Here are a few pictures of the ‘quick and dirty’ Chinese-inspired outfit I put together when I realized I:

a) Had all the fabric I needed, and

b) Wanted something cool to wear to the cabaret at Steamcon.

It is three layers: a striped gold and brown corset, a mandarin style cropped coat with immensely long sleeves, and a kinda-more-Japanese belt/sash.  I have the ruffled pettipants I’m going to wear tucked under the corset in this picure.  I’ll wear it with over-the-knee stockings and Victorian boots.

In the below pic, that dark line across the chest is a shadow.

The jacket buttons up the side front.

Since the fabric is all synthetics, I decided to burn the edges of the sleeves to ‘hem’ them, rather than sew.  It made a very nice edge, and was remarkably easy.  If you’re curious, I just put a candle in a sturdy base, then held the fabric stretched between my hands and ran the edge across the flame.  As long as I kept the fabric moving at a slow, steady speed, I had no problem with an even melt.  And as for the fabric accidentally catching fire – it didn’t seem to want to, even when I tested it.  So I felt  pretty secure – although I still did it over a non-carpeted floor.  :D