Stays Projects

Stays!

Currently I am sewing 4 pairs of Revolutionary War era stays using the J.P. Ryan Stays Pattern. I will make a stays pattern similar to these based on an original from the Colonial Williamsburg collection to use when I reproduce stays to sell. These four pairs of stays have been cut out and ready to sew for some time, so I decided to finally finish them.

Pink Silk Stays Interior

These have been Boned with Half Oval Reed. I still need to sew Eyelets, Apply the Ivory Linen Lining, and Bind the Edges. I think I'll use the same Pink Silk for the binding.


Making stays is much easier than it looks. Sewing the channels is simple once you figure out how wide they need to be. Adding the Reed boning is time consuming but not difficult.

Green Silk Damask Stays

These are for my mother to wear under her silk J.P. Ryan Pet en lair.

Blue Cotton Stays

These are for my mother to wear when she does Open Hearth Cooking.

Green Linen Stays

This fabric was from the Silly Sisters Stays Kit, which I would highly recommend. The Linen fabrics were top quality and for a beginner it's an excellent place to start. The Half Oval Reed was included in the kit. Metal boning needed to be purchased separately from Farthingales.

What Color should I bind these Green Linen Stays in?

These stays were boned with Half Oval Reed. This was my first time using reed in stays and so far I have been very satisfied with the results. It was easy to slip in the channels and trim. On a past pair of Stays I used Plastic Cable Ties and plan to use them again for the Green Silk Damask stays. It seemed that the Reed was far less expensive than the Cable Ties and I remember having more difficulty getting the Cable Ties into the channels. I used two Cable Ties per channel. I was happy with the results, but as the Reed seems less expensive and easier to handle I will likely use that in the future.