Featherlite boning is of the very devil

Seriously.  I just finished boning one half of my stays mockup. This is basically "before" and "after" - on the left is the unboned half.  On the right, the boning has mangled the muslin into a curled up mess.

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!

Costuming stuff! Much to do and not a lot of time to do it!

As you may or may not know, last summer I portrayed Abigail Adams in an all-female production of "1776" put on by Reboot Theatre Company, Twelfth Night Productions, and Seattle Musical Theatre.  It was Reboot's inaugural show, and by all accounts a resounding success.  As a co-producer, I contributed funds as well as time and sewing know-how, assisting our amazing, talented costumer Barbara Klingberg. She did all of the designing, I just watched in awe and stitched whatever she gave me to stitch!  She churned out 24 historically correct and beautiful men's suits (cut for women's bodies) - that's breeches, waistcoats and frock coats - plus two elaborate and intricate gowns, one for me and one for Martha Jefferson!  All of this had to be made from scratch because, well, no one had done this before!  As a thank-you for my assistance, Barb gifted me my costume.

And now we're up to speed!  So, last month, I attended the Northwest Colonial Festival in Port Angeles at the beautiful George Washington Inn and Lavender Farm (check it out, it's such a beautiful location!).  I went with a couple of other ladies who are involved in a group called Somewhere in Time, Unlimited - historical costuming enthusiasts covering just about every era that sponsors some events and sends out regular notices about other groups' events as well (there tends to be a lot of overlap with membership in the other groups).  I wore my Abigail Adams costume, and at the afternoon tea we met John Adams and Benjamin Franklin!  The men were both wonderful interpreters and, as we were all also costumed, they set aside the roles for a few moments to talk shop with us (one of the ladies I went with had been Martha Washington the previous year).  John and I exchanged lines from "1776" and very nearly broke out in song.  It was lots of fun!  We took some pictures and chatted some more and they went off to finish out the day.

Well, what this is all leading to is that the gentleman portraying John Adams (who is about to play him in "1776" for the third time) told me about an upcoming event in Phoenix, AZ called Rebels and Redcoats (which goes November 4-6) and he wants me to come and participate and be Abigail!  He's hoping to get me a travel stipend to cover some of the costs of getting there.  Ziva can even come along and be "Nabby," the Adams's first daughter.

All that is to say - I've got a lot of sewing to do in a little less than two months!  As amazing as my costume was for the show, it would need a lot of alterations to make it authentic enough for living history interpretation, so if I'm going to put in the work, I might as well just start from the ground up.  I don't have a shift or stays (the costume had boning in the bodice, making it sort of stays-gown combination) so I will need to make those as well as a gown (and a pocket, if I'm feeling ambitious).  I have the cap I wore for the show, but I need to style a wig.  I also hope to make Ziva a shift and dress and accessories.  I've set up a Pinterest page with some fabric swatches as well as pictures of mothers and children and families to get an idea of how little ones were dressed, and it's kind of all over the place.  Some portraits show the children (sons and daughters) in almost Regency-esque chemise dresses with wide sashes, and others show the more typical 18th century shape - a bodice with a rounded point at the bottom and skirt gathered or pleated to it.  I think I'm going to try to replicate the latter.  But as far as I can tell, most commercial "colonial" patterns for children are of the "prairie" variety, so I'm going to make my first attempt at creating my own pattern for actual clothing.  Like, I've thrown together some pieces of fabric to make caps and aprons, but never for garments.  I'm starting small...literally!!

And finally, I will be blogging this whole project 1) to keep track of my progress and 2) so that I am accountable to myself and to you, dear readers!  I make a lot of ambitious plans and then lose steam, and I am determined not to let that happen.  Feel free to subscribe so you get an update whenever I put up a new post, and follow along!