Show & Tell, The Steampunk Edition!

Time for more reader creations made with Epbot tutorials - this time, the steampunk edition!

Melissa T. needed a little "steampunk magic" for the vest her fiance will be wearing during their engagement shoot in a few weeks, so she took inspiration from my steampunk medal tutorial and made her own!

 

Melissa gets extra props for making her medal entirely from scratch. Just look at those beautiful layered ribbons - and the teal accents? PERFECTION.

Melissa also made a gorgeous hanging charm for her guy to wear on a chain like a pocket watch:

Here's the completed vest:

 

I love it! And be sure to send me pics of that engagement shoot, too, Melissa! (Pretty please?)


I am both delighted and amazed by how many of you out there are making goggles using the tutorial John and I put together. What's more, you guys are putting ours to shame! (THE GALL.) I honestly thought this was one of our more difficult tutorials - but then, that's probably because it involves a little sewing, which I'm terrible at, so maybe it's just difficult for me. Heh.

I think the first person to send me her goggle pics was Susan R., who, together with her hubby, whipped up two complete steampunk outfits for a New Year's party last year. Here's their goggles:

The bottom one is from our tut, of course, but I also love that design on top! It looks great with all those chunky rivets! (I'll show you their finished costumes at the end of this post, too. Keep scrolling!)

Next up, Rebecca and her husband made not one, not two, but THREE pairs of goggles, and I have to say I approve of their display choices:

Ha! They're like little portholes for tiny toys! I like it. Head over to Bec's blog for more pics, and to see the fun steampunk wall decorations they used for a party!

Next, Jeff C. made a matching pair of goggles for himself and his girlfriend:

(Nice filigree on the nose pieces!)

 Plus Jeff has a few great tips for making the process easier:

1) If you don't have a scroll saw for cutting out the lenses, use a soldering iron (yes, really!). Jeff says it's slower, of course, but accurate.

2) If you're sewing by hand, use a thumbtack to punch holes in your leather/vinyl to make it easier to get the needle through. (This is a fabulous idea.)

3) When sewing the eye cup peak (which is the hardest part), cut a diamond pattern into the peak "so it looks like an M." Jeff tells me that makes the sewing easier, and you won't see the missing piece when it's done. He also found it easier to sew the strap on before sewing the two ends of the eye cup together.


Great tips, all of 'em. Thanks, Jeff!


And last but certainly not least, here are Noelle D.'s awesome goggles:

 I love the leathers she used!

PLUS, Noelle also made a steampunk rifle inspired by my raygun:

And, oh yes, it lights ups!

Woohoo! Rock on, Noelle! That is amazing!

Now let's leave the goggles and weaponry behind for some nice, peaceful hot air balloon ornaments. 

Like these:

Jeanna H. (who also made that copper-wrapped vial pendant from last Saturday's post) used my hot air balloon tutorial to make her own awesome ornaments. Check it out:

That quilted texture is perfect for these, and I like how Jeanna used both chain and gold cord - not to mention the hand painting and fun copper springy bits on the metallic one!

This wasn't a steampunk tutorial, but Natalie used my papercraft shadowbox instructions to make the most amazing 'punk-a-fied Ironman display!

AAA! How cool is this?! It's really a piece of mixed media art, with those gears and rivets and that awesome burlap texture. I like the lining inside, too. Head over to Nat's blog post to see how she did it all, and for more pics.

And finally, since I'm developing a backlog of all your great costumes, here are some great costumes:

Liz J. over in Sydney is one of those sewing wizards, so she made most of her steamy outfit from scratch in only about three days!

ADORABLE. 

The only thing Liz didn't make were the boots and shirt, and she also modded that Nerf gun and goggles. Go check out Liz's blog for the fabulous detail pics, not to mention some rockin' daily outfit posts. (I love her style!)

And here's Susan and her hubby, striking fabulously heroic poses in their steamy New Year's finery:

 The best part is that Susan made all of this on the fly while they were out of town visiting relatives. So she started with nothing, and put it all together in just a few days with thrift store finds! She used three separate skirts to make that one full one, and used the leftovers to trim her jacket - plus she dyed some scraps to make that flower on her lapel. I tell ya. Sewing people. WIZARDS, ALL OF YOU.

Yeesh, this post is approaching biblical-proportions-length, so I'm going to post one more costume and save the rest for later, k?

So finally, here's a gorgeous outfit by friends and textile students Katrina F. & Brooke M., who made it for their university's Spring Showcase:

 

The dress was made from old prom dresses (brilliant!), and the bustle is removable. I think my favorite bit is the velvet scrunched collar, but really, the whole thing is breathtaking:

Katrina didn't mention which of them is modeling the dress here, but whoever it is, she's just lovely. Kind a devious Snow White vibe, right? :)  Anyway, excellent job, ladies! The future of fashion is clearly in good hands.


Have something steamy to share? Then I wanna see it! Share your pics and links here in the comments, on the Epbot FB page, or via e-mail!