Katherine Meeten

Dec 24, 20224 min read

Creating a BB-8 Victorian Bustle Dress

Cosplay inspired by a historical costume cross with BB-8 droid from Star Wars.

No copyright infringement intended. I do not make any money from this website. Makers marks are never cropped from images. All images found on pinterest.

Conclusions from Character Study

Bodice

The bodice will be designed in the same manner as BB-8's head plate. Need to be careful of placement of circles and lines on the bodice so that they do not look rude or weirdly placed.

Skirt

BB-8 has six distinct circle designs on his body, all of which will be transferred onto the skirt.

Hat

I would like to create a matching hat to accompany this outfit. This will be here BB-8's antenna feature.

Patterns Used

Bodice

Truly Victorian 460 - 1885 Cuirass Bodice

Truly Victorian 467 - 1886 Evening Bodice, used for the sleeves

Skirt

Skirt pattern was a homemade block pattern

Truly Victorian 303 - 1872 Side Drape Overskirt

Hat

Ageless Patterns 1394 - 1869 Ruy Blas Hat

A Victorian corset, petticoat, and lobster-bustle cage are worn under this costume to create the required shape.

Work Flow

Step One: Creating the Bodice

Using Truly Victorian pattern 460, I created a white cotton base to work off. The bodice is lined with a cotton broadcloth fabric.

To create BB-8's head design, I used 'home-made' bias binding from the same fabric that is in my overskirt and the circles on the skirt, as well as two different widths of grey satin ribbon.
The black circles for BB-8's eyes are black cotton fabric, edged in fray-stop, and a plastic vinyl type fabric in the centre of the cotton fabric.
The ring around BB-8's smaller eye is the same black cotton edged in fray-stop.

The third circle on BB-8's head has been hand-embroidered onto the bodice underneath the bigger eye.
The bodice is done up with buttons at the back. The ribbons and bias binding seen on the front have been continued round to the back.
Cross over cap sleeves were inserted, they are plain.

Step Two: Creating the Skirt

By using a block pattern for my skirt base, I made a plain white cotton skirt which is pleated into the waistband at the front, and gathered into the waistband at the back. The waistband is held in place by a hook and bar. You may be able to see in these pictures a seam line at the top of the front and back skirt panels. This is because the width of the fabric was not wide enough for the pattern piece so I patched-worked to make it fit. You cannot see this in the final outcome as the overskirt and tails cover the seams.

Bringing in the BB-8 circles, they decorate the bottom of the skirt and are all hand-stitched onto the skirt by chain stitching.
I started with a white circle of cotton fabric, the same as the bodice and skirt. Cut 6. Then, I created the ring and cut out 6 of them too.
Next, I created the design for the grey parts that go inside the circle and cut each of them out.
The orange ring was first stitched to the white circle. Then each circle was laid out and the grey designs were pinned on. The circles, rings, and grey designs were each fray-stopped and then chain stitched down. Once they were all sewn on, the extra details inside the orange circles were added by a running stitch.

All 6 circles sewn together and ready for their details to be stitched on.

The below image has the added detail stitches, the smaller semi-circles may be hard to see.

With the circles finished, they were pinned onto the skirt and then chain stitched in place.

Using Truly Victorian pattern 303, I made the apron and tails that cover the seam lines of the skirt patching and add a bit of colour and interest to the plain base skirt.
Made with plain white cotton and lined with the synthetic orange fabric used for the circles, then the edges were bound with grey bias binding.
The pleats have been pressed with a 1 part white vinegar and 3 part water solution which keeps the pleats folded sharper for longer.
The tails and apron are attached to a narrow waistband of white cotton and held in place with a hook and bar.

Step Three: Creating the Hat

I used the Ageless Patterns 1869 Ruy Blas Hat pattern for this hat.
With the same white cotton fabric, I embroidered a detail design on the top.
The frame of the hat is put together with medium-weight buckram and milliner's wire. The wire allows you to bend the hat into the correct shape. The white cotton is then used to cover the buckram and wire.
To create BB-8's antenna. I used a narrow dowel wood, cut to 2 different lengths.
Both are wrapped in white felt, the longer one wrapped with black felt at the top and bottom.
The antenna's were attached into the seam of the hat at the brim.
A wide orange and narrow grey satin ribbon were used to cover the seam and add a tail to the hat. Wide grey satin ribbon was used to create a bow at the back.