Tuesday, March 18, 2014

18th Century Stays for Historical Sew Fortnightly Bodice Challenge

This is going to be a 'quick and dirty' blog post because I'm in a rush. I finished these for the most part last weekend and didn't get a chance to post the picture. Stays or Pair of Bodies, is just the older term for corset. (essentially, for the layman, I'm sure there are costume historians that would have more information). These were completed for the Historical Fortnightly Challenge #5: Bodice. I made mine from Reconstructing History's 1740's to 1790's downloadable ePattern.

The back is supposed to have a 2 inch gap, but I just keep losing too much darn weight

The original pattern had a back closure only, but it's virtually impossible to fasten by myself. Since my ladies maid quit in a huff after I asked her to stop boffing the stable boy, I've had to dress myself.I cut the front down the middle and added lacing, so I can get it on without help.
This photo makes me want to yodel
The stays are made from Silk Dupioni on the outside with linen interlining. I bound the edges with pre-made bias tape (cheater!) and the bones are all 1/4 inch cable ties. These are not historically correct of course, but whales are so hard to catch these days and they don't give up there bones easily.

4 comments:

  1. That looks fantastic, I will try to keep the bones from the next whale I harpoon.

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    1. It's always good to have you own private whale rassler.

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  2. Ladies maid quit...tee hee. I remember one event I went to where I was having all kinds of problems with my dress. My hair wouldn't stay up, I forgot to tie up so ribbons so they were dangling in all the photos, the linen had wrinkled terribly and so on. I kept blaming my ladies maid's drinking problem.

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    Replies
    1. Good help is so hard to find and I hate when they don't share

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