Steampunk's On Parade!

 This beautifully bright woman right here is my Grammy!  She was always funny & had a classically beautiful voice.  With her passing this year, I wanted to do something to honor her & remember how much she meant to my life.  When I heard about this costumed event, to attend the 4th of July Parade in Mira Mesa, CA, with my steamy friends & the Starburner Galactic Courier Service, I knew this would be a great way to do just that. 

Being a child of split parents made for Grandparent & Family visits that were sometimes far and few between; due to the natural flow of individual lives.  There are a lot of wonderful memories and I had a great childhood, so don't get me wrong, but I honestly didn't know them as Grandparents, as well as I would have liked to.  My childhood is now gone and that time is lost to us all, but I did get to spend time with them as an adult & I still see Papa when I can.  So to say thank you to the memories she was able to give me, I decided to enjoy a parade in her honor.  Although I didn't know her in her clown days, I do remember her as a lighthearted & funny person.  I can imagine Grammy & Papa in parades & things having a great time, interacting with the crowd, loving on the kids as they passed through.  So thank you Grammy for all of your love! 

We had a wonderful time mingling before the parade began & the parade itself was a blast!  To quote myself when posting the link for some of the photos below: "So, I had been dancing around & having fun as any steampowered time-traveling fairy would on such an occasion. I paused for a few seconds for a photographer to take a photo & the timing felt off from his click so I changed the pose and he clicked again. He thanked me with a big smile & I suddenly realized these could be great photos. I quickly pulled out my card and asked if he could send them to me. He agreed & I pirouetted myself back into the time warp. He sent over a few of me & promised that link after I asked if he had some of my friends. Pretty cool that he was so joyful in sharing these with us."   

http://www.urgephotos.com/Faires-Festivals-and-Parades/Mira-Mesa/2014-Mira-Mesa-Parade-and-Fire

I'm not going to say much more because these photos speak for themselves.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed making them.

Adam & Sarah Pierce.  Don't they make a great Steampunk couple?

Sarah wore her newly completed red corset, complete with pocket perfectly sized for business cards, or a pocket watch.

My Steampowered Traveling Fairy costume put together in a week's time.  The skirt was sewn at the beginning of the week for general wear.  I'd bought the fabric at the thrift store & didn't use it for a costume because it wasn't quite the right color.  It's completion and the upcoming parade event inspired me to create the red & white bustle to make a new Steampunk outfit.  I had originally intended to make it clown-ish for Grammy.  It didn't look Steampunk enough by itself so I made the waist cincher (which was already cut out for making "someday" & had been laying on my worktable for a few months).  It was a remnant fabric purchased from UFO (Upholstery Fabric Outlet).  So now it felt right and I did a final fitting Friday night.  (It was wonderful to be done sewing the night before instead of the morning of).  After looking in the mirror I had a sudden inspiration for a fairy winged backpack & quickly tore through the house & shed to scrounge up parts to make what was flitting through my head so fast, I feared it wouldn't stick.  It came together in a couple hours & by morning it was dry.