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.............