Well, the “cheap and fast” part applies to the making, not the skirt itself.  Try not to be cheap and fast while wearing it, mkay?

I was going to show you how I made a cheap, easy 10 minute bustle for my Steampunk costume.

But the photos are really, really blurry.  In my frenzy of excitement over making a free costume and being clever at the same time, I apparently couldn’t bother with not moving the camera while snapping away.

So I made some diagrams using Paint.

You’ll need a knee length or longer A-line or prairie style skirt, and a bunch of safety pins.  Also a large flat surface like a table, floor, or bed.  Yeah, you’ll have to dig out of the clutter for this.

Yes, safety pins.  I want to use this skirt again, so I didn’t want to cut it up or sew it.

Turn the skirt inside out, and lay it so you are working on the back.

We’re going to find the gathering points.  Make rows of three pins and make columns three or four pins deep.  Follow the line of the skirt.  Lay it all out first, then insert safety pins at each gathering point.

Now link your safety pins together with another safety pin.  You’ll have a chain of 5 safety pins.  On the two outside chains of safety pins, link the bottom safety pin directly to the top safety pin.

Here’s a photo.

Turn your skirt right side out and fluff your butt ruffles.

Flip the skirt to the front.

Wear this over a long, straight skirt for a faux-Victorian costume on the cheap!

Here’s a (bad) picture- my bustle is black so it’s hard to see the detail.

Comments make me happy! When Mama's happy, everybody's happy. (Do it for the kids)

Tagged as: bustle, costume, steampunk