Finished. YAY!
I had the best time making Jane.

Details on her hair are here:
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/theotherjenny/janes-face-...

On her bodice are here:
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/theotherjenny/janes-bodic...

And on her skirts are here:
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/theotherjenny/janes-skirts

June 10:
Hair is done:
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/theotherjenny/the-automat...

In thinking about both the Hugo automaton in particular and steampunk in general, I’ve shifted the way I want to dress her. She’ll need at least two layers of skirt plus a front drape and a bustle, I think, just to narrow her waist. She’s a writing automaton like the one in Hugo (robot author!), so she wouldn’t be wearing a jacket and hat because she’s not out lollygagging in the street, she’s home writing. So I replace the jacket with a lace Victorian blouse with those puffed sleeves at the shoulders, still keep the corset because that’s so steampunk, and ditch the hat for flowers and maybe some gears in her hair.
Also, she needs to roll, so I’m putting casters on her base, which will mean making a strip of Irish lace to go along the bottom as if trimming a slip in order to hide the casters, but I also think it’ll look more finished since I’m leaving the bottom open.

June 7:
I’ve decided to break this into several project posts. I’ll keep this one for the basic body, and then link to sub-projects for the hair (and hat if I make one), the bodice (and jacket if I make one, and maybe a shawl because I like shawls), and the skirts (at least three). If there’s a cat or a dog, that’ll be another project.

I’m working on getting the basic body done first. I got smooth silver 1 1/2” ribbon and folded each edge in and glued it to make the metal bands. Then I sprayed it all silver again. It’s still sloppy because of the glue, so from now I’m using a lot less glue. I’m also glueing cog-like beads on for the rivets. I put them on the chest strapping, but I’m waiting for the rivets for the strapping at the bottom to see how much of it is covered by the skirts. Those beads are not cheap. Because the Hugo automaton has smooth sheet metal for forearms, I didn’t have to band there, so I just glued on bead/rivets to mimic that look. I also added breasts which look a little odd because there’s a big heart carved in the middle of her chest and I want that exposed, but since she’s going to have a bodice and a jacket, the breasts are just there as shaping and bulk to help narrow the waist, not as part of the surface finishing.
And now I’m ready to start putting stuff on her. SO happy about that.

The real problem here is that the steampunk look is based on the Victorian corset-and-bustle look, which is big breasts, small waists, huge booty, and the angels is flat chested with a thick waist and a head that’s too small for her body. I can pad out the breasts and bustle with fabric, but the small waist is just not happening, so I need all the illusion I can get with the fashion. That means darker stripes on the bustle, a dark flat under lay beneath it, and a lot more volume on the sides, plus a lot of padding in the bust. Her head’s still going to be too small, but some things you just have to accept.

So the body now has bands, rivets, and some fabric bunched up for breasts along with a dark net panel glued in the center of the stomach. Progress.

June 5:
Proposal Approved! Yay!
Proposal:

theotherjenny
Team ‘Punks
Crochet

In the steampunk movie, Hugo, the title character has an automaton he’s trying to fix (more pictures of the automaton on my project page).

I’d like to make the automaton’s girlfriend, or at least the female version of the automaton inspired by steampunk heroine Lady Mechanika and steampunk fashion in general (more inspiration pictures on project page).

I took a wood angel, removed the wings, and spray-painted her with silver metallic paint. (Angel before being sprayed on project page.)

The first stage in the plan is to make the wood angel into an automaton by crocheting bands to match the automaton in the movie. I’ll do them in silver yarn, but once they’re on, if they look too rough, I’ll use silver ribbon or fabric instead, and concentrate on crocheting the costume. My swatch for the band is at the bottom of the swatch board.

In the movie, there’s a shot of Hugo’s automaton dressed, so that’s where the majority of the work will come in. I’ll pull from steampunk fashion--corsets, flounces, stripes, puffy sleeves, lacing, upswept hair, tilted hats, lots of gears--and crochet a costume for her from silver yarn, supplemented with some silver fabrics, beads, and general oddments (more inspiration pictures on project page).

The materials I’m using include Vanna’s Glamour and Paton’s Brilliant in Silver, silver laceweight (no idea what brand), silver thread, leftover pieces of Artyarn Beaded Silk, some yarn unraveled from a Goodwill sweater, some copper Glamour for accents.

I’ve crashed and burned on two dissertations already, so this one I’m listing the minimum that I’m sure I can get done and then adding all the things I want to do. I’m really intrigued by this (plus the whole playing-with-dolls-as-art thing), so I’m pretty sure I can do it all, but I also know that the plan will change as I try things, so aside from saying, “This will definitely be in there,” I’d like to keep this as open as possible to see what happens as the automaton progresses.

I will definitely:

Crochet the bands to make the spray-painted angel look like the Hugo automaton. ETA: I may replace this with fabric bands if the crochet looks too textured, but if I do, I’ll move the second layer of skirt up to the “I will definitely do this” section.)

Crochet a mesh skull cap, and then hook hair into the mesh that can be pulled back, then crochet corkscrew curls for the upsweep. The swatched skullcap (on the angel in the materials picture above) is in copper because I thought I’d mix copper and silver, but after seeing it, I think I’ll do all of the crochet in silver yarns and just add copper accents.

Crochet a mesh skirt that’s supposed to be tucked up over an underskirt, but leave the bottom open to show the automaton workings. Use crochet gears as decorations for the tucked up part, stiff silver fabric for the bustle support. The swatch for the silver mesh is just above the band in the swatch picture.

Crochet a striped, laced-up corset, decorated with gears. I swatched twice for this, once in silver and silver blue and once in silver and copper. The silver/copper is more steampunky because of the contrast, but I think to keep the automaton looking all of a piece, I’m going to stick with all silver for the clothing.

Then if I have time:

Crochet a shrug with puffy sleeves and armbands. I’ll probably have to sew this on in pieces to get a good fit, but I’ve seen several short jackets with wild ruffly edges that I can reproduce in crochet.

Crochet a top hat decorated with with gears and clocks and more mesh and silver fabric ruffles. (Inspiration pictures on project page.)

Add another layer of skirt with crocheted trim, possibly in the darker silver netting. This is one of those I-won’t-know-until-I-try-it things, but I really think with the insane layering and gathering on steampunk skirts, she’ll need two layers of skirt.

Give her an amigurumi steampunk pet.

There will be other details as I go. She’s going to be a writing machine like the one in Hugo, so I’m going to look for a silver pencil or pen, too, and add earrings and jewelry. At this point, she’s pretty much a Steampunk Barbie, but I’m confident I can do better than that (g).

Category:
This is Geek Pride both because automatons are naturally steampunky and this one is inspired by the steampunk movie Hugo, and because it’s a homage to steampunk heroine Lady Mechanika.

Time justification:
There are a lot of parts to this, including making some volumnious skirts and a lot of Irish crochet gears and oddments. Plus I’ll be making up the patterns as I go along, so there will be a lot of experiments (see corset stripes above). I’ll also be overseeing the Nerd Wars Scarf Project final testing; finishing up four detailed course descriptions each with eight lesson plans and slide shows, four videos with workbooks and notebooks, a novel, and several short stories (this automaton is going to end up in some of those stories). Plus my house needs cleaned and my dogs need more exercise.

Team Spirit:
Team ‘Punks is all about gears, goggles, and corsets; we’re the steampunk team.