mala_14 | Entries tagged with 1780 stays

I'm too lazy to put pictures into this post, but click on the links to see all the entries tagged. I actually made a pretty decent amount of things this year and I also actually like all of them, more or less, so this year was definitely a win on the sewing front.

First up, it took me all the way until April to finally finish something, but I did: charcoal pants to wear to a conference that I was going to in Texas. The fit is not good, but it's not terrible either. Fitting bifurcated garments still eludes me because, to quote myself, "Crotches are weird, man."
In early May, I had finally finished my pink linen 1780 stays, which I had started in April. They're boned with reed and really comfortable to wear. I was happy with the fit and how they ended up looking, especially with the narrow binding. They're still not lined, and they probably never will be, whatever. ;p
Another UFO that I finished up was a quilted petticoat. This was a great multi-use undergarment, because I wore it under my 1840s dress and under my 1780s stuff. It's awesome. Adds a nice amount of loft in the skirts and keeps them off the legs. It was just some pre-fab quilting stuff from Joann that I bound at the hem and the pleated top.
I made a white striped 1845 dress in about 2 weeks start to finish. I was so impressed with myself. Of course, I neglected pretty much everything else in that time, but whatever, I made a dress and now have a good bodice base for that era. It turned out pretty well, but it totally needs a different corset with a higher bust point, and then I'll have to adjust the darts in the lining, but that shouldn't be a problem whenever that time comes. It needs accessories too. And for me to not drop blackberry juice on it when I'm wearing it.
I finished up another UFO: a fichu. A very useful accessory for the wardrobe, but not very exciting. Although I did tambour embroidery on it when I first started it many years ago.
I painted two silk fans in 18th century style but with dog portraits as gifts. It was a fun project and a nice change from the sewing.
I made a super cute and twee corset cover 1870.
My 1870 sheer dress might be my favourite out fit of the year, consisting of a bodice, overskirt, and peplum. It's ruffly and trimmed with lace and currently in need of repairs. I used my 1840s bodice as a starting point to make a new 1870 bodice block, which was used for this and my corset cover.
I made a feather/down stuffed bumpad out of an IKEA pillow. Feathers EVERYWHERE!
To go over it, I made a white linen-rayon 18th century petticoat.
And to go over all that for my trip to Virginia and DC, I made a pale yellow linen-rayon 1780 gown. I wore it to Colonial Williamsburg, where I had a wonderful stay! I got a good pattern base for this, although I want to make some important changes to it at the back so that the sleeves are set in deeper and the back is narrower, but it fits and the look is acceptable.
I also made a white voile (my 3rd white cotton dress of the year!) 1780s roundgown with en fourreau back to wear to The Lady Detalle's birthday tea. For some reason I didn't take any detail pics after I I finished it, but got some great pics at the tea taken by quincy134 . I really like the back pleats on this. I had made some very slight alterations to the fit of the pattern I used for the yellow gown and some worked (like getting a better fit in the back) and some didn't (like having the neckline dip too low and showing the very top of my stays).
I made a silk organza 1780s cap to top everything off. I didn't entirely finish it for my trip and had to temporarily sew part of the caul the band, but it is done now.
After all that summer sewing I needed a break. But I knit up a pair of legwarmers for elizabeth_mn and had fun dyeing them from off-white to pink. Made out of worsted-weight wool, they were a quick and soothing project during a stressful time.
I also cut out and started sewing a silk 1920s slip, but that will be my UFO going into 2019.

My goals for 2018 were:

keep on trying new things with sewing, new techniques, new materials, etc.
get a couple of solid bodice patterns figured out, ones that fit really nicely and that I can just use whenever I want to make something from that era
get some 18th century things made, especially finishing up these stays and other undergarments and making some gowns and millinery to go over them
make some modern clothes, preferably of a professional-looking nature for when I have to look like a grown up

I think I was pretty successful with most of these. I tried out new eras that involved different techniques and styles as well as new materials like reed. I also made bodice blocks for 1840s, 1870, and 1780s that aren't perfect, but that fit well and only need small adjustments to be right. I definitely made some 18th century undergarments, gowns, and millinery (cap and fichu!). The one I fell down on the most was the modern clothes. Just made a pair of mediocre pants. I'm hoping that getting to this blazer soon will help out.

Plans for 2019:

keep on upping my sewing game by trying new techniques (like tailoring!), improving fit, and making accessories for outfits
make some modern clothes
get some good pictures to document all my hard work
let go of plans and lists and make what I'm feeling at the time to help with productivity (but no creating UFOs! gotta finish things!)
use the stash (it's starting to get out of hand)

I almost forgot about these pictures. Here are my stays. They just need straps and half-assed lining. I cut out and made the straps this week, but they still need to be attached.

Bonus picture because I thought they looked cool on their own holding their shape:

And I have a cold, so I'm having a very unproductive day today. Hoping to get some dissertation reading done and sew the straps on.

Now that my stays are almost done (tried them on yesterday to measure strap length and hoping to get straps made today, pictures from yesterday are forthcoming), I've been giving some serious thought to my next project: a sheer early bustle dress. It's going to be made in phases for convenience. All together I need:

corset cover
white bustle petticoat
bodice
skirt
overskit
peplum

However, since I have my lavender silk skirt from my ballgown, I can get away with not making an underskirt or petticoat and still have a wearable outfit, just in case I don't get things finished in time (planning on have a foofy bustle picnic with

elizabeth_mn in late July). This leaves me with the corset cover, bodice, overskirt, and peplum. The corset cover is because I want to do a looser, gathered bodice and can't quite wrap my head around how to do that plus have a fitted half-high lining. Plus, then I have a corset cover for when I do other sheer things in the future. I'm basing my design on this lovely from c.1869 at the Musee D'Orsay:

I like the split overskirt and the v-neck bodice and where the ruffles are. Mine will have a peplum thingie for some extra jeuje on the bustle area, because isn't that the point of bustle? I need a new bodice pattern, but I'm probably going to start with my 1880 bodice pattern and straighten the CF, alter some of the seam lines, drop the shoulder a bit, and cut it off at the natural waist, as well as make the minor fitting tweaks that I know it needs. Shouldn't be too difficult. <-- *famous last words*

I have many yards of white cotton voile and cotton lace left over from the ballgown, so that's what I'm using. At one time in my life I had grand dreams of stamping a design on this, but then I got real. I'll probably need more lace, but it was pretty cheap and they had another lace I was interested in, so I might get that too. Can never have too much lace, right?

As promised, pictures of the latest sewing. I definitely haven't mastered the art of pants. There are a lot of weird wrinkles that were created when I made these pants a bit looser and more trouser-y than the pattern intends, just by sewing with a 1/2" seam allowance instead of 5/8". But whatever, now I have pants to wear when I'm trying to look like a professional adult, which is the important thing!

And they have a nice handsewn buttonhole! (Colour in this picture is more accurate. The other pictures needed the flash to be visible.)

Stays are more in my wheelhouse for sewing. I'm a little annoyed that the tape over the seams wrinkles into the ditch a bit, but some of that should go away when they're actually on.

I'm liking how the binding is turning out.

I decided that I'm going to use plastic (in the form of cable ties) for the horizontal boning across the bust. That'll be next after I finish up the bottom binding, since I don't have enough tape for the top binding and I'll need to make a trip to the store for that.

Having finished all the eyelets on one side, I made up half the eyelets on the second side and sewed the 2 sides together, so I was able to try them on. I'm SO happy with them! I won't have to let out the bust like I was worried about having to possibly do after measuring them and comparing them to my old stays. They are really comfortable. Although I only wore them for about 10 min, but they felt so light and smooth. I took some pics:

They're not laced as tightly as they will be when all the eyelets are sewn, so the back looks all wonky and the shaping isn't as good as it could be. Also the tabs haven't been cut yet either. Interestingly, the back boning took on some of that messed up wave and the tabs already stick out at the hips, so the reed moulds to the body really easily. I think that might be part of what makes them so comfortable. I'm also really liking the cut of this pattern.

I managed to get almost all the eyelets done this evening. Just 2 more to go. Then cutting the tabs and whipping them down. Still a lot of steps to go, but the end is in sight! Also, now I'm all pumped about these because I know they fit. :D

( Cut for old progress pics, leaving the most recent stuff visible )

Close-up of the whipstitched seam, with right sides together.

Close up of the seam from the right side with it opened out flat. (Just had a moment where I accidentally backspaced and made the page go back. AH!!! Short freak out before going back to post. Luckily the whole post was saved and I could just pick back up where I left off. Whew! That was close.) This seam will have some sort of seam tape over it. I have some 1/4" cotton tape that I think I will use. I'm hoping it's narrow enough. Anyone have any opinions?

And lastly, both fronts sewn to their side fronts!

I now have both side fronts attached to the fronts. I was able to whip stitch the second side together today while watching the pairs free skate in Olympic figure skating (between skates, of course!). So now I have a pair of fronts. The 4 back pieces (2 for each side) still need boning and their seam allowances whipped down. I actually took some pictures yesterday so I will put those up tomorrow!

I got the boning channels on all the piece sewn. And I have the seam allowances sewn down for all 4 front-most pieces. I'm more or less using the method that

koshka_the_cat describes here for her 1780s stays. Katherine is being very inspiring and motivating for me right now as she works on her own stays. I should really take some pictures of my stays, but I just haven't. Oh well. It's more important that they're getting made.

I noticed this weird, but interesting, thing about the boning pattern in the back of a lot of c.1780-1790 century style stays. While the CB boning is straight up and down (which makes sense), the boning next to it, on the other side of the lacing holes, tends to be closer together at the top and farther apart at the bottom. I'm not entire sure why, but I thought that was neat. Any thoughts on what this might do in terms of fit etc.?

Some links to pictures of stays that have this:
http://chemise-a-la-reine.blogspot.ca/2012/10/stays-and-chemise-gown.html

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O355229/stays/

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/565131453229922341/

http://handboundcostumes.blogspot.ca/p/research.html

http://handboundcostumes.blogspot.ca/p/fully-boned-linen-stays-bath-fashion.html

I spent the last couple of days in mock-up land trying to get a really good fit for my stays. I wanted them to give a nice shape, but I also wanted them to be comfortable (I tested them by wearing the mock-up for a couple hours. I even vacuumed in them! ;p) Anyways, I spent a lot of time looking for advice on fitting stays, but there isn't a lot out there. Partly, probably, because fitting stays, including historically, is a very individualized process. The fabulous Kendra, of demodecouture.com, goes into the fitting process here, which includes some really interesting observations that were helpful to me. However, Kendra has quite a different figure from me, so we were dealing with some different fitting issues. So, here are all my thoughts for fitting a short, short-waisted figure, with a medium-to-small bust and a swayback for c.1780s stays. (Probably good for about 1775-1795. Stays before and after this period tend to be different styles and I didn't look into them that much for this project.) The actual stays will be fully boned, with reed, and have a pink linen outer layer. I was totally inspired by this pair of stays in the Manchester Gallery.

( Cut for so many pictures and thoughts )

People's blogs who were super helpful for looking at fit include:
Sanna's blog Rococo Atelier (Sanna made stays from this pattern back in 2013. Her figure is much curvier than mine, but it was so helpful to see this pattern properly fitted on someone.)
Kendra's blog Demode Couture (Kendra's finished stays here as well as a link to her Pinterest board showing stays that are flared at the front.)

lukitari 's blog Before the Automobile (Merja's beautifully constructed and fitted stays helped me think through fit.)

koshka_the_cat 's blog Before the Automobile (Katherine's stays were helpful in showing fit on someone smaller-busted, like myself.)

jenthompson 's blog Festive Attyre (Jen also has a set of stays from this era and it was helpful seeing another pair on an actual body, rather than a dressform.

I haven't really worked on anything historical since CoCo (which I still haven't finished posting about, OOPS!). But I did enlarge this pattern from the Kyoto Fashion book for a pair of stays. They claim that the stays are c.1760-1770, but I am skeptical and think that they are more c.1780, which makes them perfect for what I want. I added some width all around because, according to my measurements of the little scale diagram, they were way too small (about 30" bust and 18" waist). But either I am not good at enlarging things or not good at measuring little diagrams, they ended up too big after I'd added the width and enlarged them. So I ended up taking off almost everything I added and I have no idea what the actual size of the original stays are. I really should have just enlarged them with no changes first, then added the width. Aaaaaaanyways, here is the (hopefully!) workable pattern I ended up with. I just cut off bits until they seemed around the bust and waist measurements I wanted and I shortened them 3/4" because I think they were too long in the waist as is.

No time right now for mock-ups. Nor am I sure that I have anything to make mock-ups out of. So fittings will have to wait for a couple of weeks.

Yay! I passed my exam! Now I can take a week off of enforced reading before I have to start getting ready for the next one. The oral exam part was challenging and there were definitely some questions that I could have answered better, but overall it went pretty well. So glad that's over. I came home and took a nap. I have a pork roast smoking on the bbq and I am about to eat some ice cream.

I'm also going to treat myself to some fabric paints and reed so I have some 18th century supplies on hand after I've finished my CoCo sewing. I still really want a 1780s painted dress, as per my Pinterest board, but I need more paint to do what I want. I think I also have a general design figured out of linear scrolling vines and bouquets with bows. But it won't be for a while yet, so I have plenty of time to really refine and solidify the idea.

This month has been almost a complete wash in terms of sewing. I've been reading pretty much all the time that I'm not eating, sleeping, or out of the house. However, my exam is this Friday, so I will finally get some sewing time after that (well, after the follow-up oral exam on Monday). Things I am going to do the week after I finish this exam (ie. the time before I have to get into reading for the next one):

read something for fun, a friend published a post-apocalyptic novella recently that I am looking forward to reading
finish up my silk ballgown, which includes adding the last bit of lace and putting in closures and making the overskirt+sash
cook delicious food, I want to make pasta and smoke some brisket or something (I watch a lot of Food Network)

After that, I'll have to get started on my suffragette outfit. I think I may have actually finally settled on a plan? I may do the 1910-1911 Tub Frock in Waugh's Cut of Women's Clothes:

The waist measurement is pretty close to mine and the rest isn't fitted, so theoretically I could just whip it up without having to do a mock-up or a lot of fitting. It has an interesting cut, which would add visual interest for my plain solid green fabric. And I could have a violet bow at the neck with a white lace collar to do the suffragette colours. I want it to be a quick project because I really want to get to work on something else...

Namely, 18th century stays! Because I want to do that. I have ideas and plans and that is where my brain is right now. I want to use the pattern in the Kyoto Fashion book for these stays:

( This got a little picture heavy )
Thoughts/questions that I am pondering and would be happy to hear from you about if you are so inclined:

Can I get away with not doing a mock-up of my suffragette dress?
Should I use canvas for a strength layer of my stays? I can get it here and not break the bank
What should I use for the lacing/cording in the front top half of the stays?

OK, back to studying. Gotta review some poetry. Ugh.