature supplies on hand! We’re happy to do your makeup for the convention with Kelley’s hypoallergenic face paints, or get your costume started for Halloween with the perfect mask. Want something specific made for Halloween? We take commissions! If you order a mask at the convention, we will have it to you in time to celebrate every costumer’s favorite holiday on Oct 31st.

For more information on placing a commission, you can visit my website at: http://shaunart.net, or send me an email direct.

For more information on the convention, check out their website: http://granitecon.com

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Steampunking & Historical Wear

I’ve been working on a costume for my first steampunk convention in the fall, along with a character because as I understand it, that’s also part of steampunking–but that’s a different story for another time. At the moment, I have some progress pictures of what I’ve been making.

So far I’ve finished an overskirt to sit on top of that hoop skirt that I posted about previously. Also a part of this costume is the bustle I made a few months ago, but now it sits atop my new bustle pillow, and has thus been totally transformed. The top of the hoop skirt sits higher than the skirt, but that will be covered with either a shirt or a corset when I wear the whole thing together.

First I’ll talk about the skirt. It is made from this absolutely gorgeous and sturdy suiting fabric in a cotton-polyester blend. It is a dream to work with and wears very well. Easy to iron, press, and pleat, it also holds gathers and ruffles despite its heavy weight. It is also interesting color-wise; in different lights it takes on different hues, from gray to green to brown–perfect colors for a steampunk, no?

The skirt also has three channels for draw strings under each of the seams so that it can be bustled and tied up.

Here is the skirt without the hoop underneath it. Not quite as dramatic, but as you can see, still a very nice skirt maybe for a ren fair. I will have pictures of it bustled in a few days.

Here is the skirt with the red bustle on top. I really like the combination of the greenish-gray with the deep red. It’s a nice contrast without looking garish or Christmas-like. Red is also my favorite color so I’m glad that I could work it in as an accent color.

My plan is to make a cropped bolero jacket to match the skirt, a mini-garrison hat also in the same fabric as the skirt, and perhaps an underskirt to hide the bit of hoop skirt that tends to poke out. Also, when the skirt is bustled over the hoop skirt, I’m going to need an underskirt anyway because a whole lot more petticoat will be showing, and that doesn’t look polished without an underskirt. I just have to decide what color to make it!

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Unusual Undergarments: Hoop Skirt & Bustle Pillow

When making any historically inspired costume, it is important to have the right undergarments to give the costume the correct shape.

Above is a hoop skirt, which is an effective way of holding a skirt in an otherwise unnatural and gravity defying shape. Hoop skirts require less material than if you were to try and achieve the same effect with an all netting petticoat. Hoop skirts are essentially a set of two to four round metal rings, sewn into a skirt. Then netting is placed over the skirt to smooth out the hoops and add a little extra volume.

It is more cost effective to buy a low-end hoop skirt with only a little tulle than it is to buy the materials to make one from scratch. So I made my hoop skirt by purchasing a low-end skirt off ebay, and adding my own petticoat netting to increase its volume and smooth out the hoops. I have heard of several other costumers doing this as well, and the results have all looked very nice.

This next odd undergarment is called a bustle pillow. It sits underneath a limp bustle to poof it up and show off it’s ideal shape. It basically makes your butt look ginormous, which was very stylish during the Victorian era.

I made this pillow using my own very simple pattern which I will be uploading soon. This one is just plain white cotton, pillow stuffing, and white ribbon. But some bustle pillows can be quite elaborate with colors, bows, lace, and embroidery. I decided to keep things simple, since its not intended to be seen while I’m wearing the bustle.

I’ll be posting pictures of clothing over these undergarments shortly. Until then, thanks for reading!

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