This stuff is evil!! It comes packaged rolled up into a tight coil and even though I rolled individual pieces around my hand in the opposite direction, AND stitched them down alternating the curl, it refuses to straighten out. So what's my solution? I have all these massive reference books on costuming. Turns out they are not just weighty with knowledge, they are also weighty with weight. I hope these flatten out the boning a little bit so I can actually test whether these stays will fit me!!
See, the measurements give for size medium are pretty darn close to my own, but it really is best to try it out with a cheap fabric I don't care about before I go cutting into the pretty stuff. And speaking of the pretty stuff, here is the fabric I'll be using for the stays. On the left is the coutil. There's really nothing that exciting about coutil, it's just a heavy weight, stiff fabric, about half as thick as those canvas bags you have to keep buying at the grocery store because you left your reusable bags at home AGAIN. They have those helpful "Did you bring your bags?" signs in the parking lot, but I actually need one at the end of my driveway.
Sorry, where was I?
Ah, yes. To decide what to use for the outer fabric of the stays, I consulted with my friend Rebecca Maiten, who is a very accomplished seamstress and historical costumer (her website and the link to her Etsy shop is here: Lady Rebecca Fashions). She steered me away from a printed cotton I was thinking of using, and said that out of the fabrics I already had in my stash, this olive green brocade would be the best choice for the period. It's a teeny bit lighter in person than in this picture (taken with my phone, because my stupid camera eats up battery power and gave up the ghost) but this is a pretty good representation of it. The pattern calls for steel boning, but that is apparently completely wrong, so again on Rebecca's recommendation, I have purchased a package of cable ties - like, industrial plumbing cable ties. They are apparently the best modern alternative to whalebone, which is what would have been used in the 18th century (hence the term, boning). I remembered reading a dress diary by Jessamyn Reeves-Brown in which she discussed using cable ties for a Renaissance corset. So while her gown was based on styles two centuries older than what I'm making, late 18th century dresses still emphasize an upside-down conical bodice shape that requires light but firm boning, unlike the very curvy corsets that used flexible spiral boning in the late 19th century to nip in the waist.
Now I just need to bone the other half of the mockup, wait for it to flatten (grrrr!), check the fit, and make adjustments to the boning channel placement. The cable ties and sandpaper (to smooth down the ends, after cutting them to the necessary lengths) will arrive from Amazon on Tuesday. THEN I will be able to make my stays, a shift, a pocket, at least one underpetticoat, and my gown. Plus I need to style a wig for myself and make a shift and a dress for Ziva. Y'know, that's all. I already have a bum roll (a doughnut-shaped pillow that sits on the hips to fluff out the gown) which was part of my "1776" costume, so that's one thing off my list of to-dos! Thanks again, Barb!
No comments:
Post a Comment