Steampunk Inspiration Book

This past week, I ordered this great book, Victorian Fashions and Costumes from Harper's Bazar, 1867-1898 (Dover Fashion and Costumes), which features 1000 illustrations, including dresses, accessories, and children's fashion.  Right now, this book is priced at $3.99, which is over 80% off.  While it isn't directly connected to either children or steampunk, it is a great source of inspiration for both.  I highly recommend the book.

Make Your Own Steampunk Dolls and Doll Clothes

After looking up paper dolls and getting pretty overwhelmed, I thought I'd look around for some real steampunk dolls that would be child-friendly.  Unfortunately, most steampunk dolls are obviously for adults, in that they are quite expensive and/or delicate.

So with that in mind, I went looking for resources to make your own doll clothes.

Julia Printable Steampunk Doll Clothes via Etsy

These are probably the most interesting, and maybe least work-intensive ones I found.  For $2.99, you get a downloadable template that can be used to make doll clothes for both small and large dolls.  The doll clothes are made entirely from paper, and held together with tape.  How durable they are probably depends on the weight of the paper you use, as well as how careful your child is while playing.  There are free samples on the artist's website, if you'd like to just try them out.

Airship Amelia Steampunk Soft Doll Printed DIY via Etsy

This one is pretty cool.  You have to sew her yourself, but the kit comes with all the pieces printed on fabric (printing done by Spoonflower, so it should look quite good), no coloring or embroidery needed.  The doll stands at 8 inches tall, and I think it's pretty awesome.

Simplicity 1392 Steampunk Doll clothes for 18" Doll

Believe it or not, Simplicity has a steampunk pattern pack for 18" dolls.  Now these are intended to fit American Girl dolls, but my experience is that they should also fit most other 18" dolls, like the Our Generation dolls sold at Target.   Some will fit Disney's toddler princess dolls, depending on which doll you have; my daughter has the Merida one, which has a little bit of a belly, affecting the fit.  This option is the most involved, since you have to buy fabrics and notions, measure, cut, sew things, notion them, and so on.

Wooden Steampunk Toys for Babies

Found some great wooden steampunk toys for little kids. :)

From Smiling Tree Toys over at Etsy, I found these great teethers:

This steampunk teething gear would probably fit onto plastic links, making it easy to attach to a stroller or bouncy chair.  For an extra $6, you can also have it personalized.

Likewise with this wooden train teether.

I also particularly liked the submarine one, too. :D

These alphabet blocks are a bit expensive at $35 for a set of 5, but still very cool.

That's all for now!

Steampunk Printable Paper Dolls from Paper Thin Personas

While surfing the web, I came across a great 'site for paper dolls, Paper Thin Personas.  I'm especially impressed with the variety of dolls this artist produces, and, of course, the Victorian and steampunk attire. ;D

These dolls come in both colored and black and white, depending on your willingness to expend printer ink, or desire to color them yourself.


The Marisole line of dolls has a lot of great sets.  This set is actually steampunk themed, but it looks like there are about a million other sets of clothes for her, so you can mix and match steampunk with modern and other historical dress as well.  Speaking of which...

Here's another Marisole doll.  This set is titled "Cogs and Gears".  I do actually like the bright colors of this one, though I'm not entirely sold on the dress...

This one has a much more formal set of clothes.  I especially like the hats here in the "Dark and Steamy" set.


This "Margo in Wonderland" set could double as a steampunk set, especially some of the tops, and maybe recolored bottoms.  Either way, I think it makes a good complement to the above sets.

And then there is this "Vivid Victorian" set, which is quite beautifully colored, in my opinion.
(This image is oddly smaller than the rest.  I assume that Paper Thin changed how she put up previews on her website at some point?).


I thought that the skirts and boots in the "Sweater Style" set would work well for steampunk.  Click this link in particular, because there are a few other sets on this page that would also work for steampunk.


In a different vein, there is also this paper doll, Florence, which is based on the French fashion dolls of the 19th century, and the clothing drawn for her is historically accurate.  To see the rest of her clothing, click on the link titled "Click here for the rest of this series".

In the future, I plan on posting other paper dolls and steampunk toys as I find them.  Hopefully you enjoyed this set, and give support to the artist as you can.

7 Steampunk Picture Books for Children

There are very few children's picture books that are related to steampunk. Until then, here is a selection of books that relate to steampunk, be it in the magical settings, creativity, or encouraging interest in science and engineering.

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts

Rosie is a little girl who loves to create helpful devices. Unfortunately, not all of her creations work as intended, and she becomes discouraged. Her great aunt encourages her to continue, even celebrating her failures as steps towards success. This is a great story about perseverance and the creative process.

Violet the Pilot by Steve Breen

A similar story to Rosie Revere, Violet the Pilot follows a little girl and her flying machine, which she plans to enter into an airshow. Unfortunately, on the way there, disaster strikes. While Violet is sad to miss the airshow, her sacrifice is recognized for the good deed it is.

How to Train a Train by Jason Carter Eaton and John Rocco

This book follows the process of choosing and raising a pet train, just as you might choose a dog or other animal. The illustrations are as equally detailed as the instructions, though apparently not without some outcry; one page in the book shows a child "cornering" a train, standing in front of it, causing some parents to worry that this may encourage children to stand in front of trains. I don't think that this ruins the book, which shows better than many other children's books the work that can (and should!) go into choosing a pet. This is an especially great choice for those who may be growing out of Thomas the Train.

To see the rest of the list, head over to the Weekly What-What?!

Welcome!

Hello and good day!

Welcome to my blog.

I intend to post anything kid-related to steampunk, including games, books, costuming, décor, and so on.

Not sure what steampunk is?  Check out my page about it, here:  What is steampunk?

Keep on eye out for new content soon!

Thanks :D