It's Curtains for Me!

I am in love with PicMonkey's new collage feature. No more ghetto photo-stitching in Powerpoint!

Pink seam binding on the inside, practically invisible on the outside!

I finally got my American Duchess Astorias, which meant that I could finally hem up the skirt from my newest steampunk outfit. I ended up not using horsehair braid, mostly because of how many yards the skirt hem is, and how many yards of horsehair I had left. Instead, I sewed on a strip of seam binding, then stitched a blind hem by hand.

It's been a while since I sewed up this skirt from a pair of donated curtains, but I never wrote my final notes about that skirt, as it technically wasn't finished, so if you were curious (not you, I know, Shayna!), here it is!

I am in love with this waistband.

Summary:
Fabric: About 4 yards of 60" wide (or 1.6 curtains' worth) 70/30 viscose-polyester blend striped fabric. It's impossible to get it to hold a crease, but that also means that it doesn't wrinkle. And the relatively large amount of viscose means that it still breathes fairly well.
Notions: Seam binding, interfacing, hook and eye, snaps, 7" metal jeans zipper
Hours: For the main skirt construction, about five (but that includes drafting and fiddling with the waistband), but then there was an additional few hours of hand-stitching the yards of hem. It was fine, though, because I discovered that Tom Hiddleston/Loki recorded a YA audiobook, The Red Necklace, by Sally Gardner. He has the most amazing reading voice; I could seriously listen to it all day*. As it was, I sat through Disks 1-3 while hemming.

Very non-period closures. But the zipper is lapped,
so at least it's more or less hidden?

Will you make this again? I only need so many long skirts, so probably not. Also these trained, full skirts eat fabric like nobody's business.
Total cost: The fabric was free, so I'm going to say less than $2 once you throw in all the notions.
Final thoughts: I have yet to wear this skirt out, as steampunk-appropriate outings have been scarce, but I love swooshing about the apartment in it! Walnut approves, too, as the skirt is full enough that he can hide inside it comfortably. I love the train, the chevrons, the colors, and the relative luxuriousness of the fabric, considering that I didn't have to pay for it and the curtain material is pretty substantial. I've been wearing it with a long, ruffled bohemian skirt underneath as a petticoat; considering that nobody's going to see it, and that it does just fine fluffing out the skirt, I really don't see the need to gather yards and yards of white fabric to make a "real" petticoat. Incidentally, Cecily is not wearing a petticoat in the top picture, so the skirt looks more columnar.

For those of you who were wondering (which might very well be none of you), the pattern was supposed to be the OOP Simplicity 8375, but I ended up modifying it so much that I don't think I can really say it was that pattern anymore. And besides, it's not even available anymore except from a few scattered online sellers, so I thought I'd share my "pattern" with you all. I've included the actual pattern for the waistband with the higher back (meant to accommodate both the weight of the pleats and the short backs of 1910s blouses) and chevron front, and instructions for drafting the skirt panels to fit your waist. My actual sewing directions are more on the skimpy side, as the construction is just like any modern skirt with a center back zipper and waistband. So if you've ever wanted an easy, vaguely Victorian/Edwardian, long, full skirt with a train, here the pattern download link: 

Chevron Waistband "Bustle" Skirt Pattern and Instructions

It will take about four yards of striped fabric (curtains are a good option) and the extra length in the back will accommodate a small bustle pad. It's a good option for costumes where you don't need to be historically accurate, but still want to give off a vaguely historical air. But lest my assertions seem totally unfounded, here is proof that I wasn't just being fanciful; I did have these gowns as inspiration for the smooth front with a pleated train in the back:

From this book, Harper's Bazaar, 1898.

Back view. My pleats don't fall quite as nicely, but I'm going to file this away as "Ehhh, good enough."

*Why is it that fantasy movie villains always have the best recitation voices? I am, of course, basing this observation off of my very excellent sample size of two, that being Alan Rickman/Snape/Judge Turpin (reciting a poem here) and Tom Hiddleston (sample of his reading here). Does anyone know of any other villains reading literature that I should be listening to?