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This Christmas has been crazy! we've been so busy nearly every day ever since I finished school, in some ways I'm actually looking forward to school starting again so things can calm down a little!
I finally finished the last of my Christmas presents on Christmas Eve, and since then I've been doing things for our Georgian evening party (which was on the 27th) and I made a couple of modern skirts too, but today I was able to get started on my new stays :)
I ordered the reed and canvas for interlining ages ago, and the fabric came before Christmas, but no reed :( there was a note on the packing slip saying it was 'to follow' with no note as to how long that would be! I got very cross and wrote a snotty email, to which I had a very nice reply saying their reed supplier had just retired and that they hadn't yet emailed me because they were nursing a sick relative. Kind of hard to be cross, but I'm still grumpy it's not here yet! So, she's sending me a few lengths to use to plan the width of my boning channels, and the rest when it comes in from the new supplier.
Anyway, I was able to do my mock up today, using the stays pattern from Costume Closeup and some cardboard from the box a vacuum cleaner came in ;) I think I've got the fit right - I wore them to eat lunch and then try on some of my old costumes, and they were still very comfy, (but need a little length taking off the top edge). The only problem is, they make my waist about 2-3 inches lower than my old one, which means all my petticoats are too long, and my jackets are too short :( I think it's because my old stays are boned with steel, which doesn't have much give, so they couldn't bend over my hips properly, so instead flared out too high up, whereas the cardboard bends right where it needs to. I'm hoping that the reed will work in the same way, from what I gather from looking at all your stays it should. Anyway, here are some pictures!
I'm changing the angle of the centre front a little, making them smaller in the waist and bigger in the bust. After lots of to-ing and fro-ing I've decided to make them lace at the front and back. While I can lace myself into my back opening stays, it's quite a struggle sometimes, especially in a tent, and as I want to do more reenacting next year, and Mummy won't always be there, that's a definite issue!
I'm thinking I want to make them half boned, I'm planning to sew them by hand, and do not relish the idea of doing so many channels! so hopefully they won't stand up quite so well on their own as the cardboard ones do, otherwise I have no idea how I'll ever be able to pack them!!!!
I tried my blue and white pierrot jacket on over the cardboard stays, and it was horrifying :( the jacket wound up quite short waisted because of the problems I had lining up the stripes, and while that was not too bad with my old stays, these new longer waisted ones were quite dreadful. Then I tried on the new short gown that I haven't quite finished yet, and it too was far too short in the waist, but at least I can fix that, it's just a case of redoing the side seams with a lower waist and stitching the pleats down for a few more inches. By this time though I was terrified that all my clothes would be useless with the new stays, and not only would I have to make an entirely new wardrobe, but I'd never be able to wear my gorgeous sacks again. So I rushed upstairs to try on my spotted sack from last spring. Luckily, it's ok! the petticoat is too long and shows 3" below the gown skirts, but I never got round to finishing the top edge, so it's just a case of taking the waist-bands off and moving them down. Luckily because of all the waist-bands and ties round my waist, the slightly too short waist isn't really noticeable, and the fact my waist is a little bigger and my bust a little smaller in the new stays doesn't matter because of the ties in the back lining. So relieved!!!
Now I need to wait for the reed though, because until it's here I won't know how many layers to make them from. I'm using very pale pink linen for the outer layer, with canvas for strength and a loose linen lining, but I don't know if I need to use 2 layers of the canvas, or if the linen is strong enough on its own, nor if the reed will show through the pale linen and make it look funny. So I thought I'd do something else while I wait, something that doesn't need to fit! so either a cloak or a banyan I think :D
I finally finished the last of my Christmas presents on Christmas Eve, and since then I've been doing things for our Georgian evening party (which was on the 27th) and I made a couple of modern skirts too, but today I was able to get started on my new stays :)
I ordered the reed and canvas for interlining ages ago, and the fabric came before Christmas, but no reed :( there was a note on the packing slip saying it was 'to follow' with no note as to how long that would be! I got very cross and wrote a snotty email, to which I had a very nice reply saying their reed supplier had just retired and that they hadn't yet emailed me because they were nursing a sick relative. Kind of hard to be cross, but I'm still grumpy it's not here yet! So, she's sending me a few lengths to use to plan the width of my boning channels, and the rest when it comes in from the new supplier.
Anyway, I was able to do my mock up today, using the stays pattern from Costume Closeup and some cardboard from the box a vacuum cleaner came in ;) I think I've got the fit right - I wore them to eat lunch and then try on some of my old costumes, and they were still very comfy, (but need a little length taking off the top edge). The only problem is, they make my waist about 2-3 inches lower than my old one, which means all my petticoats are too long, and my jackets are too short :( I think it's because my old stays are boned with steel, which doesn't have much give, so they couldn't bend over my hips properly, so instead flared out too high up, whereas the cardboard bends right where it needs to. I'm hoping that the reed will work in the same way, from what I gather from looking at all your stays it should. Anyway, here are some pictures!
I'm changing the angle of the centre front a little, making them smaller in the waist and bigger in the bust. After lots of to-ing and fro-ing I've decided to make them lace at the front and back. While I can lace myself into my back opening stays, it's quite a struggle sometimes, especially in a tent, and as I want to do more reenacting next year, and Mummy won't always be there, that's a definite issue!
I'm thinking I want to make them half boned, I'm planning to sew them by hand, and do not relish the idea of doing so many channels! so hopefully they won't stand up quite so well on their own as the cardboard ones do, otherwise I have no idea how I'll ever be able to pack them!!!!
I tried my blue and white pierrot jacket on over the cardboard stays, and it was horrifying :( the jacket wound up quite short waisted because of the problems I had lining up the stripes, and while that was not too bad with my old stays, these new longer waisted ones were quite dreadful. Then I tried on the new short gown that I haven't quite finished yet, and it too was far too short in the waist, but at least I can fix that, it's just a case of redoing the side seams with a lower waist and stitching the pleats down for a few more inches. By this time though I was terrified that all my clothes would be useless with the new stays, and not only would I have to make an entirely new wardrobe, but I'd never be able to wear my gorgeous sacks again. So I rushed upstairs to try on my spotted sack from last spring. Luckily, it's ok! the petticoat is too long and shows 3" below the gown skirts, but I never got round to finishing the top edge, so it's just a case of taking the waist-bands off and moving them down. Luckily because of all the waist-bands and ties round my waist, the slightly too short waist isn't really noticeable, and the fact my waist is a little bigger and my bust a little smaller in the new stays doesn't matter because of the ties in the back lining. So relieved!!!
Now I need to wait for the reed though, because until it's here I won't know how many layers to make them from. I'm using very pale pink linen for the outer layer, with canvas for strength and a loose linen lining, but I don't know if I need to use 2 layers of the canvas, or if the linen is strong enough on its own, nor if the reed will show through the pale linen and make it look funny. So I thought I'd do something else while I wait, something that doesn't need to fit! so either a cloak or a banyan I think :D
