Created for and debuted at the 2015 Big River Steampunk Festival.

This ensemble got its name mostly because one of the attractions at BRSF is the life-sized, enterable TARDIS seen in the photo above (but it doesn’t seem to be bigger on the inside, and I haven’t spotted the Doctor yet) – other than that, it’s mostly just a generic adventurer-type costume.

If the construction looks familiar, that’s because it should – both the corset and skirt use the same patterns as my other steampunk/Neo-Victorian costumes. It might be a little repetitive, but they’re things that I’m so familiar with myself by now that I know exactly how to make them and what I’ll need for it.

The “duct tape” corset pattern has undergone a few revisions since originally being drafted – it’s been on tissue paper, not duct tape, from the instant the duct tape was cut apart and laid out, but it’s also been lengthened, had a panel added on both sides, and been sized up by adding a slight amount to each seam (ugh – math). For this rendition, I used a reptilian-look brown pleather, lined with brown duck cloth for strength and to counteract the pleather’s stretch, and and boned with cable ties. This is the first time I’ve put a front opening in my costume corsets. I didn’t have a busk (or the budget for a busk, once I’d bought all the various fabrics and notions), so it latches with a series of oversized, cloth-covered hooks and eyes. They’re pretty, but a little difficult to work now that my hands are going bad. There are twenty-four antique gold grommets and the back, and it currently laces with black paracord. Even though it’s not a perfect corset by any means, I’m very pleased with it, probably moreso than any of my others.

There’s no modesty panel beneath the lacing, but there is a narrow strip of lined, seamed pleather that can be slipped beneath the front, as the hooks and eyes leave just a smidgen of a gap. I also stitched up a pair of gloves using more of the pleather – the pattern was sketched out on paper using my arm as a guide, and there’s no actual thumb, just a gap in the seam. I don’t have a close-up of them, but they’re accented with strips of a black pleather trim set with silver eyelets, and have a satiny cord run through the eyelets to give them a laced look as well, though the laces aren’t really functional.

While still consisting of six panels in each, the skirt now has two layers. The ruffles have been left off, because after the fiascos with both the Christmas Vixen skirt and Princess Luna’s skirt, I’ve sworn I won’t make another until I get a ruffler foot – and since those are damned expensive, that may be a while. The material is khaki broadcloth, and while it doesn’t match the shirt (an out-of-my-closet item) exactly, it’s close enough not to matter. The “bustle” effect, which is completely adjustable on all panels of the skirt, is acheived by taking an extra-wide seam allowance, folding the excess flat and stitching each side down, then running ribbons through the resulting channels. There’s currently only one level of bustling, but the underlayer was constructed with channels for future use.

Accessories include store-bought goggles (they were a gift several years back from my roommate), the same pocketwatch I carried for the Clockwork Horse costume, a borrowed explorer’s whip, and YorRex, the dearly-departed tiny T. rex skull. While the skull itself was purchased, all the paintwork and weathering was done by my roommate. People seem to like him – he makes friends everywhere he goes!