HSM22: Challenge 11 - fitting. The 1780s stays

 It took a lot longer than planned, and in the end I hurried them, but I did finish the 1780s stays.

One thing that stalled me was when I couldn't find eyelets with washers in the right side, so I had to handsew the lacing holes instead. Now here I should say that I deviated fromt he instructions and instead followed the instructions from Scroop Patterns Augusta stays, which have instructions for making historically accurate stays. It gave me the confidence to make the lacing holes and that they would be strong enough to hold for the lacing. The stays were then boned with synthetic whalebone, I was lucky to have a roll of it at home and it was just enough to get the stays and the stomacher boned.

I wore the stays at party on Saturday, where I managed to get from the party without a single photo of me in costume. While wearing them it was obvious that they were too long for me, they kept poking me in my armpit. 

It is possible to see the foldlines. Before wearing them again I need to cut the stays down to the foldline and rebind them. One good thing with the plastic boning is at least that it's easy to shorten them.

Here you can see that one of the bones even poked through the fabric.

Overall I am happy with the pattern, even if I need to adjust them. There were some instructions that were really helpful, like how to bind the tabs by machine, while others were a bit unclear. I did also use the Augusta stays instructions when I felt that I didn't quite understand or had the ability to use the pattern. I'm hoping that with some tweaking at the armpit they will become a pair of comfortable stays.

What the item is: A pair of 1780s stays
How it fits the challenge: Stays need to fit well, and they are necessary for the clothes on the outside to fit as well. This pair of stays show that a small miss in fit can be really bad. I tried them a lot when making them, but when I finally wore them for real they were too long and poked me in the armpit, so in the end I didn't wear them for the whole party I had made them for. So fit is important, and this is a reminder to not rush in the end, or think that "it won't be too bad, I will be able to wear them and then go back and fix it". 
Material: 1 m cotton twill, 1 m coutil, 1 m floral patterned cotton
Pattern: Redthreadeds front lacing 1780s stays
Year: 1780s
Notions: plastic boning, cotton bias tape for binding, sewing thread
How historically accurate is it? 50% 
Hours to complete: 1,5 months
First worn: at a party on March 19
Total cost: around $120

Back to the 18th century

 It is time for me to return to the 18th century. I haven't done anything since the Lady Poe gown, and already when doing that I realised that I needed a shift and a new pair of stays. Now my pair of stays works for the mid 18th century, but I have always loved the later 18th century silhouette, and the only stays I had for that was my Desert Rose stays. And they were done when I was at my tiniest, so I was able to wear them twice before I started gaining back my weight again.

This is my start. The mound of fabric in the lower right is a new chemise. I have sewn it together and is working on felling the seams before hemming  everything. This is a project that I will bring with me to our cosplay meets on Tuesdays since it's a simple thing to just sit and handsew and talk.

Then it's on to the stays. Together with my weight gain I have also had a lot of issues with my shoulders the last few year, and now it is impossible for me to lace up a corset or stays in the back. I need a pair of frontlacing stays. I decided to buy the Redthreaded 1780s front lacing stays instead of fiddling with drafting my own pattern.

For the stays I'm doing more of a theatrical than historical constructions. I'm using coutil as the strength layer. My original plan was to use linen or cotton canvas, but I couldn't find any in my stash. Since I had to order fabric and the place that I ordered from had a sale on coutil if you bought more than 3 meters I decided to use coutil, and buy enough of it so I can make the 1910s corset that I will need to make later in the year. Here is a big difference from the last time I made corsets or stays, brexit has made it hard to order from my favorite supply site, so I now have to go back to Swedish sites. The good thing is that there are now several options selling boning and corset fabrics in Sweden as well, which really wasn't the case when I started making corsets.

For the inner layer I'm using a sand/grey cotton twill from the stash, and since I want my stays to look good I found that floral cotton in the stash as well. It's not 18th century, but I go for cute rather than accurate with the stays.