After my lengthy waffle about making myself a new steampunk costume, I decided to bite the bullet and just dye my existing dungarees. They were black, and I ran them through a 95º wash (I hope they haven’t shrunk!) with a box of Dylon pre-dye. I had been intending to dye them Espresso Brown, but I’m glad now that I didn’t buy the dye in advance, as it turns out I didn’t need it! They came out this lovely rich brown colour all on their own.
The patches, quite coincidentally, popped through the letterbox just as I was getting ready to take this photo, which couldn’t have been better timing. They were a gift from Lisa at Off With her Head Millinery, and they’re by Doctor Geoff. While I was browsing his patches, I spotted this enamel badge for the RSPCAM – the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Abominable Monsters. If my character’s going to be an in-the-field catcher of magical and/or mythical beasts, I’m definitely going to need one of those!
My first order of business is going to be mending and reinforcing that tear at the edge of the bib (you can see it in the bottom left of the photo) which I hadn’t noticed was there. Then I can start covering the dungarees with patches and enamel pins, before I start thinking about my accessories.
Excellent.