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It unfortunately took me a while to finish my stays due to various reasons (travel and conferences, researching and decision-making, and mental health breaks), but I’m very pleased with how they turned out!  As usual, I’m hoping they last for a while — part of the learning process for me is seeing how my sewing holds up to wear and tear over time — but I think they’ll work for a little while at least.

Made my own “pattern”

I decided I didn’t want to buy a pattern since I would still have to deal with size and fitting.  I also have the book Corsets and Crinolines by Norah Waugh, and I have never had a chance to make clothing from the historical pattern books I have.  There was a design for stays (page 39, Fully-boned stays/1730-1740) that I really liked the look of.  Of course, I couldn’t leave it alone and decided to make the front part plain, instead of the stomacher that’s part of the original design.

I really didn’t know what I was doing, so I took some “graph” fabric (Tru-Grid graph material) and estimated the size of length and transferred (rounding up here and there — I figured it would be better to have too much to work with, than too little).  I should have been better at figuring out the sizes, but when I ended up working on it, I was still not sure I was actually starting the process at that time.  It was one of those “let me see… if I do this…” moments that kept going.  Plus, it was late at night and I just couldn’t get it off my mind.  It just sort of happened in an unplanned way.

Mockups and changes

The original mockup was off here and there, but it gave me a feel for how to proceed and what I needed to do.  I made the changes, and version two turned out much closer.  There was a little more tweaking and changing, but most of the panels at that point were what I ended up with.

I decided that I would make the stays as tight as possible to allow for weight-loss.  With all the time I was putting into them, I didn’t want to have to make another one any time soon.  I usually make a fabric mockup just to test things, and I need to stop doing that (more on that later).  I didn’t have any boning in my mockup, so while I had a feeling most of the fit would be fine, there was one area I couldn’t really test that worried me a little.

Worries

It was amusing, actually, that I wasn’t too concerned about the fit of the stays.  Even if they were tight, they would be strong enough to pull where needed.  No, my biggest worry was about the tabs.  The design I picked has long tabs, and they overlap on the sides over the hips.  Mine seemed to be overlapping too much, and I couldn’t imagine how they were supposed to spread out and not be in each others’ way.   I’m honestly not even sure if there is a way to test these types of tabs without making the stays out of the actual materials.  I had a few people reassuring me, and I decided to just dive in and see how they would turn out.

My next worry was the waistline.  The design I was going for seemed to be very long-waisted, and I had actually made another pattern to make my stays longer.  I decided not to use it because I didn’t like the way it looked on me, and I just didn’t feel as confident about that version.  My current stays may not be long enough in the waist, but the fit is nice and it works for me at the moment.

The materials

I decided to use long cable ties (varying lengths) for the boning, and make them fully-boned.  My husband helped me pick out some outer fabric.  He was a huge help since I was torn between two or three fabrics.  We chose a silk taffeta made out of golden-orange thread, and a turquoise-blue thread.  The resulting color differs depending on how it’s angled, and the lighting.  Sometimes it shimmers a golden color with a light sage green, and other times I’ve seen it pick up the blue.  It was a subtle color change, which we both loved.  The inner fabric is a bottom weight canvas we chose because it was thin enough, but had almost no give when we were tugging on it in the store.  I used two layers of the canvas, putting the boning in between those, and flat lining the silk to the top canvas layer.  I decided to skip the lining, because I wanted to cut a step out and didn’t think it would be an issue.  I also wanted access to the seams on the inside, just in case there were any problems.

Blood, sweat, and tears

Unfortunately, what turned out to be a good base fabric choice for strength, was a terrible choice for hand-sewing.  Pain!  That fabric was so hard to do certain types of stitches on.  I’m still a little lazy with thread, so I didn’t use any special types of threads, nor did I prep them.  I had to use fresh thread sooner than I normally would, because the fabric was shredding the thread with certain stitches.  It also caused lots of stabbing and jabbing, even with a thimble.  The inside of my stays are a little sloppy, but that’s okay — no one is going to see it.

Finishing touches

The eyelets are all hand-sewn.  I wish I had been more confident with those, because I ended up doing an extra step I didn’t need.  I’m used to finishing eyelets with a buttonhole stitch.  I had created a practice piece, using the layers of fabrics from scraps, but I had such a terrible time at first, getting them to look nice that I was paranoid about doing them without the buttonhole stitch.  The first eyelet I did on the stays, would have been just fine without, but since I added the stitch, I had to make them all that way.  In all honesty, they would have looked better without!  Oh well.  Next time I know better, and to trust my skills enough to just go for it.  I’m also amazed the eyelets are so strong!

The bias tape is store-bought, because I wanted to save myself some time and trouble, not to mention some money.  I desperately need to buy a rotary cutter, and a cutting mat.  This is only the second time I’ve edged something like this (my Victorian corset was the first), so I figured another practice run with store-bought would be fine.  Honestly, it’s such a thin line, I didn’t think it would make much of a difference.  Thankfully, it went on a lot smoother than I thought it would, although stitching the binding around the inner corners of the tabs was definitely annoying.

What I learned for next time

There are some things I will probably deal with again next time (I still have plenty of the canvas left, so I’m sure there will be more stabbed fingers and shredded thread again in the future), but hopefully I’ve learned my lesson on some of the others:

• Use the cardboard fitting technique.  I didn’t even know about this until I was already past the fitting part.
• Be a little more accurate with transferring lines and creating the pattern.
• Finish the edges to diminish fraying and so I don’t have to mess with it later.
• Find another cutting method for the zip ties.  The tool I used had trouble cutting acute, long angles.  Filing dulled down the points, so I’m not too worried about that, but it could be an issue in some spots.
• Maybe do more research next time to see if changing thread or preparing thread would be worthwhile.
• Definitely don’t be afraid — move on and have a little confidence!
• Feel confident enough with the eyelets to skip the buttonhole stitch finish.

It took a while, but I’m happy

It definitely took me far too long to finish the stays.  I was unfamiliar with the fit and feel of them (I’ve only worn hourglass-shaping corsets), but knew how vital it was to get the proper period shape and support.  Fortunately, it worked out and I’m very pleased with my first stays.  Hopefully the next stays I make will go a lot smoother, but I think having made a few corset-like garments and carefully researching the subject as well as looking at a lot of art and photos helped me figure out what I needed to do.

Don’t be nervous to give something like this a try.  You might decide to buy a pattern to save a little trouble with sizing and fitting, but there is a lot of helpful information on the Internet that explains the construction.  There are also designs for half-boned stays, which are still very sturdy.

The tabs over the hips overlap when they're like this, but spread out when I'm wearing them.

The small dark spot on the right side of the photo (my left) is a sweat stain. I hold the stays there with my arms while my husband helps lace the stays. We're getting the hang of it, but I admit I like Victorian corsets better with the front busk.

My husband is getting the hang of lacing the stays and helping me keep the shift from bunching up. The bit of white on the bottom right corner is the loose end of the ribbon where it's tied (knotted right now) to the stays. I need to tuck it or trim it.

Finally finished my first 18th century shift (the neckline was last). I made the neckline as low as possible -- better to have it too loose, than showing in the neckline of the garments. My first cap is on top of the dressform.

I’m currently sewing the binding on the tabs of my stays.  I’ve read people complaining about what a chore sewing the binding on the tabs is.  They’re not kidding!  I’d actually read a tip or two that mentioned you might want to start on the tabbed edge first, so the top edge would be a nice break after dealing with the tabs.  I considered it at first, but decided that I wanted to warm up by binding the top side first.  I’m glad I did.  I got a feel for how everything is working together, but I’m still slowing down in sections!

Store-bought bias tape

I decided to use store-bought tape because I need to get better tools for evenly cutting long strips of fabric.  I also would have needed to buy fabric, since I wanted to use a different color than the rest of the stays.  I’m glad I bought bias tape this time.  Honestly, it doesn’t look too bad to me (no one else is going to see it anyway), and it’s been nice to use.  I was a little nervous because I went with the thinner width, but I’ve been getting used to it.

Smooth sewing on the top edge

The top side of the stays really doesn’t have lots of sharp curves and corners, and I had plenty of room to work.  Stitching the bias tape on the front side was the part that took the longest.  I decided to use hand-sewing for attaching the binding.  I just feel like I have more control by hand, than with a machine.  When I flipped the tape over to attach it to the underside of the stays, it went much quicker.  The ends of the straps were the sharpest turns I had to deal with, and they gave me more confidence for the tabs.

The trouble with sewing around the tabs

The tabs on the other hand are close together, overlap each other in places, and the top parts of the slits where you flip the bias tape through to stitch to the back side are very crowded.  Not only am I having issues trying to keep the stitching smooth in the very tightest of turns, I feel like I’m fumbling with holding the stays to work with.  The tabs are either in the way, or waggling around.  Just when you get a comfortable position to hold everything and sew, you have to adjust it when you turn your work to sew around another corner.

The front seems to be harder to sew than the back

Fortunately, the back still goes much quicker than the front.  As long as I am able to pull and hold the bias tape evenly enough to stitch it down, it’s been going much faster.  I actually got a little paranoid thinking my work was horrific, so I stopped stitching on the front and flipped it over to stitch the back down.  I had only sewn one edge and two tabs, and I didn’t sew all the way to the end of what I’d sewn on the front (I wanted to leave a little working space). It turns out that my work wasn’t as bad as I thought.  Although I might still make a few adjustments on the top of the tab slits when I turn the tape, I think I should be able to get through this without any major errors (let’s hope, anyway).

I actually decided to continue to do both sides in sections.  I’ll sew a few tabs, and when I feel like I’m about to get sick of dealing with sewing the front part down, I’ll get to the end of my current thread, flip the stays over, and seal the back side down.  I think it might give me a bit of a break, as well as keeping things running smoothly and checking my work.

I hope it works — we’ll see soon, hopefully!

I’m still a little nervous about how the binding will work when the stays are worn.  The tabs really spread out, so I’m hoping the bias tape bunched up in the corners won’t hold everything back.  That’s part of the fit of the whole thing — the tabs have to spread for it to work.  I’m sure it will, but I tend to get a little nervous.  It would sure stink to put all this work into something, finally finish it, and then oops!  Bad fit.

Once I finish binding the bottom edge of the stays, I still have four hand-sewn eyelets to do for the straps, and I also need to finish the neckline of my shift.  Speaking of the shift, I keep kicking myself about how I set the sleeves in.  One side of me wants to take the sleeves off and do it again, and the other side is just wanting to forget about it.  I guess I’ll see how it fits when the stays are on.  I know what I should do next time.

One thing I realized with this project is every time I felt like I was potentially getting things wrong or off, I would do searches for images and either read about people’s experiences and troubles, or reassure myself that I’m doing the best I can.  The Internet is not only excellent for learning how to do things — it also helps reassure you about how you’re doing them.  At the very least, you know you’re not alone when a hard part frustrates you and it turns out many people hate sewing that part as well!

Hand-sewing the bias tape binding to the edges of the stays.

Sewing the binding around each of those tight curves is difficult. This will take a while.

Hand sewing the binding on the stays.

I mentioned in my last entry that I was having trouble focusing on any of my projects.  With worrying about the job situation, it’s hard to honestly care about anything else — even things that bring me so much happiness.  Once I vented my frustrations a little and explained the situation on my blog, I felt like I might be able to attempt finishing my stays.  Here is what I did to help get me back on track:

Cleared my mind

It seems silly, but it’s such a vital part of focus.  True, I didn’t realize at first that I’d been so upset and down about the job situation, but it was hanging in my subconscious enough to affect my ability to proceed with anything.

I literally had to clear my mind and realize that we were going to be just fine.  There is nothing I can do — especially worrying — that will help me right at that moment.  Christopher is doing what he has to do to find work, and I’m keeping my eyes out for any potential work as well.  We still have some savings, and although we both hate seeing those savings dwindle, we will just have to work hard to build it back up again once there is more income.

Forgot how long it’s taken

I’ve been working on these stays for way too long.  Some of the time spent was careful planning, researching, and creating a pattern (and I probably did it the hard way, knowing me).  There were many times I didn’t work on the stays so that I’d have time to think about my next step or whether I wanted to go back and fix something.  We also had travel plans we made before the layoff that made it impossible to work on the stays, even if I wanted to (I need to figure out a good travel kit that doesn’t take up too much space — but projects aren’t always at the point where you can easily carry them and hand sew — like if you’re still cutting out fabric).  Anyway, I’ve been sick of dealing with the stays and just want them to be finished!

Unfortunately, in order to achieve that wonderful feeling of a finished project, I still have more work to do.  I’ve also been dreading sewing the binding on, which will possibly be the most time-consuming and annoying step.

Took one step at a time

I had to decide which step to do first, and then focus only on that step.  I was familiar enough with what’s left to know how each step would affect the next, so I wouldn’t make any glaring errors, but I tried not to focus on all the work that was left.  I didn’t want it to overwhelm me and make me feel even worse than I already did.

I also made decisions — which may or may not have been wise, but time will tell (and I’ll learn something from it, I’m sure) — about whether or not to skip steps and cross my fingers that moving on to the next step would work for this project instead of stressing about every little thing.  Sometimes you can put too much into something and make more of a mess with it than you intended, afterall.

Remembered to enjoy the process

I need to remind myself that I do love to work on a project, and often I’m actually very sad when a project is finished.  Although I can’t wait to be finished and move on, I need to remember that I love sewing and I’m thankful that I do have something I can work on.  Maybe if I just focus on my task, I’ll get better about not dwelling on those things I have no control over.

Cut myself some slack!

The most important thing that helped me was finally realizing that regardless of how I think I feel, if I’m not in the mood to work on something due to other things dragging me down — then I shouldn’t work on it!  I wanted to sew, and thought I was just fine, but obviously there was plenty on my mind if I ended up just staring at my sewing projects and walking away disgusted and even more down.  The minute I stopped kicking myself about not sewing or doing anything else I thought I needed or wanted to, I was able to relax and approach it in a less stressed out state of mind.

So far, I’ve been working on adding the binding to my stays.  I decided to save some money and trouble and buy store-bought bias tape.  I didn’t have any fabric to make my own, and have been needing to buy a rotary cutter and cutting mat.  I’ll try making my own another time and instead be happy that I’ve saved myself a little trouble and cash.  I’m hand sewing the binding, so it’s a little slow-going, but it’s not too bad.  I’m enjoying the process again, and the minute I don’t feel like messing with it, I’ll take a break from it again.

It can be such a silly thing to worry about something as minor as sewing when there are more important things to worry about, but hobbies are an important part of our lives too.  They bring happiness and can even get our minds off stressful things.  It’s not fun when you start stressing out about things that are supposed to be relaxing and fun!  Next time I get in a rut like this, I hope I can remember these tips, and I hope they might help someone else.