A Victorian Bustle is simply a dress train that was tacked upward toward the hips. Over time this became exaggerated until it was the fashion. However, it’s difficult to source or create a dress with that much fabric hanging off the back in a modern setting. The solution is to create a detachable bustle that coordinates with the dress and seems to be a part of it. This has the added benefit of being transferrable to other dresses. This tutorial will teach you a fast and easy way to make one of these bustles that can be worn in any way you see fit, as part of a Victorian or steampunk costume.

Materials:

• Yards and yards of standard width fabric (Standard width is 44” and the type and length of fabric depends entirely upon you. If you want a bustle that is full of poofs, go for more yardage of a stiffer fabric like polyester satin. I bought five yards of black poly-satin in black, because my dress is gray and the entire costume will be black and gray. It is also better to purchase a fabric similar to your dress’ fabric, meaning that if your dress is satin, don’t buy cotton, unless there’s an aesthetic reason)
• 6 yards of grosgrain ribbon or ticking (depends on your waist)
• Small safety pins (a crapload)
• 50-80 small 4-hole buttons, or large beads
• Thread that matches your bustle fabric
• 4 or 5 hook-and-eyes
• Needles for hand sewing

This entire piece was sewn by hand, but you may try using a swing machine. It is extremely difficult.
Be sure to have all undergarments I.e. petticoats or hoops on the mannequin along with the dress. You need to sculpt the shape on the actual gown and undercarriage

Instructions:

1. Using a mannequin (or having someone do this for you on your body) cut a length of ribbon or ticking that wraps around the waist. It’s important that you determine now, how you want the bustle to look. If your bustle will part in the middle, the two loose open ends will end up exactly in the front. If you’re doing a side-swag like me, the opening will be to one side. You may even decide to have only two pieces, so that there is a front and a back wit an opening on the side. This is important, because it determines how you will follow the next step.
2. Now that you’ve determined where your opening will be, find the “center back” of the belt-ribbon. Again, this will be different, depending on where your opening will be. On a side-swag, for example, “center back” is not the true middle of the ribbon.
3. To the “center back”, sew a length of ribbon that spans from the waist to the ground. Be sure your stitches are doubly and triply reinforced. This ribbon will be holding a lot of weight, so it has to be sturdy
4. A few inches away on either side of this tail-like ribbon (about where your sides end), attach two more ribbons of equal length. You should end up with something that looks like this :
5. Near the opening-ends of the belt-ribbon, attach two more tails. These can be shorter. So now you have a belt-ribbon with five tails.
6. Take the end of your bolt of fabric and do a basting stitch to prevent the fabric from unraveling (usually done with a sewing machine).
7. Pinch pleat and pin the width of the bolt. You want the fabric gathered to slightly more than the width of the three ribbon tails .
8. Attach this to the belt ribbon, so that when the belt is on the mannequin, the whole bolt of fabric hangs down the back of the mannequin.
9. Now, beginning at the middle, or “center-back” tail, pinch the fabric and draw it upward to create a fold or poof of the desired fluffiness. Anchor this with a safety pin to the central ribbon. I found it easier to do the middle first, from the butt area all the way down to the hem, and my poofs were tighter at the top, becoming looser toward the hemline.
10. When you’ve done the whole middle ribbon, move back and forth between the two side ribbons and anchor your poofs. You can turn the edges inward, or you can do that later, as I did. It doesn’t matter.
11. Once you’ve created all your poofs and have them all anchored as you like, trim the hemline of the fabric. I cut mine in something of a parabolic curve, because I knew where I was going.
12. Take the bustle off the mannequin. At every point where you have put a safety pin to create a poof, stitch with quadrupled thread, through the fabric and ribbon, but put a button on inside and out. Why? Well, the bustle is heavy, and if you only use thread to anchor your poofs, and someone steps on your bustle, it’s likely to tear. However, if you anchor the fabric and ribbon between two buttons, it cannot tear. Stitch: button, ribbon, fabric, button. The buttons will be hidden by the folds.*I had a very specific way I did this. First, anchor the thread next to the safety pin. >Second, feed a button onto the thread and put the needle back through about where the tail sticks out and pull tight. Third, go to the backside and feed another button onto the thread and try to get the needle back through the fabric about where the other button’s holes are. This makes certain the two button’s holes line up perfectly. If you’re using beads, this isn’t as much of an issue.
13. Taking the end of the fabric again as you did in step 7, baste and gather or pleat it once again. Now stitch this gather to one of your two empty waistline areas.
14. Pleat or gather, pin and stitch the side of the panel to the front ribbon tail.I also did this part in a specific way, so as to conceal the stitches. This was done by stitching only through the pinched section of the pleat into the ribbon. This hides the stitch behind the pleat that overlaps it but is super sturdy.
15. Determine the way you want the swag to look and stitch its other end to the edge of the bustle.
16. Repeat steps 13-16 for the other swag. Making sure the two swag ends are of equal length when pleated and stitched. I accomplished this by cutting the tail ribbons to the exact same length so that I could use it as a guide.
17. Hem the entire bustle together as one piece.
    
18. Use hook-and-eye closures to anchor the swag across.
19. Stitch the hooks and eyes where the two swags touch and use them to keep the bustle closed.

This piece can now be used with any gown, corset, or costume. If you’ve made a separate skirt out of the same material, it will all look like one piece, but I personally like the way it contrasts with the skirt beneath.

I have also added to mine a detachable bottom ruffle in a coordinating fabric that is super easy to do.

Ruffle