Lady's Artisan Apron: The Finished Apron

Back in 2007, I wrote this blogpost about making the Lady Artisan Apron. Since then, my website has gone through several iterations, and the article was basically lost. So, a friend recently asked about it, so I thought to try and dig it out and repost it.

So, here is the 3rd and final installment of this blog post, in it's original text.

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This article is part three of making this apron. For the other parts, please see:

1. Making the Apron
2. Making the Cogs
3. The Finished Apron

July 11, 2007: The Finished Apron

I put the apron away for a bit after WesterCon, but now I've been putzing with it, adding a few things here and there. I finally managed to take some images of the Lady's Apron, and have finished the "last" touches last week. This costume is one of those you just have to "fiddle" with, because stuff can be continually added onto it.

The Complete Outfit

 

Without Accessories & Accrutements

   

 With Accessories

 I really think the bits and pieces definitely add to the overall look.

Front View

I used overall closures, and found some nice brassy ones at JoAnn's. Part of a filagree clasp was sewn into the patch pocket for things such as eyeglasses or maybe a monacle chain. The three cogs serve as a "center" piece for the bodice.

Side Views:

The silver cylinder thing is a drinking flask, because it's socially acceptable to have a nip every now and then. I had added a 3-belt-like-loops in the front (using left over fabric). I used the flask as an approximate measure of how big those loops can be. They can be used for tools, hooking in other items, or holding a flask :-)

 

 There is another resin-casted cog on the pocket, which also serves a nifty place to hang my pocket watch chain. I am going to add another cog later (this one pin-backed). There are two in-line seam pockets on either side (the watch disappears into it.)

 

 Also, there are three tabs holding the D-rings, which are nice places to hook other things, such as tools or keys. Two patch pockets complete the front.

Back View:

A black 2" clip painted gold then antiqued, served as the closure.

The End!

Lady's Artisan Apron: Making the Cogs

Back in 2007, I wrote this blogpost about making the Lady Artisan Apron. Since then, my website has gone through several iterations, and the article was basically lost. So, a friend recently asked about it, so I thought to try and dig it out and repost it.

So, here is the 2nd installment in it's original text. I'll post the last entry next Friday.

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COGS!!!

This article is part two of making this apron. For the other parts, please see:

• Making the Apron
• Making the Cogs
• The Finished Apron

June 27, 2007: Making the Cogs

I actually spent a few hours the past few days experimenting making cogs. After all, what's Steampunk without some cogs? :-)

I had trolled ebay for some clockwork mechanisms, but, they were 1) too small 2) overpriced. So I decided to make my own. I had recently made some clay versions of Lucius Malfoy's snake cloak-clasps. How hard could cogs be?
I didn't need them to look "perfect", but rather "good enough". And they were to be stylized versions of cogs.

To make my life easier, I went looking for small "round" things that I could use as templates, and I didn't need to go any farther than my own sewing kit -- thread spools! They were the perfect size to start, and with a little help from some clay scuplting tools and some other things found around the house, I managed to turn them into decent looking, stylized cogs.

This was *not* easy. It took me several attempts to get something with which I was happy.

1. Roll out a piece of clay, then flatten it with your palm.
   
   
2. Take your thread spool, and stamp out a cog.
   
   
   In some cases, I used two separate sizes to get the shape I wanted.
3. Take some of your tools. I used both scuplting tools and an exacto knife to manipulate your basic shape. This is the part that takes time. Let your creativity flow from here.
4. Let your clay harden. In my case, baked them until they were hard. With this type of clay, I could continue to play with the clay, and if I made a mistake, it was a simple matter of squishing the clay and starting over.
   
   OPTIONAL STEPS
5. After baking, I created a mold using Silicon RTV from Tap Plastics Why? Because once I got my basic shapes, I wanted to make multiples of them. And, I wasn't sure how "sturdy" the clay would be if I dropped it, accidently.
6. After the mold had set, I casted the cogs using a polyeurothane casting resin (Tap Plastics Quik Cast). I also experimented also making a bronze-resin.
   Note: I originally wanted to use the bronze versions, but they were the same coloration as the apron fabric and would get very lost. So I decided to stick with the gold ones and use the bronze ones for something later.
   
   
   
   Left to Right: Stamped Clay, Baked Clay, Resin Cast, Bronze resin cast.
7. After the cogs were casted, sanded them down and painted them gold. The paint started to peel off after WesterCon, so I repainted them, then used an acrylic seal. They were a bit shiney, so I sanded the acrylic a little bit, and added some black paint. I glued several of them together to form the main piece
   
   
   
8. For the apron, I decided to sew the pieces onto the apron, and had made small "holes" during the casting process to allow for small needles to get through. I just as easily could have glued pin-backs onto them instead.

Other Cogs Made

Lady Artisan Apron: Making the Apron (Reprinted Blog Post)

Back in 2007, I wrote this blogpost about making the Lady Artisan Apron. Since then, my website has gone through several iterations, and the article was basically lost. So, a friend recently asked about it, so I thought to try and dig it out and repost it.

So, here is the 1st installment of the three posts in it's original text. I'll post the rest for the next three Fridays.

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This costume was inspired by Rachel E. Pollock aka La Bricoleuse who had posted a set of beta intructions for her original version of the Lady's Artisan Apron.

She had original designed it so that she could have a working apron that actually fit a woman's shape. I created my version, not only as a fitted apron, but to fit in with the Steampunk genre. And, I have a fondness for Steampunk

This article contains the nitty gritty of making the apron, and is divided into three major sections:

• Making the apron
• Making the Cogs
• The Finished Apron

June 25, 2007: Making the Apron

I started working on the Lady's Apron (ala Steampunk-ish, Victoriana). I was going to take a break from sewing, but somehow, I got into this strong desire to actually MAKE this damn thing.

I finished the mockup in just under an hour using labricoleuse's instructions, and it worked out pretty darn well. The skirt portion worked out so well that I am going to make a full walking skirt using the same pattern. I had to quasi-guess the bodice measurements, but luckily, it worked out relatively well with only a few minor adjustments.

Fabric Choice

The fabric is brown denim with light beige pinstripes. It's a lighter than Levi-jean denim, but nothing that needed interfacing. I had just enough to make the outfit. I still have small scraps that I am saving to create various smaller pockets, straps, etc. etc.

However, when I went to lay out the pattern on the fabric I had purchased, it seemed as if I didn't have enough (oh noes!). So, I stopped by several JoAnn stores to see if they had more, but, alas, it had been on clearance and there was no more to be had! When I got home, I tried again, this time by shortening up the hem by about four inches (I had given myself a generous hem), and I definitely did have enough. I managed to fit in the major pattern pieces (five gores for the skirt, four bodice pieces, the straps, and still had 1/3 of a yard left over).

Skirt:

Instead of floor-length, the apron is a bit above the ankles, but longer than mid-calf (to accomodate the lack of fabric. The skirt is a simple 5-gore (panel) skirt. I decided not to line the skirt, because, it's an apron afterall, and I didn't want to putz too much. However, all of the seams are french-seamed, and all edges are serged.

Pockets:

During the process of making the skirt, I decided to add the in-seam slant pockets, instead of the patch pockets that Rachel had made (but that I hadn't added to the original mockup). So I took out my generic pocket pattern (made out of cardboard), made slight modifications, whipped up a quick mockup, ripped apart one of the panels on the big mockup, and tried it out. It worked perfectly the first time around. However, did I have enough material to do the pockets? With so little fabric left, mistakes could not be made.

Luckily, I did, so the front pocket piece were made out of fashion fabric and the back pocket piece out of muslin. The skirt portion was a 5-gore skirt, so I sewed three gores (panels) together, then added the pockets to either side, then attached the remaining two panels. I placed twill tape (because I have a HUGE roll of it) to the pocket sides just to reinforce the fabric where the pockets are located.

The inside pocket flap was attached to the skirt front and will be pressed over so that it's hidden on the inside. Consequently, this piece was made out of muslin.

Afterwards, I attached the "front of pocket" piece to the inside pocket. Then attached the front pocket piece to the next skirt panel.

Patch Pockets:

For the actual apron pockets, I merely made panel pockets out of the remaining fabric. I had to cobble together some smaller pieces to make actual "rectangles" for the panel pockets, but it definitely works. There's a breast pocket for pens, and two panel pockets on the legs using the wrong side of the fabric. I'm considering adding a welt pocket for a pocket watch.

Bodice:
The bodice is made from four pieces (two pattern pieces), that make a heart-shaped front.

I ironed-on stabilizer to the last 1/3 of the bodice (the triangles at the end) just for a bit of stiffness so that when it wrapped around my waist, it would stand up a bit and not flop over.

I attached the bodice to the skirt, and added twill tape to the waistline for just a bit of added strength. After attaching the bodice to the skirt, I lined the bodice just for a bit of finishing with some muslin.

Miscellaneous

I had some extra bits of material that I made 1/2" straps to which I added D-rings, that were then attached to the waist line. I really should have thought of those sooner, so I could have sewn them INTO the waistline when I attached the bodice, but oh, well.

The front has 1" straps from the same material. It's a simple tube that has been pressed. I also made 2" straps for the back belt portion.

Closures: For the back belt portion, I picked up 2" black parachute closures from Joann's. I didn't like the black, so I decided to paint them a burnt gold to match the coloration for the skirt.

The black plastic doesn't coat well, but it does look slightly antiqued, so I wouldn't have to antique it with black paint later.

For the front, I decided that I wanted that "overall" look, so I picked up a set of "overall" closures (again from Joann's), a nd they had a bronze/brass one that fit nicely with the overall theme.

Finished Piece 

The finished piece is rather form fitting, and I do quite like it.

The apron is 90% done. It took me longer than the mockup, since I was futzing with bits and pieces (adding twill tape to the waist line, french seaming everything, adding a really short lining to the bodice top, adding stabilizer to the tail end of the bodice piece., etc, etc, etc.) Now, I just have to actually add pockets and the belt buckle for the back. I should have enough extra fabric pieces for two more pockets, unless I want to make them out of a contrasting fabric.

Next Friday: COGS!!!