Finished 1690's/1700's Stays
Aug. 27th, 2016 04:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
atherleisureMy stays are finished, and my husband took pictures today. They didn't come out with the greatest resolution, and I don't know why. Also the shift sleeves kind of block the view. I'm going to see if I can get Jen to take better pictures in November because I'm quite proud of my stays.
They're based on the c. 1680 stays in Corsets and Crinolines. I took about an inch out of the side pieces and shortened them at the back waist by about half an inch. I also adjusted the angle of the straps so that they would come over the shoulder instead of around the shoulder. That left a 2"-3" spring at the back.
The interior is made of two layers of cotton drill with machined boning channels 3/16" wide except for the center back which has wider channels. It's boned with 3mm flat oval reed except at the center back where I cut down 1/2" flat oval reed to fit the channels. The seam allowances are turned to the back and whipped down before the pieces are whipped together with fine whip-stitching. Then the back pieces were covered with silk brocade and the eyelets made. Then I covered the tabs before covering the front and sides. On the large pieces, I made sure to keep the stays well curved while pinning the brocade to allow a little extra fabric to account for not being under tension. The reed was nice because I could prick stitch through the bones and follow the edges of the fabric, even if they didn't end up exactly along the interior seam lines. The straps were the last thing covered with brocade. Then I lined the tabs individually with muslin with a fairly fine whip stitch. Finally, I lined the center front, sides, and straps to finish off the project.
The straight front is achieved with a wooden busk between the shift and stays. I need to make another one specifically for this because the 1820's one I've been using is a little wide and a little long. I want to curve this one a little so it will rest more against my breastbone and will look more like the ones in Seventeenth Century Women's Dress Patterns. I also need to let out the shift neckline since it doesn't look quite like I intended it to. I'm going to make the mantua first, though, so I can see how it looks with that.
The stays have taken awhile, but I'm really happy with them.
They're based on the c. 1680 stays in Corsets and Crinolines. I took about an inch out of the side pieces and shortened them at the back waist by about half an inch. I also adjusted the angle of the straps so that they would come over the shoulder instead of around the shoulder. That left a 2"-3" spring at the back.
The interior is made of two layers of cotton drill with machined boning channels 3/16" wide except for the center back which has wider channels. It's boned with 3mm flat oval reed except at the center back where I cut down 1/2" flat oval reed to fit the channels. The seam allowances are turned to the back and whipped down before the pieces are whipped together with fine whip-stitching. Then the back pieces were covered with silk brocade and the eyelets made. Then I covered the tabs before covering the front and sides. On the large pieces, I made sure to keep the stays well curved while pinning the brocade to allow a little extra fabric to account for not being under tension. The reed was nice because I could prick stitch through the bones and follow the edges of the fabric, even if they didn't end up exactly along the interior seam lines. The straps were the last thing covered with brocade. Then I lined the tabs individually with muslin with a fairly fine whip stitch. Finally, I lined the center front, sides, and straps to finish off the project.
The straight front is achieved with a wooden busk between the shift and stays. I need to make another one specifically for this because the 1820's one I've been using is a little wide and a little long. I want to curve this one a little so it will rest more against my breastbone and will look more like the ones in Seventeenth Century Women's Dress Patterns. I also need to let out the shift neckline since it doesn't look quite like I intended it to. I'm going to make the mantua first, though, so I can see how it looks with that.
The stays have taken awhile, but I'm really happy with them.
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