Steampunk Geekery

A while ago I posted a picture of a top I was working on. Tbe plan was to customise an M & S undergarment with chainmaille and scales to make it look steampunky. I quite fancy doing more of these because with a minimum of chainmaille you can get maximum effect, if you see what I mean. A proper full chainmaille top can literally take weeks of work and the materials alone cost a fortune. Customising items is quicker, plus I can get more precise sizes if the base garments are pre-chosen by the customer.

Well, that was a waffly paragraph, I’m just thinking aloud and justifying my reasons for pulling a perfectly good piece of lingerie in pieces and sewing bits of metal onto it. Here’s how it looked the first time I blogged about this. It looks rather different now as you can see in later photographs.

Planning Stage – I decided I didn’t this in the end, so it looked very different by the time I finished. Check out later pics!

You can see above that all the chains are pinned rather than sewn in place and that the straps are still intact. After a lot of pondering, I changed my mind about this design. The scales looked too much and the chains on the seams would restrict the flexibility of the material. Plus the metal rose on the bust looked like a big bobble …sooooooo I took the straps off and attached a japanese weave choker with chains supporting the bust – added a dangling pendant with a sparkle of red beads and scales to emphasise the neckline – echoed the pendant design along the bust and finally, I sewed solid metal rings that look like studs below the bust and around the back so the design continues right along the bra line.

I was rather embarrassed to show my parents this particular project, I had to explain over and over again, that it’s not ‘kinky’ and that the idea is that it’s worn as a body top with a long victorian fitted waist and flared skirt with a bustle in a steampunk stylee.

My dad doesn’t know what steampunk is and I swear he thought it was some weird fashion to do with odd people, alternative music and steamtrains. My mum thought it was ‘interesting’ and fekkit, I like it anyway!

Each ‘stud’ is sewn individually with double thickness thread which is looped several times so that they won’t come loose. It is, as you might say ‘quality’. And these little rings took ages to sew in place I might add. Ages. Ages and ages. Did I mention that they took me ages? Donkeys years.

All the chains, and the outer jump rings on the japanese weave, are sewn onto the actual material with four stitches on each jump ring, in four different places on each and every ring, so that if one thread slips through the gaps in the jump rings in one place, they are still held in place by the other three stitches. That may sound like gobbledegook. It is in fact just common sense. This is the sewing version of superglue. Those goddam rings ‘aint coming off in a hurry in summary. They are well ‘ard.

Another pic. I’m not very good at this newfangled photography thing, but I think you have a clearer view of the bust here.

This is for sale if anyone is interested, although you do have to be a 34B. It is £50 plus postage and it’s completely unique. the materials are bright aluminium and they are glass beads, I think the ‘studs’ are steel, although I can’t be sure as they’re upcycled from an old bracelet. If you think I can do any customisation for you, please do let me know. Happy to help, any suggestions as to further projects, contacts with people or businesses who would be interested in selling things like this, anything……would be appreciated. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it wouldn’t do if we were all the same would it.

P.S I’m not modelling this so don’t ask me. ;)