Staying with the stays

Holy wow.  These stays have taken me so much longer than I thought they would.  But the binding is FINALLY all done (it does need pressing to help smooth out some crinkles here and there).  After a few practice eyelets, I just took the plunge and started poking holes.  I've done four of them so far, and I'm pretty happy with them!  With the wider boning channels, the eyelets are coming out fairly small, so unfortunately I don't think the awesome homespun/green ribbon I got will fit - or if it does, the ribbon will be all folded over itself and the sweet detail won't be visible.  I might just have to get a very narrow grosgrain or something.  Thankfully I can be more flexible with the color so it shouldn't be hard to find something I like (famous last words...)

If the stays have taught me anything, it's that I bit off a lot more than I could chew, so I put out an APB to sewing friends.  But as is so often the case with people who can actually sew, they have their plates full with their own projects for Halloween and other fall/winter costuming events, or they're costuming theater productions!  However, they have all been very generous with offering to lend me costume pieces and accessories, which lowers my sewing load,  and will help immensely with getting everything pulled together in time.  My friend Melissa (she of Dylan Fabrics) recommended a woman to make Ziva's "Nabby" dress, and it will be made from fabric gifted by another friend, who also resized a petticoat of her own for me to wear.  Costuming enthusiasts really look after each other!!

So now...pictures!

 Here's the cotton fabric for Ziva's "Nabby" gown, courtesy of my friend Agnes Gawne.  Isn't it so sweet??  There's blue in the fabric for my gown, so it goes nicely.

And here's the Larkin & Smith Gir's Gown pattern envelope.  The lady making it is going to have to size it down a bit, but she's comfortable doing that.  I delivered this pattern and fabric to her yesterday, and then tonight I discovered there's a Mill Farm pattern that starts at a smaller size.  The Larkin & Smith gets great reviews and came highly recommended, so rather than order that pattern and wait for it to arrive, I'll stick with the Larkin & Smith for this one, and maybe I will give the Mill Farm a try if I need another dress for Ziva in this period.  

Bottom binding done!  This is just one half but they're identical.  This was some fiddly stitching but I'm very proud of myself.

Center back eyelets marked out for spiral lacing.

Center front eyelets marked, also for spiral lacing.

Strap and bust peak eyelets marked (the strap comes over the shoulder and ties with the same ribbon as the front and back lacing).

First eyelet done. First of...62. Deep breaths.

  

A few random updates

This will be a short post, mostly just to show that I have finished stitching the bottom binding down to the front (brocade) side of one half of the stays.  It was really hard getting the binding to play nicely around all of those tabs (especially stitching in the really tight turns), but I started to get a good feel for it about halfway through, so I think the next one will go more quickly.  I am hoping to get the binding turned and stitched down to the coutil side tomorrow, plus the bottom binding on the other half.  Then I will "only" have the eyelets to sew, and I will finally be done with these stays.

In other news, the fabric for Abigail's gown arrived from India!!!  I feel like I should be writing this by hand in a letter rather than a blog post ;-)  I am really, really happy with it.  If you look at the image shown on the eBay auction compared to the pictures I took of it, there's a slight difference in the saturation of the colors, but that's to be expected both with different cameras and lighting and also with block-printing and dyeing by hand.  They also may have used a photo of a different batch of fabric, but they provided full disclosure that variations might occur in the course of the fabric production process.  It was a little nerve-wracking to place the order not really knowing for sure what it would like when it got here, but to me that's part of the thrill of using period-correct fabrics.

eBay auction photo

My camera with flash

My camera without flash

And honestly?  I actually prefer it slightly subdued.  The colors are still nice and bright, and I love love LOVE that it has three (possibly four?) unique colors in the design (which is much closer to extant examples than the monochrome scrolling floral designs you see nowadays).  The best part is that the reds are more pinky/rosy than orangey/red, because I think rosy/pinky reds are better with my complexion.

And because I realized I haven't shared this yet, here's a picture of the pattern I'm using for my gown.  Since I have 10 yards of this fabric (did I mention it was only $5.50/yd??), I'm wondering if it would be overly cutesy to use it for Ziva's "Nabby" dress also.  I'm sure it's historically accurate that if there were enough yardage left over after making mom's gown, it would be made up into clothing for the little ones.  And even if it's not, I think being in the same fabric might help visitors understand that we are portraying a family.  I will have to think about this one.  I don't think I have a whole lot of other options currently in my stash, and I don't want to purchase any more fabric for this project if I can possibly help it.

Stays are coming along

Wow, it's been almost two weeks since I posted.  But never fear, I have been steadily working on these stays and the finish line is in sight.  I had really hoped to get started on the eyelets by now, but at least I've moved on to binding!

In case anyone reading this blog doesn't know, at the end of February, I started working at a certain well-known community organization and workout facility (you might know its name best as the Village People song that is overplayed at weddings - if this seems like I'm being coy, it's because I think it's best to keep work and social media separate).  I work in the Child Watch area, where members can drop off their kids for a couple of hours while they use the facility).  Ziva comes with me to almost all of my shifts, and she can just play and hang out with the other kids while I'm working, which is great for both of us.  It's not a huge space, so she's happy that I'm nearby, and she'll occasionally check in, but she's usually keen to do her own thing.  That's really the best benefit of working there.  See, employees who work in other areas get 10 hours of Child Watch during their work shifts (whereas I get to have Ziva with me for all 25 hours if I want to), and then all of us get a discount on the daily or monthly rates to have their kids in Child Watch beyond those hours.  Also, employees get a free membership.  And with that membership comes things like swim classes, so I do a parent+child class with Ziva twice a week.  The kicker is, it's 2.5 hours after my shift ends, so I've just been paying for the day rate so she can keep playing and I get some uninterrupted sewing time.  Most of the other staff use their Child Watch hours for exercising - but you know, I'm just that special that I use it for handsewing 18th century stays. I wish I'd started using that time between work and swimming for sewing when I first began this project, because it's super cheap and an excellent use of time!  Ah well.

When I last blogged, I had just finished tracing down the boning channels.  Since then I have:

1) cut and rounded off my cable ties into 28 individual "bones" (all in different lengths, of course - it would have been far too easy if they were all uniform, right??)
2) inserted all of the bones
3) stitched binding by hand down to the top openings of both halves of the stays, and
4) trimmed the tabs at the bottom of the stays so they are rounded instead of squared.

I was going back and forth about that last one, because there are period examples with square and rounded tabs, but to me, rounded is a bit more aesthetically pleasing.  I was terrified to cut them because I'd already put so much work into these stays, but I lined up the two halves and pinned them together so even if I made little mistakes here and there, they'd at least be identical little mistakes!  I just have to keep reminding myself that binding hides a world of sins.

Now I just need to get the binding sewn down around all of those tabs, which will involve lots of futzing and squiggling around corners, but I think I can manage it.  Oh, and speaking of the binding, I was originally thinking of using binding and lacing ribbon in a coordinating but contrasting color like purple, but I couldn't find both binding and ribbon in the same matching shade (why don't these companies use the same dye lots???), so I ended up going with a perfectly matched green for the binding, and then I found this sweet sort of homespun ribbon in a kind of light linen color with - would you believe it - tiny little green accent stitches running down each side!  I couldn't resist.  I actually like that the binding is such a good match, because it's just one nice uniform background color, so I could switch out the lacing ribbon for something a little more flashy if I want to.

After the binding is complete, there will still be eyelets to sew by hand.  Probably about 60 of them.  Yeah, I bit off a lot with this whole project.  I'm going to be borrowing a lot of underpinnings and accessories, and I've hired someone to make a dress for Ziva as "Nabby."  The fabric for my gown hasn't arrived from India yet!  I just got word that it made it to New York, though, so it's at least in the country!

But now let's focus on the good stuff...pictures of my progress!!

Here's the package of cable ties - they're 36" long and 1/4" wide.  They were a little wider than I had expected, so I stitched the boning channels just a tad outside the edge of the lines I had traced.

Here's a cable tie cut down to the right length, and the top sort of shaved down and rounded off (I scraped it against very rough sandpaper, which you can see in the picture above) so it doesn't poke through the fabric.  I cut them with tinsnips, which made the job much easier!

BONED!  In the best possible sense, of course.  Eamon has been saying all along that it's no fun because the jokes are too easy to make.

Here's the boning shown from the coutil side.  You can see that it really gives the stays their structure.

And here's a closeup on the brocade side.  The channels are slightly raised.  

This is after stitching the binding down on the brocade side.  You can see how nicely the binding (which is cut on the bias, or the diagonal of fabric) curves around the shape of the top of the stays.  If it was cut on the straight grain it wouldn't stretch and be this flexible.

Here's the same thing from the coutil side, before folding the binding over and stitching it down.  This is all done by hand because it's too fiddly for the machine.  Not all of the stitches came all the way through, which is fine, it's all hidden anyway once the binding is folded down.  The bias is pre-folded and basically comes down right where it's supposed to on this side, so it's not like you need the hand stitches as a guide.  But dang it, I sewed by hand and I almost never do that, so please admire my hand stitching!!

The bias stitched down, shown from the brocade side.

And here's how it looks all stitched down from the coutil side.  It's a little wrinkly but pressing it should help.

This is a really minor detail, but if you look carefully at the bottom of the stays, this is after I rounded off the tabs rather than leaving them squared at the bottom.

Isn't this terrific for the lacing ribbon?? I just love that little hint of green. I'm sure it won't show (anyone who gets close enough to see it had better know me REALLY well), but I'll know it's there!

I did something!

Look, I cut things out!!  These are the pieces for the stays* that I cut out of cheap muslin so I can do a trial fitting before tackling my coutil.** I wanted to trace down the guidelines for the boning channels, but I had to stop here because I couldn't find any tracing chalk.*** I brought a lot of my sewing stuff with me to Connecticut last fall, so my best guess is that it's still in a box somewhere.  Grrrr!  So, this is the extent of my progress for now.  A friend of mine just opened a fabric store in downtown Bremerton, Dylan Fabrics, but like just opened, so she's still getting everything organized and on the shelves.  If she has tracing chalk in stock I will go tomorrow and get some (hooray for an alternative to JoAnn!!)

I am using the "Half-Boned Diderot Stays" pattern by Nehelenia Patterns, which I bought from (guess who?) Dylan Fabrics!  It's a pattern company that is new to me, so I'm excited to dive in.  I also bought the "Open Robe 1730-1760" pattern by the same company.  1760 is a tad early for this specific reenactment, but the Americas were slightly behind the Continent as far as fashions go.  The other thing I like about this pattern is that as an open robe, I can make a few different petticoats**** and switch them out,

Oh, and I almost forgot, I ordered fabric for my gown!  I got 10 yards of this block-printed fabric from India on eBay.  Even if I make the petticoat out of the same fabric, the gown won't require 10 yards, but it won't hurt to have extra in case of mistakes.  I'm a little nervous about when the fabric will arrive, since it's being shipped from India, but even if it's on the later side I should have plenty of time.  I have plenty to do until it gets here!

Here's a picture of the gentleman who portrays John Adams.  He's on the right.  On the left is, of course, the venerable Dr. Benjamin Franklin, with George Washington between them:

Photo credit: IL Martin

Doesn't the green in the fabric I bought match John's suit nicely?  I think it will be a good subtle nod to the fact that they are husband and wife.

Definitions, for those not familiar with sewing and historical costuming terms:

* Another word for a corset
** Coutil is a strong, heavy twill fabric used in corsetry.
*** Tracing chalk comes in one-sided sheets. You put a sheet face down on the fabric and run along the lines on the pattern piece with a marking wheel, and the chalk markings are transferred to the fabric.
**** In this era, "petticoat" referred not to the unseen garments that added shape and lift to the gown (that would be an underpetticoat!), but to the skirt made of fine fabric, intended to be seen in the opening of a split overgown.  It could be the same as the main gown fabric or pull one of the colors from the design of the fabric.

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!