Documenting one family’s path to steampunk – projects, rants and stories galore.
By Madame vonHedwig on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
When on the track of an exciting botanical discovery, I cann0t be burdened with bags, nor do I generally wear the sort of outfit that includes pockets. (What’s in my bustle is the topic for another day, if ever.) Therefore, my dear vonHedwig has been kind enough to construct a series of belt pouches to hold everything I might need.
The top two hold tools and my observation notebook. The bottom, from left to right, hold communication device and visiting cards, digital daguerreotype device, tea, and various botanical substances I may require (including milk for the tea).
By Madame vonHedwig on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Photos from our adventures at Marscon 2010 are up here. We had a lovely time!
Permanent link to
Marscon
By Madame vonHedwig on Sunday, February 7th, 2010
In which things go from bad to worse.
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“Stop!” Claire shrieked. “Stop fighting him! Lie down!”
“What?” Mirabelle yelled.
“He ignored me! Get down!”
Gerhardt and Bettina dropped like stones, and the twins followed. The yeti halted, looking around for its attackers. Behind it, Claire crawled across the tilting floor to Adolphus.
“We need engines,” she whispered, “to slow us down when we crash.”
“How about an anchor, to stop us falling?”
Claire nodded, and Adolphus turned to address the ship.
“Has anyone seen the anch-?”
By Madame vonHedwig on Saturday, February 6th, 2010
This past Yule I made vonHedwig a smoking cap to match one of his smoking jackets. Here’s how I did it.
fabric – I started with 1/2 yard and had loads left over
stiff fabric – I just used a sheet of stiff felt
needle, thread, pins, and scissors
tassel – try the upholstery area of the fabric store. I couldn’t find a tassel significant enough for my husband, so I made my own.
To make your own tassel: yarn, piece of cardboard 2″ wide and as long as you want the tassel to be
By Madame vonHedwig on Saturday, January 30th, 2010
My, my, events are proving most awfully exciting in the tale of our family’s astonishing journey to Antafrica! To give us all a chance to calm down and recover our nerves, I would like to introduce you to the lovely and edifying tales of Propeller Girl. I have been poring over the lavish illustrations and enjoying the amusing rhyme again and again. Do enjoy it!
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Propeller Girl
By Madame vonHedwig on Friday, January 22nd, 2010
In which violence ensues.
The Man and the Beast by iAes
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While Adolphus steered them towards the cave, Claire confronted Annabelle in hissing whispers, pointing, horrified, at Mirabelle, who had her hands deep in the fur of the yeti’s neck.
“It’s going to EAT her!”
“It’ll be sorry if it does.” Annabelle would not take her eyes off the Yeti, even to argue. Her mouth was set in a grim line.
“We’ve got to stop her!”
“Don’t make any sudden moves! You’ll get her eaten for sure.”
Read the rest of
Fighting the Yeti
By Madame vonHedwig on Saturday, January 16th, 2010
In which Adolphus argues, Mirabelle takes a risk, and Bettina enters the fray.
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Bettina fretted. All her older siblings were actively engaged in fighting the mustache man, while she watched. Adolphus struggled to control the ship, Claire had built a trebuchet, and the twins and Gerhardt were trying to remove the mysterious moss from the neck of the yeti. The youngest vonHedwig cast about her for something, anything she could do to help. What could be of use that the other children had discarded?
Part -1
Constrution Corset, square neck brown canvas corsets
Part 2
This is part three of a living document on making custom corsets. It will be edited, revised, and have new information and links added as readers post comments. So please post your comments, questions and tips so that other can learn from your experience as well as mine.
In which we find out what they have in their pockets.
Yeti Compassion by iAes
The twins studied the contents of their pockets. They had, together, 2 observation books, 3 pencil stubs, some bits of string in a tangle, a stub of chalk, 2 etched brass decoder rings, 2 compasses, 4 springs, a small hammer, 6 cut nails, 2 handkerchiefs, a cricket cage (without cricket), 7 small spanners in varying sizes, a napkin full of cookies, an apple, 2 whistles, a screwdriver, 6 ounces or so of copper scraps, a small flask of the boiler chief’s special distilled engine cleaner, tweezers, and a tin box full of cheeses. They pawed through the pile without enthusiasm.
In which Bettina finds moss where no moss should be.
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The children clustered aft in the boiler launch, guarded by a yeti controlled by an evil Italian botanist. The boiler crew’s launch was larger than the Schmetterling, but far less organized. Equipment parts were strewn about, as were tools, mechanical parts, cushions, broken chairs, tin cans, forged iron puzzle toys, a Chinese checker board with its marbles everywhere, clumps of dust and hair, and food.
The yeti stood between them and the Count like a furry wall, but never looked at the children, staring straight ahead. While Montesanto looked out the fore windows to guide Adolphus’ flight, the children explored their prison.
