Stays Progress

[atherleisure]

I finished the eyelets in my stays so I was able to try them on.




The fit seems to be pretty good, but I think I may need to strengthen the boning in the center front a bit. The 3mm reed is very flexible, and I think I might need to put a couple of 1/2" pieces right at the center front. (Yes, the mixing of units is obnoxious, but that's how it was sold so it's how I think of it.)

I only cut half the tabs for the try-on, but I'll do the others now that I know they fit and can start covering tabs.

Comments

[atherleisure.livejournal.com]

I was going to ask whether you did anything sturdier at the center front on your court dress. I looked at the pictures you posted, but I couldn't tell whether the channels were wider there. I also looked at the_aristocat's pictures of her 1660's bodice and 1740's stays but couldn't see that she used anything heavier at the center front. Hmmm.

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

No, I just used 1/4" reed all around, and the 1690s bodice bent up almost straight. I thought it was due to the extreme waist reduction, but since it happened with the 1780s, too, I guess that's not entirely the case.

Merja wrote about the boning of her 1660s in this post.
http://the-aristocat.livejournal.com/55327.html

IIRC one of the 17th Century Women's Dress books covers this, but I haven't looked at my book in a couple years. I'll try to look in the next few days.

This might be a good question for isiswardrobe, too!

[atherleisure.livejournal.com]

I just looked it up, and the boned bodice doesn't say anything about stronger boning, though it does have some extra linen layers in a few places. The stays have larger bones at the center of the stomacher, but the largest one is still only 5/16"x1/8", which is not exactly beefy. Then I found the busks, and the first one says that a busk may have been slipped between the shift and the bodice without having a specific channel or pocket designed for it. That idea appeals to me strongly. I think I'll take the busk from my 1820's stays and see if that mostly fixes the issue.