Everything is Kupfer-Orange!

I had a rare day when I had absolutely no meetings or events in my calendar. I used it to start a sewing project, which I hope will result in an outfit for Lumous festival that's next month. I bought ten meters of reasonably priced taffeta and took to finding out how the Fan + Friend bustle skirt was constructed, so I could make my own version.

I love the black bustle skirt, but it so dark that some of the lovely details are lost and don't show up in photos well. That's why I decided to go for material that's something else than black. First I was thinking about red, but I rarely wear red and don't think it goes well with my pink hair. After some thinking I settled for a gorgeous kupfer-orange or copper orange (that was also only 4 euros per meter). It seemed like a fairly unique shade, something that would work well with accessories I have, and it should work with pink hair too.

The Fan + Friend skirt worn by a dress form for closer inspection. Notice the
authentic German dust on the hem ;P

I looked at some Truly Victorian patterns, but the skirts didn't appeal to me, so I decided to go without and just try to mimic the Fan + Friend skirt that fits me well and seems to have all the qualities I want. I put it on my dress form and did some measuring, and cut the copper orange taffeta based on the measurements. I'm still missing a zipper and the skirt is missing the top layer that has the actual bustle and a apron part, but I think it's looking quite nice even now. My picture doesn't do it justice, but the pleats are looking really nice and the skirt fits over a petticoat and a bustle cage just like it should, which makes me happy.

Having a simple, non-bustled base skirt make it so much easier to make sure the bustle will stay in place, and that I can use plenty of fabric to do pleats and drapes on the top part of the skirt, and the hemline pleats will make the bottom look nice and finished.

View from the back, the base skirt with no bustled top part yet. The dress form is wearing
a tulle petticoat and a bustle cage so I can see how the skirt looks on top of them.

I spend most of yesterday evening by ironing the neverending pleats. There was nine meters of fabric before pleating, so that's a lot! But I think it looks really good, and the front side of the skirt will have the apron part so that the pleating will show nicely under it, so I think it was worth it. Now just the zipper, a button at the waist, gathering the bustle in the back and pleating the apron in the front. I think the hem pleats are the most time-consuming part of the project, so most of the work is done. I bought a Truly Victorian pattern for a separate bodice, but I'll do a mock-up first to see how it fits. It's a fairly complicated piece, but I'm pretty sure I can master it. If not on the first go, there's plenty of fabric for a second version, so I think I'm safe.

So. Many. Pleats.

Magnus was ecstatic over the long hems, he dove right in under any and all skirts I put on the dress form!

I'm excited to continue with this project! If I have enough time, I'll make a matching hat or a fascinator too. I'm going nest week on a trip to Tallinn with some lovely ladies from our craft club, we will raid all the fabric stores, so then I will have the zipper I need ;D