It seems to be a common thing I see on the sewing blogs I follow - someone with sewing skills is talk into sewing something by a sister, friend, loved one, etc. I've seen many wedding dresses and costumes made for this reason.

I got roped into making a steampunk-tartan dress for my sister. I'm using Simplicity 1819 for most of the costume pieces.

Side view

So far, I made a test overskirt and bustle (from old curtains). And I'm almost done a test corset and undershirt. The overskirt was actually not too hard to sew. It does take A LOT of fabric, though.

Back view

Truth be told, I'm having a lot of fun doing it. It's just a bit challenging, since my sister lives all the way in England and I can't just have her try it on while I sew.

I plan on working on this costume over the next few months and will add updates whenever I have something new. The costume has to be done for a big photoshot in Scotland in September. Wish me luck!