Diderot Stays

 

 

School is finally out for the summer. I took a quick trip to visit my parents for Mother's Day, and now I'm home again and hard at work. One project for this summer is creating a pair of stays for a fashion show that I will be doing in Lancaster at an encampment at Rock Ford Plantation: Revolutionary Rock Ford. The fashion show will exhibit reproduction clothing from the working to upper classes, showing the changes in fashion, garment styles, and fabrics used for each level of society.

I will be creating a pair of stays using the pattern for the Diderot stays. To create the pattern, I simply took the graphed pattern in 'Corsets and Crinolines' by Norah Waugh to the copier and blew it up until it was the correct size. I'll admit, I had actually never done this before. It was easier than I had imagined.

I just created a pair of stays using this pattern for a production of 'The Rivals' that will debut at Carnegie Mellon University in the fall. Those stays were made from two layers of coutil, 1/4" steel boning, and a layer of beautiful off-white duchess silk satin as the face fabric. They will be bound in a contrasting color. I was inspired by the two originals pictured above. I would like to do fancy ties and bright binding (or possibly piping since these are theatrical) or something similar to the delicate work on the stomacher of the blue stays.

For my reproduction version I plan to use two layers of coutil (not authentic to the period, but coutil is excellent for supportive undergarments). I purchase my corset supplies from corsetmaking.com.

I'm toying with the idea of experimenting with cable ties on this pair of stays, but I prefer to use 3/16" wide cable ties that I already have in my stash. I like the idea that the stays would be lighter than steel boned stays, but I'm afraid that the cable ties will be too flexible. There is, of course, the option of doubling them, but that creates a thick bone...probably not what I want. I purchased the steel boning and will experiment more when my supplies arrive.

The face layer of the stays will be silk. I have a lovely silk damask that I may use. One half-boned stays, the boning channels did not show, for aesthetic reasons, so I plan to layer my silk over the coutil layers once the boning channels are sewn.

There are several useful articles on the marquise.de site regarding stays and their construction.

I'll be sure to post more updates as I begin constructing my stays!



Some other items on my sewing room table for this summer...
Regency Spencer
Regency Cotton Dress
1860s Corset
Civil War Silk Dress with Day and Evening Bodices
1889 Red Silk Dress
1770s Bum Pad
1770s Blue Silk Dress
and more!

Completed Stays!

Recently I completed a pair of silk 18th c. stays for a customer. Check out pictures on her lovely website here. If you like beautiful 18th century costumes then you'll love looking through pictures of the fun excursions that she and her husband go on together - what a wonderful couple!

Lovely Corsets

LOVELY corsets...

Inspiring Bodices

Here are a few BEAUTIFUL and INSPIRING bodices and corsets that I'm loving...

18th Century Stays

Here is one of the pairs of 18th Century Stays that I made last Spring. I used the J.P. Ryan Strapless Stays pattern. I would love to try out her new 18th Century Half Boned Stays Pattern!

This pair of stays was made using Pink Silk with Linen lining. I used both Reed and Metal boning.

I am also wearing my linen shift made using a pattern that I drafted myself.

Finished Stays

The Green Linen Stays are Completed!

The top fabric is a Green Linen and the lining a Black and White Striped Linen. There is one layer of Canvas. The channels were sewn to the Green Linen and Canvas by machine and the reed and metal stays inserted. The eyelet holes were then sewn by hand using an awl. It really was easier than you would expect. The Lining was then pinned and tacked in place, and the 3/4" Ivory Leather Strips (Cut from a thrifted skirt) were sewn by hand around the edges. This was the hardest part. I found it difficult to get the leather to lie flat without puckering. I thought the leather was light enough because it was a garment weight leather, but maybe a kid leather would have been slightly more easy to sew with. This last step definitely requires the use of a thimble. ;)

More info on the stays in my earlier post about sewing them!
HERE

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.