Final Project Week 6

This week I will be making my bloomers and finishing off my corset. I found a bloomer pattern online and I use some white thin cotton fabric to make then. I cut out the pieces for my shorts, I made them a little too long so I could ruffle them up at the bottom. 

The only thing I needed to do for my corset was to add the cogs onto my white bits. I didn't want to over crowd it with cogs so I put them on in groups with big gaps between them. 

After that I then added my waist cincer and belt over the top. I then put it onto my friend to see how it looked. 

Final Project Week 5

This week I wanted to finish off my waist cincer, finish off my hat and start thinking about how I am going to display my piece in the final show.

I started off with my waist cincer. I sewed it inside out and left a gap in the corners so when I turn it back the right way there is a nice clean edge. I then sent it to my dad so he could put in some eyelets so I could lace it up later. 


For my hat I decided to buy a brown bowler hat off the internet as my base. I also purchased some rabbit ears, clock hands and some large feathers, I also had some cogs. The first thing I did was cut two holes in my hat for the ears. I wanted the ears to look like they were coming out the hat. I then made a little leather strip and attached it onto my hat to make a band, this is were the feathers, cogs and clock hands will be put onto. I made a little brooch from 4 cogs and arranged them onto the leather band. I then added the feathers and in the feathers I put the clock hands.

 This is how I want my final show to be laid out.

Final Project Week 4

This week I started to make my leather waist cincer. I didn't have a pattern for this so it was custom made for my model. Its made up of 3 panels so it fits better. I decided to make this waist cincer to go over the top of my corset because in steampunk overlapping of different materials and colours is very common. I also made a mini belt out of the same material to go over the top of the first panel. It has a working mini clock to go with the whole theme.

This week I also did some more sketches of what my corset might look like when its finished. 

I also went over the white bits on the corset again as you could still see the paper mache underneath. This time I mixed white acrylic paint and PVA glue together in the hope that it would crack and give a different effect.

Final Project Week 3

This week I managed to paint, shape and start my design on the corset.

I wanted my corset to be a nice dark brown colour with two white stripes running down the sides, this is where my pattern will go. 

I was able to start painting on the cogs aswell. I wanted different coloured cogs so I used silver, copper, gold and bronze paint. However the silver paint wasn't going on smoothly so I painted them copper and gold instead.

A couple of big designers have used steampunk in their clothing.

Versace  

Prada

Alexander McQueen

Dior

Final Project Week 2

I wanted to find out more about steampunk and cosplay so I search the internet and found out loads about them.

Steampunk

Steampunk refers to a subgenre of science fiction and sometimes fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th century industrial steam powered machinery.

Cosplay

Cosplay is the practice of dressing up as a character from a film, book, or video game, especially one from the Japanese genres of manga or anime.

I also started to make my paper mache corset. I managed to get all the layers done so it had time to properly dry out over night.

Final Project Week 1

Proposal 

My project will be based on steampunk, which is a sci-fi trend that features steam powered machines, and it will be mixed with cosplay. The cosplay will be based on the white rabbit from Alice in wonderland. 

I'm going to look into corset making, steampunk and cosplay. As part of my research I'm going to look at different fabrics, colours and patterns to see what goes well together.

I'm going to start off by doing research on steampunk and doing some sketches of what I want it too look like and some sketches of the white rabbit in cartoon.

To extend onto my original ideas I will be collecting pictures on pinterest of some white rabbit costume ideas. I will also find out more about steampunk and other designers that enjoy using steampunk in their work. 

The materials I will be using will be:

• Newspaper
• PVA glue
• Paint
• Cogs
• Feathers
• Clock parts
• Different fabrics

The techniques I will be using are:

• Paper Mache
• Sewing
• Painting
• Designing 

The equipment I will be using for my final piece will be the sewing machine to make my waist cincer and my skirt/shorts.

The safety factors i will be considering will be when I am using the sewing machine. If I don't take care and concentrate I could hurt myself on the needle.

I will be doing a weekly target sheet to make sure I manage my time effectively and efficiently.

I will evaluate will final piece on 3 things:

1. How my piece turned out
2. If it follows the brief
3. If my piece looks professional and eye catching  

For my outcome I will be making a paper mache corset, making a waist cincer, make a skirt or a pair of shorts and make a hat to go with my costume.

My bibliography will include where I got my information and pictures from.

Some of my drawings:

                                                                                                                                                                                                 

  

Japanese Corset

My Japanese/Victorian corset

I first got the idea to make this when we went on a trip to Pitt rivers museum in Oxford. As I was walking round the body modification section caught my eye. My first initial idea was to look at tattoos and design a traditional tattoo but I didn't know what to do with that. Then the foot binding and corsets caught my eye and thats when I came up with the idea of mixing two different styles together, a victorian corset for a geisha girl.

 This is one of my sketches which I then decided I wanted this design on my corset. I did this in water colours so I could get a nice ombre effect on the scales and fins.

After I knew the design I wanted on the corset, I then needed to figure out what I was going to put it onto, a paper mache corset or fabric. I made started making a fabric corset but after talking to my teachers and alot of debating we all thought the painting the design onto paper mache would be the best idea as I would of needed loads of screen prints to get the detail in the scales/fins.

 After doing the fabric corset I started doing my paper mache. After 6 layers it was dry I then cut it into a nice sweetheart corset.

I then painted it white and drew on my design in pencil. Then I was ready to paint. Here is my koi fish step by step. 

I added a lotus flower pond into the background to make it look more 3D and japanese. I also added a white ribbon and a zip to make it look more realistic. Overall my corset took 4-5 weeks to complete. I was very happy with my outcome and fitted perfectly on my model. If I could re-do this piece of had more time I would of paid more attention to detail.