Finished Project: Gold and Blue Stays

So I finally finished these stays.  I never did manage to find just the right shade of blue/grey fabric for the bias binding and in the end I just gave in and went with a pale blue, otherwise they may never have been finished.

It doesn't matter how bendy your joints are, or even if you're a direct descendant of Houdini, getting in and out of back lacing stays is just too difficult without help.  So, I really wanted a front lacing pair of stays to be able to put them on myself without needing an assistant. 
 

I also made the straps front and back lacing for extra prettiness.

I love stay-making, it's so theraputic and satisfying to see them come together, so much to entertain the eye.

New project - Gold and blue stays!

I got about half way through my pink stays and decided that I wanted to make another pair that were front lacing and richer in colour.  I chose a gold patterned fabric from my stash for the outer and a pale blue linen for the lining.

I have utilised the same 'Corsets and Crinolines' pattern from my pink stays but I have cut up the centre front.  The front will have eyelets which meant I needed to rearrange the placement and direction of the bones slightly.

This is the lining of one the front panels.  In order to maintain the effectiveness of the shaping around the bust, after slicing up the centre front, I put in this extra layer of bones with gaps for the eyelets.

The finished back panels.

A close up of the fabric.

I have been hunting high and low for just the right shade of blue for the bias binding to finish it off but as yet I havn't found what I'm looking for.  The quest continues.............

Finished project - pink 18th Century stays.

The stays are all done and poor old Claudia was promptly dragged out into the garden and crammed into them.  Actually, I didn't think she'd fit at all because she is so 'un-squishy' but they laced up really well around her.

 All of the boning channels and seams are sewn by machine, the bias binding to finish off all the raw edges was done by hand.

The stays from the back - I used metal eyelets.

The straps tie together at the back with ribbons throught the eyelets.

These were so fun to make, so much fun in fact that I'm already embarking on another set of stays.  This time I'm going for a richer colour palette with front and back lacing.

18th Century stays - in progress.

I have started a new project - a set of half boned stays.  I was so engrossed in the sewing of them that I forgot to take photos until I had finished most of the boning. I used the 1780 pattern from 'Corsets and Crinolines' by Norah Waugh which is a bit of a headache to scale up as it's not on a grid on the page.  Once I had my paper pattern I cut out a calico toile just to check the fit. 

This is one half of the stays in my yummy pastel pink fabric.  I confess - its curtain fabric and the lining is a dusky pink chintz. Furnishing fabric shops are my new obsession.  I guess it's because the patterns and colours are better suited to historical fashion, plus they are nice and strong - ideal for stays. I am using cable ties for the bones - a fabulous tip I picked up from American Duchess.  Rather irritatingly, I bought a bunch of 36 thinking it would be plenty and I was 3 short....grrrrrrrr!!!

All the panels are sewn together.

The inside of the stays.  From here I need to find or make some delicious bias binding to finish all the edges and whack in some eyelets.