The Journey of Creating My First Halloween Costume

Chapter One:  Deciding What To Be

     Since last halloween I knew that I wanted to try and create my own halloween costume.  The difference between last year and this year, is that last year I was intimidated.  The thought of my lack of craft and sewing skills combined with constructing something I actually had to wear in public didn't seem like the best idea I had come up with.  Needless to say I didn't make anything....Instead, I bought a Merlotte's t-shirt and apron and a blonde wig and I was Sookie from HBO's True Blood....Wasn't as cool as my Red Son Wonder Woman I had hoped to be.  After last years last-minute not so elaborate costume, I decided to create my own this year.  All I had to do was decide what to be.  The possibilities are endless when you are creating your own costume.
     I was watching Sherlock Holmes when I thought to myself I really love the clothes Rachel McAdams gets to wear.  I didn't think too much of it until I was assembling my art appreaciation project (which is my Monet Steampunk blog).  The assignment was to pick an excerpt from our reading and create a visual display.  I chose the Monet Picture in the bottom right corner.  It reminded me of Paris and Sherlock Holmes.  The further I dug into finding more pictures to create my visual display, I kept coming across "steampunk."  The best description I found of what steampunk is exactly was "Steampunk is the future past that never happened."  It's based on steam engines and the victorian era with a twist of sci-fi.  I decided to dig a little deeper into steampunk costumes.  I noticed a lot of video game characters and comic book characters.  What I did not see to many of was Disney characters.  I decided I wanted to be a Steampunk Disney Character.  I only had one problem: which one?
     I typed steampunk Disney into my google image search and the Disney princesses came up.  It was fan art but I was hooked.  I now had to pick which one.  I had origionally decided on Ariel because I could get a cool red wig.  I played around with some possible looks, but it just wasn't working for me.  So I decided I was going to be someone who wears a red corset (only because I had bought a red corset for 9.99 when I had wanted to be Wonder Woman).  I then came up with Cruella.  I know she isn't exactly a princess but yet again I found a cool wig I could wear.  I was thinking it would be simple:  red corset, black pencil skirt, cool wig, and a long yellow jacket with a bustle....I really thought that would be the winner.  Problem:  I can't sew.  That being said, how am I going to create the jacket?  That was the key item to my costume.  I looked online and it was running around $100-$300!  So my search for a steampunk disney character continued.
     Who else wears a red top?  I went on etsy and came across a steampunk Queen of Hearts costume I liked.  I didn't love it, but I could change that.  So sometime in the wee hours of the morning (I was not going to sleep until I had at least figured out a character) I decided on being the Steampunk Queen of Hearts.