Prepping for the Steampunk World's Fair

While my beau has been constructing a Zulu War-era military dress uniform in prep for the World’s Fair, I’ve been completing accessories for the both of us. Last night, I put the finishing touches on my peacock hat, decorated my bowler, and sewed up two bow ties for himself.

The bowler took about an hour, I guess, with getting the feather spray wired and glued into place, the ribbon set just right, and the flower attached. The gold ribbon I chose for the band was much too yellow and bright when I compared the hat against the jacket I will wear it with and I knocked down the brightness with some “Black Cherry” craft paint. I am positively squeeful about the gorgeous coppery color it became and how well it coordinates with the feather spray. The rose, which a friend spray-painted black, looked dull against the hat and I dry brushed it with some metallic gold craft paint. I’m fairly happy with the results; although, I’m fighting to keep from applying more geegaws to it.

The two ties took about two hours to construct, are made of cotton fabric quarters with fusible interfacing, and come from Miss P’s tutorial and pattern. SO easy! At this point, I’ve made three ties for my beau and will probably knock out another this evening so he’ll have one to coordinate with a garish waistcoat he fell in love with at the thrift store.



I’ll post photos of the peacock hat later. It’s pretty massive and took about ten hours to construct.