Category: 18th century

So I have been doing ALL this sewing, but have been too busy to update here!  I will parcel it out in bits so as to keep things interesting (rather than dumping it on you all at once).

I spent a Saturday mocking up various boning layouts on my 1780s stays.  I found a boning layout that worked very nicely and improved things — but found that even more, the trick turned out to be moving the position of my strap.  My first version of my 1780s stays had a VERY wide front, which was great for creating forced posture (ie narrow back, wide front, shoulders held back)… but not so good for ye quadraboob.  Moving the strap forward a good 2-3″ tightened things up in the bust and really pushed the girls forward.

So here’s some comparison shots of the various boning layouts and how they worked out:

So I’ve actually been working steadily on handsewing the new stays.

First, fabric:  I have enough of the red silk damask to make another pair, but what’s the fun in having two identical pairs of stays? So instead I’m going with this green silk damask that I found on Fabric Guru (my new favorite source for small lengths of nice fabrics).

For the linen layers, I’m using one layer of natural linen canvas, and two layers of linen/cotton fustian, all from Burnley & Trowbridge.  Sadly I didn’t have enough of the linen canvas to do two layers, but I was looking at Costume Close-Up (I think?) and the stays in there were made of 3 layers of linen, one heavier than the others, plus top fabric, so I’m pretty happy with my choices.

I’ve cut out all the pieces, and basted them all together… and in so doing realize just how much a SLIGHT twitch of the angle of the needle can totally wonk-ify your sewing.  Eh, but it’s basting, right?

Onward to boning channels!  I’m starting with the side back pieces, as they were relatively uncomplicated.  I haven’t been doing much sewing at home, but I HAVE been sewing a lot on the train/bus, and quite enjoying it!  My handsewing has definitely improved as I’ve worked on these, because some of the first few rows that I stitched really look like crap.  It’s back to that slight-twitch-of-the-needle-angle thing, and this time it DOES matter because the boning channel stitches will show!  It’s NOT good when you look at your sewing, and think, “Crikey, did monkeys sew this?”  I did some picking out as I went, but tried to take deep breaths about it all and reassure myself that it’s supposed to not be machine perfect!

But, of course, once I finished one piece and my stitching had gotten better, I had to pick out the most egregiously bad sections — which ended up being about half of the sewing!  It’s not stressing me out, though, because I so enjoy hand sewing, and with life being so busy right now, this is just the perfect meditative release.  So, I’ve been going back and filling in the picked out sections, and am making serious progress.  I’m now 95% happy with the stitching I’m doing — it looks like the not-so-perfect examples in Underwear: Fashion in Detail, and it doesn’t look like it was sewn by monkeys.

Here are some pictures which are unfortunately not the greatest…

So, remember how I was all, “Boo yah, I’m going to make some hand sewn stays!”  And then I was all, “I want stays now!  I will make a machine-sewn version, and then hand sew later!”  And then I was all, “I got stays!  oooo, distracted by new shinies!”

And then work and personal life got REALLY REALLY BUSY, and I neglected my website for EVAH?

I’m back!  As much as I can be.  I swear, every Fall I say this, but this has been the busiest fall EVER at work; personal life is always busy what with friends and family and faire and costumes and things, but combine that with busy work, and you get an AWOL Kendra here.

The impetus — the more I wear my 1780s stays, the more I get the dreaded Side Boob Cleavage, bane of larger busted girls around the universe.  I hate it, I does, and some corsets do it to me and some don’t.  My original 18th century stays, made from a pattern given to me by a Costume College instructor and I think somewhat based on the Diderot stays, don’t give it to me.  My most recent 16th c. corset only does it somewhat.  My Victorian one does it up the wazoo.  And my 1780s stays have started doing it.

So, finally, a push to make a new pair!  So I’d better put my money where my mouth is and hand sew them, hmm??

First, let’s talk boning patterns.  I made a few tweaks to the pattern that I used last time — basically making all the tabs the same length, and fixing the straps to be more attractively placed.  But the big thing I need to figure out is the front boning pattern.  Because there’s definitely ROOM for the girls in my corset — if I push my stays at the top sides, the girls lay as I’d like them to.  But obviously the boning layout I’m using isn’t pushing me into the right shape.

So, here is a ROUGH approximation of what my current front boning layout looks like.  And here are some ideas, based on looking at exant examples, of other possible boning layouts — all of them will have the horizontal boning that the current layout has, I just got lazy about drawing it.

Any guesses which boning layout you think might push the girls more towards the front rather than the sides?  I’m thinking options 2 or 3.

And yes, I will definitely make a mockup — le sigh!

I have started handsewing the stays pieces (obviously working on the sides and back pieces), but more on that in another post!