I recently finished my 18th century stays!
My project began last September at a Burnley and Trowbridge workshop with the Colonial Williamsburg tailor, Mark Hutter, who helped us design a custom fit for our stays.
My pattern was based on the extant pink pair of stays found in Costume Close-Up that are in the CW collection, which were originally lavender, which makes my own lavender stays special.
After our three-day workshop we went home with a great understanding of the function, usage, design, and construction of stays.
ENDLESSLY STITCHING BONING CHANNELS
Then began the endless monotony of hand stitching the boning channels.
Stitching every spare moment I had, I even took my stitching to the CW Prelude to Victory a week later.
Throughout the fun weekend were various spare moments when I found an empy bench to stitch away.
And that is the secret for copiously stitching endless amounts of channels post haste.
On a side note, which number is greater?
The number of miles Washington’s soldiers marched from the north to arrive in Williamsburg for the siege on Yorktown, or the number of hand stitches in my stays?
BONING THE CHANNELS
During Superstorm Sandy I bunkered down in the family room to bone my channels, which I conquered in two days.
Because we had to take in so much of my stays, I had to have enormously skinny channels in some sections.
That created a huge challenge in whittling down the bones to about 1/8″.
I feared I’d never succeed at stuffing them, but it worked, and the channels are super strong. I’m quite impressed!
LOTS OF EYELETS
These stays definitely have the feel of the reproduction stays the CW tailor had at the workshop.
WORN TO B&T GOWN WORKSHOP
A couple of days later I returned to Williamsburg with the fruit of my labor, of the double time efforts for another Burnley and Trowbridge workshop, so I could have a silk gown draped upon me.
Here are my fairy godmothers fighting over the perfect draping decision, then the mantua maker arrived with her expertise hand.
Underneath the bodice are the stays, five weeks after my stays workshop!
Thinking the short turn around too short to conquer well, Rebecca encouraged me to pursue, and I’m glad I was able to take the workshop with her and Ashley.
Then I came home and laid my stays into the sewing basket due to numerous busy tasks of homeschooling and holidays.
LEATHER BINDING
By the end of January, I picked up my stays again, determined to complete the leather binding.
INNER LAYER YET TO BE SEWN
So, they are complete, apart from the inner layer, which I aim to pursue during spare minutes here and there.
Although I’m super impressed by the 18th century appearance of these, and the heavy structuring I recall from the ones at the workshop, they hurt.
Thinking it has something to do with the point needed at the tendon below each shoulder, I think they are too far over to the outside.
Sitting in modern seats like in cars or the theater are impossible, so now I know why straight backed seats were popular in the 18th century!
Odd that the back met side to side without a gap at the workshop, but now there is a massive gap.
Neither way is correct, but I mysteriously made both happen!
As much as I learned at that workshop, I fear I’m a slow learner!
