1780's stays - finally finished (Updated!)

So I finally finished my new 1780's stays. At first I stated sewing these like crazy but I don't know why I got so lazy by the time I had added the first two panels of the lining so that it took me a couple of months to add the rest. 

And some new photos of the stays when worn.

Now the back lacing closes completely again but it's really comfortable with about 2-3 cm gap between the back edges.

Each tab was lined separately and the rest of the panels were added after that.

I'm quite happy with the binding. It has got visible stitches on the right side even if you can't tell from the photo below. Though I think a narrower part of the binding tape should be seen on the right side. The tape  is also double fold bias tape because I couldn't find twill tape earlier. Later on, after I had already added the binding to these stays I found some twill tape that will be used for the next stays. 

Now I kind of feel like making yet another pair of stays. The shape isn't as curved as I wished it was and I want to use that twill tape I've got now. Also, I'm thinking about covering those metal eyelets with thread so that it would look more accurate or even try to find some metal rings of which I was talking about in an earlier post. And front lacing would also probably be more practical... I haven't been able to sew much lately and won't be at least for a month anyway because I'm just about to graduate in the beginning of June and I'm really busy finishing some stuff for school at the moment. So don't expect to hear much from me until then.

IMATEX is working again

It's been a while since my last post on the stays. I actually sewed the binding already a long time ago but now I've got two panels of the lining left to sew to the underside of the stays and then I'll be finished. I hope to do it next weekend, if not earlier. Anyhow, I thought I should write a post about IMATEX here because I just noticed it's working again! I don't know if it has been for some time already or if you all have noticed it before but here's a link to the page. It's great the English search actually works as well!

If you get on the login page at first, click on the accedir com usuari extern and change the language into English on the lower left corner of the page. After that, click on the Imatex link on the left and search link will appear underneath. On the search options I've chosen "Thesaurus" and searched with the word "18th century" for most records of the period. If you're not so particularly interested in pieces of fabrics, you can simply go to page about 50 and you'll find pictures of whole outfits and garments there. The search is a bit slow, actually, but what's great is that the zoom is really great bacause you can take a very close look at the garments.

Happy searching! 

Another pair of stays in progress

In an earlier post I mentioned that I had already picked another pattern for my own 1780s stays and now I've started to work on the second pair to which I'm going to make all the cahnges needed. I already had a pair of stays which fitted me quite well but those had unfortunately began to look really worn so I drafted a new pattern from the old pattern. I didn't base the pattern on any stays in particular but on several 1780s stays on the internet. The stays probably look the most like this pair:

Stays ca. 1780 from the MET

I realized I had never posted pictures of my old stays on this blog so here's the pair I was talking about above. I wish they still looked as good as they used to... This was a surprisingly well fitting pair of stays, actually, because I couldn't do the fittings that well when I made these two years ago.The only problem was that they pushed my waist down because I have a short back so they were a bit uncomfortable.

I managed to put the new stays together really quickly and I had the chance to try them on on Friday. This was the result:

Due to the stretching of the fabric, they were slightly too big and the edges met in the back even though I had planned the usual 5cm gap when drawing the pattern. Unfortunately it seems I forgot to take photos of the back view during the first fitting.... Anyway, I removed two bones, one on each side panel (see the photo above in the middle) and took in the seams where I could. I also added more curve to the sides of the front panels to archieve a better curved figure of the 1780s. I did the second fitting today and was happy with the results, even though the gap in the back is still a bit less than 5cm.

Notice the difference in the curve, compared to the photos of the first fitting...?

 

This time I remembered to take pictures of the back as well. The edges don't meet perfectly evenly because I had to lace myself in the stays by myself. Next time I'll take pictures when my partner is at home so it'll be easier.

Tomorrow I'm heading off to town to get some binding tape so that I can finish these during this week. I'm on vacation so it means I have the time to make it if I just pull myself together to have the patience with it. Oh, and I'm also going to be looking for a new sewing machine. The one that I have now is a cheap one and I fear it will break down any time, which would be terrible because it's borrowed from my grandmother. I really need my own machine anyway.

P.S. You may have noticed that cat in one of the photos :) It seems there's a craze for sewing cats on costume blogs so I guess I'll have to give my two sewing cats their own post some day... Because they just love to "help" me with my sewing and always sneak into the photos... They're adorable.

Mitts mock-up and my little sewing corner

I started making the pattern for my mitts on Friday and sewed the mock-up yesterday and here's the result:

The thumb part ended up a bit too long but it was easy to fix. After making a couple of changes to the pattern, I began with the embroidery pattern today. However, it ended up too complicated so I need to make another one. It's not too complicated to make, really, but I want a more simple one for my first mitts. So I'm going to save the embroidery pattern for another pair that I plan to make in white some day.

The weekend was quite busy and I was happy to finally organize and clean my sewing corner that I have quite selfishly taken over in our bedroom. This is where I work at the moment:

While dreaming of my own sewing room, it's nice to have this little area for myself in our small apartment...

A new find from Saturday (above). It's really nice to have things divided into small boxes so I can easily find what I'm looking for while I'm working at the table. This isn't exactly what I was looking for but I thought I could paint and decorate it some day because I couldn't find a prettier one. I've been searching for something like this for ages so when I came across this one I simply had to get it.

Some of my history and costume books... Some borrowed, most of them my own.

A couple of stash boxes. I couldn't find space for them in the walk-in closet... And that's my old lap top on top of them, along with the black wool that I intend to use for the mitts.

I've got stash here and there, everywhere around the apartment...

Pair of garters 1780 - Finished!

So, I just finished the garters this morning! Yay!

Since I have another day off today and plenty of spare time during the weekend as well, I'm already planning what to sew next. I just found some leftover pieces of black wool in my stash and I'm thinking about making embroidered mitts. I also need a neckerchief and a cap... We'll see what I come up with next! But because I can't afford to get much new fabrics at the moment, I'm going to be making some accessories, that's for sure.

Pair of garters 1780 - work in progress (again)

Some time ago, while browsing on Victoria & Albert Museum's database, I found this lovely pair of garters. I was so inspired by their dramatic, yet romantic slogan that I decided to make them. Usually I've just worn white modern socks (under-knee length) because I never had the patience to make such a simple article of clothing - that won't be much seen anyway - on my own but now I really want to make a pair of socks to go with the garters. This is also a perfect pair of garters because I've decided to make proper undergarments for 1780s costumes and these are from that decade as well.

Pair of Garters, ca. 1780, V& A

I drew the garters up on a paper a few weeks ago and while I was embroidering my 1890s corset (it's almost finished! Yay!) yesterday I felt like I should keep on going so I also picked up the garters and finally started making them. Here's the pattern I made for them:

Embroidered so far...

These were the colors I already had and tomorrow I'm going to get some more threads to do the rest of the embroidery work...

Woah, I'm actually amazed by the amount sewing I've done in the past two months. I usually work in short periods of time and I might have a few months break in between but now I've been sewing like mad for longer than I usually do. I guess it's one of those rare periods when I get a lot done. Also, note to my dear readers, because of taking long breaks from sewing from time to time there might be long breaks on blogging, too, even if I'm posting quite a lot at the moment...

Hand-bound lacing holes or metal eyelets? + More stays progress

In the 18th century the lacing holes would be hand bound with thread and that's how I've used to do it on my stays. But lately I've started to consider if I should use metal eyelets because the hand-bound holes have stretched and ripped after two years of using my former stays and now I wish my future stays to stay neat as long as possible. I've been debating whether it's more important for me to have historically accurate lacing holes or the stays last for longer and haven't yet come to a decision. I know it doesn't really matter as much when I have machine-sewing seen as when I don't have it seen and right now the machine sewing is visible on the outside of the new 1780s stays so I'm starting to think I could go for the metal eyelets.

Here's my list why I should use either:

Metal eyelets:
-last longer
-durable
-quicker to attach
-not historically accurate

Hand-bound lacing holes:
-historically accurate
-look prettier (that's just my opinion)
-stretch and rip over time

Conclusion could be to use metal rings to strengthen the lacing holes. Yesterday I discovered that it's also historically accurate. Here's my rough translation from Underkläder by Britta Hammar and Pernilla Rasmussen:

"... to make the (lacing) holes more durable you could strengthen them with a piece of leather. Another option was to sew in metal rings around the hole between the layers of the stays or on the right side - a method that is used, for example, in the two stays of Malmö Museum's collection."

There are also pictures of these two stays in the book but I couldn't find them on the Internet... However, since I'm going to make another stays after I've finished the ones I'm sewing right now, I'm probably going to try out the metal rings on the next ones and go with the metal eyelets this time.We'll see about it later.

So, after I had sewed the pieces of the stays together, I stitched the seam allowances flat to the underside and also stitched the seams by hand on the inside to make the stays even more durable.

After that, it was finally time for the metal eyelets. I'm really pleased with my choice, in the end.

Now, this also isn't a historically accurate way to do the lining, but I've always preferred to sew the lining under the binding because I think it looks more finished and prettier that way and because these stays aren't going to be worn every day so I doubt the lining won't have to be changed.

I got to try these on and like I had assumed, they were indeed far too big. I drew the pattern back in September and have lost weight since. It doesn't matter, though, because these will be sold anyway when finished. 

Next up: the binding... Don't we all just love that part with the tabs...