Burlesque Bustle Skirt

Based on Burlesque Bustle Skirt by Becca K.
I'm in the throes of designing steampunk-inspired costumes for a production of Les contes d'Hoffmann I'm directing this summer. I've been playing with different methods of making bustles, and really loved Becca K's bustle instructions.

I rooted through my fabric box and found a third of a metre of really pretty red and black striped taffeta and some black lace. Unfortunately there wasn't enough fabric to follow Becca's tutorial to the letter. But there was enough to make the ruffles themselves, so I decided to do just that and attach them to a length of ribbon that will act as waistband/ties.

I didn't bother measuring the three strips of fabric. To maintain the basic proportions of Becca's original ruffle design (15:10:5 or 3:2:1) I divided my piece of fabric into two halves, then divided one of the halves into into two pieces: 1 = 1/3 of the half and 1 = 2/3 of the half.

I trimmed the ends of the fabric strips, hemmed them and added lace, as per Becca's instructions.

I gathered each piece separately, sewed them together, then sewed them to the centre portion of a wide satin ribbon. I then folded the ribbon over and stitched again, to encase the top, unfinished end of the gathered strips.

So now I have a cute accessory that a cast member could wear as a bustle or a capelet. Thanks so much for your great project, Becca!