I'm still making progress on my sister's steampunk costume from Simiplicity 1819. I've had a few glitches along the way. Here are some of my notes.

The weight of the fabric is so much, that the front darts began to unsew themselves.

I don't think I tied very good knots. I went back and made sure that I tied square knots and also applied clear nail polish on them. I hope they will now hold or I will have to go back and hand sew the darts. Blech!

I sewed the front and the back of the skirts together without too many issues. There are as many as about 10 layers of fabric at some points along the side seams!

It's almost 1 cm (1/4") thick!

Luckily, the fabric is easy for my machine to pierce. I went back over the side seams with my serger to finish them. I have just been pinking the other seams.

I did not bother lining the bustle fabric, since the tartan looks good on both sides. Instead, I hemmed the edges and put bias tape on the lower centre back seam.


This is the size of the bustle when assembled:

It's about as tall as me!

So, with an already heavy skirt, there is a lot more fabric yet to be added on. If you are making this pattern or a similar one, I definitely recommend going with a lighter fabric. My sister might have to wear suspenders to keep her skirt on!