It serves no purpose... except...

In a way, it does have a purpose because it securely holds and displays an item-of-worth that my character either found or inherited (I haven't yet decided).

Still playing with ideas for placement.

One might recognise a similar picture to the one above, as I played with ideas for use of the three-decades-old silvery dome buttons that were originally on a black leather strap by Daedalus. I wanted to give them function and purpose again, but I didn't want the black strap. However, the black strap was instructive for securing the buttons that didn't bulge the leather in odd ways; thank you, Daedalus.

Before and after polishing.

Months ago, I ordered these 'vintage' stamped and domed buttons from Shaila.de I liked the pattern and had no idea what to do with them at that time. I also under-utilise my Dremel, so I equipped it with a buffing head and some rouge, and went at these buttons. The shiny one was after the buffing, the dull one is how they were originally. I lack experience, so I'm sure I made mistakes with buffing, but I was satisfied with my results.

I ended up using only one of them for this project, but I'm sure I can find purpose for the other button somewhere else.

I applied the domed buttons, both the embossed and the shiny ones, onto the strap, along with some rivets to help hold it together. A bit of latigo leather lacing...

Visual testing of concept.

I had some small stamped, pronged oval discs in my stash; I've had these probably for thirty years as well, waiting for a purpose. So I gave one of them a purpose.

I am satisfied with how the sheepskin strap turned out, and I will be getting two more to go with it, so I can place more of the silvery domed buttons, and maybe that second Shaila button somewhere on display.

They won't be crammed together like this when it's time.

One will notice the antler needle case, I still haven't added the felt plug for needles.

I need to figure out a better method of securing the wooden beads tie-back from John Lewis and the charity shop restrung beaded necklace, the pewter coloured rings are a bit too modern. I suspect the tie-back and necklace will end up with leather lacing or artificial sinew fixing them to their D-ring straps.

The Skarsind axe head medallion... I think I will string some wooden beads on the cord with it, to give it a little something extra.

The wooden bottle is back. It has so many purposes, just as it is.

Things to do:

• Antler case wool plug.
• Tie-back and necklace on a better connection to their D-rings.
• Finish tooling and staining the belt.
• (there are several other things to do as well, but I've listed here the tasks related to this post.)

A headband idea

I've been thinking about a new dance headband for a while. The trim arrived and then more of the metal pieces arrived. Today was the day to stop thinking and actually get the pieces and lay them out and see what it looked like instead of trying to imagine it.

Here's my result. Nothing is sewn in place, it's just laid out and I go look at it, go away, come back. I want to be certain I like this before I commit myself to the sewing.

The trim I'm using is a woven band stitched to a black satin strip and white rick-rack sewn to it. That's how it comes, I didn't have to do that part. Once the metal is sewn in place, I'll be mounting it to another piece of black fabric which will have the tie straps.

I have no idea WHY Blogger and FB insist on putting this vertically when I processed it to be HORIZONTAL.

Closer image of the left side.

Closer image of the right side.

New project

Yes, it's been a while.

New steampunk project in the works as I'm finally taking a dressmaking course to assist me.

The hat:


The blouse:


The jacket:


The cloak pin:


The cape:


The trousers:


My intent is to create a gender-mixed, slightly military-flavoured outfit. My use of the red wool and green lining will remove confusion with any known military unit. The cape will end at buttocks. I intend to wear my All Saints Damisi boots. I'm going with 'antique gold' for buttons for the shell jacket. I'll have to look at creating some fingerless gloves.

You'll be correct in noting there are no mentions of gears or goggles. I do think I will do some Irish-style crochet for possibly the hat or the shell jacket collar, I haven't yet decided.

Suggestions, comments and whatever are appreciated.

Old Costume bits

I found some of my old costume items, yay!

Laced black leather pouch - gifted to me by Otter. Black leather pouch and the carved leather belt - crafted for me by Daedalus Fortune (Leatherhead Regalia).



Detail on the laced pouch.



I did alter the laced leather pouch by adding these to it. Beads: comedy/tragedy; yin-yang, ankh, the rest are random beads, probably purchased at Friends in Louisville, Kentucky.



Soviet cloak pin, brass, purchased in the USA probably twenty years ago. Up until a few days ago, this was in two separate parts and one part was decorating a bag. I've found the second part and re-established the parts as one piece. I think it would do well on a hat.



I have misplaced the partner to this cloak pin along with the chain that once kept them together. Glass (plastic?) gems, copper metal. I probably picked this up in a thrift store.

Antiques - the photos

As promised.

First off, the WWII buttons...



The albert chain, yes, the clip functions, the spring still springs inside it.



As you can see, the bear has suffered some damage. I suspect the eyes once had little glass jewels in them. Poor bear.



I got too excited and failed to set it to manual focus so it would use the depth of field correctly.



The back of the football medallion.



The inkwell... bit too much camera shake and I failed to set up the lights and utilise them for this. Perhaps it would have made it easier. Oh well, you get the idea. The brass body is wrapped in soft, thin black leather with gold stamp.



The bottom of the inkwell with attached paper label.



Gently press the button on the front of the body and it pops open to reveal this:



Gently press aside the righthand clip and you can see inside.



With the little glass bottle removed so you can see it as well as the inkwell. The inner lid has a spring to help keep the ink inside the bottle and yes, the spring still works. It's a clever little object and the leafy scroll engraving in the brass is very nice.