A quick-n-easy way to store pre-cut corset boning is... not what I'm supposed to be working on right now.

Getting ready for a big costuming con is always a maddening thing.  It seems like the to do list gets more things added to it than get crossed off.  And my attention flits from one project to another so often that I feel like I'm always working, and yet never getting anything all the way done.  Plus, I never get around to taking the time to take any good pictures, so even the stuff I'm getting done doesn't get shown off.  I suppose that when I'm quiet around here is probably when I'm getting the most things done.  I just can't seem to share any of it until after the con has come and gone.

The Sunday breakfast at Costume College has a Regency theme this year, and my only Regency piece was a ballgown.  So, something new had to be made.  And with the ballgown I wore a pair of wholly inadequate short stays, so new stays were on the docket.  And a new chemise.  And perhaps a day cap.  Ok, so I was building an entirely new outfit from scratch.  My sanity is clearly in question.  Here, have some ridiculous fitting pics to giggle at.  The chemise is straightforward, and the cap is exactly as ridiculous as I intended.  Once I get a nice, clear photo of it, I'll put it up on the Historical Sew Fortnightly group for the Accessories challenge.

Collapsing bust cups.  Not groovy, yo.  I went back and put some corded channels over the bust to give a bit of added shape, then put in an additional boning channel.  Not extending over the hips made the stays super comfortable and way easier to fit.  Back looks good, except for the boning is too long going into the straps.  I either need shorter boning, or I need to learn to hold my shoulders back, because when I pull them back, it looks fine.  An extra snug bodice on the dress might aid me in that respect, but I might try to shorten the bones, anyway.

Anywho, so of course, my brain decides to take a little detour on a a quick-and-easy side project that: fit an immediate need, used up a bit of stash and was started and a finished in a matter of hours, making me feel like I'm at least accomplishing something.  While trying to figure out what boning lengths I had and what I needed to order, my frustration level with my current mode of storage for corseting bits reach critical mass.

Seemed like a good idea at the time, but hella hard to dig out the lengths I'm looking for.

The concept came from the ideas for rolled up storage of knitting needles and crochet hooks that I've come across over time.  There are no pictures of the pieces, but it's pretty straight forward.  Cut two rectangles of the cotton canvas left over from the stays project; wide enough for one inch per number of differing lengths of boning I'm likely to have on hand and tall enough to accommodate my longest bones, plus a few inches for seams and wiggle room.  Lay the two pieces on top of each other.  For the top piece, cut it in half at an angle, on a line drawn between marks 2 inches shorter than the shortest and longest bones.

Bind the angle cut side of the 'top' piece with bias tape from the Grandma stash.  Lay canvas pieces together and sew 1 inch channels through both pieces.  Lift the needle and skip over the top of the channels, but go ahead ans sew across the bottoms.  They're going to get bound, anyway.  Cut the loose threads at the top of the channels on the right side of the project, but...

Leave the threads on the back of the project in place to prevent unraveling.

Sewing across the bottom of the channels, within the 1/2" seam allowance of the binding.

Lay the two layers of cotton on top of a fashionable outer fabric and sew
together with binding around all four sides

Add a ribbon to one edge for securely tying the rolled case.

And the genius moment, use up the leftover bits of bias tape by making a loop for hanging and...

Viola!  Store hanging up to keep boning from sliding out and free up space in the drawer.

You like that striped yellow cotton?  Me too.  I picked it up from the Scrap Swap at Figments & Filaments this year.  The other 5 3/4 yards of it is getting made into the Regency day dress that goes with the foundations pictured above.  I like how the projects pair up like that.  Makes me smile.

Faking it: stockings for the 18th century costume

There was some conversation over on the Historical Sew Fortnightly group about symmetricals (padded stockings: if you're interested in them, Leimomi has a terminology post all about them).  I had joked that these were one of the only historical garments that I would have no use for, seeing as how my legs come with quite enough padding on their own.  Enough for me have a fun cheat to share with you.  I've just in the last year started making 18th century costumes.  Prior to that, the Victorian was fairly forgiving about what sort of stockings that I wore as my legs and ankles were always covered by high boots and long skirts.  But that Victorian sense of modesty didn't exist in the 1700s.  Skirts were higher and shoes were made for showing off.  Enter the need for stockings.

Now, sources for authentic stockings certainly exist, but they're not cheap and thus far seem to all be too small for my thunder thighs to fit in to.  To get around this, I bought a pair of opague white nylon tights for $2.50 a pair.

 Ok, so I bought 8 at a post-CoCo Target run, but only after I figured out it worked.

Lay the tights out and you'll see (or maybe you won't, it's kinda hard to photograph) that there's a narrow band of heavier knit at the top of the thigh going into the briefs portion that acts as a bit of a control top. 

I found that if I cut the leg of the stockings off inside this band, they tended not to unravel.

I put them on and stretched them all the way up to the thigh, then let
them unroll naturally until they fell just below the knee.

There And the best part was... they STAYED UP!  All by themselves.  I may eventually make myself a shiny pair of garters to wear with them, but thus far it was totally not needed.  All through a night of dancing at the Costume College gala and they didn't once slip down.  It probably helps that the tights were a size (or two) smaller than what I would have gotten were I planning to wear the full things.

 Geri caught me shaking my paniers to Sir Mix-a-lot, thus proving that I really did make those stockings work.

Next up, I'll have to figure out a way to fake some clocking on a few pairs.  I've seen both painting and embroidery used for such a purpose, but I have no idea where I'll find me a set of feet willing to sit still while the paint dries.

Halloween Cosplay: Jessica Rabbit

I'm pretty sure this costume started out as a joke about my bff V's endless legs.  She eventually bought into the idea and a new cosplay was born.  We choose NOT to make an attempt at recreating the character's frankly ludicrous proportions, as I wanted it to be flattering to V's body as is, not a boobs joke.

We chose a supportive and formed strapless bra and whatever that gives V in the chest is what she's going to have.

 

 

 

 

This project was my first experience with draping.  I started by taking V's measurements in the bra, then putting the bra on a dress form and doing the pining there.  Note to self, straight pins are easier on the dress form, but transferring that mockup to a warm body without injury to one or both parties is nigh on impossible. 

 

We traded the stick pins out for safety pins as I adjusted the fit on V's body.  I used a sharpie to trace all of the dart and seam lines, then the pins were removed and a line of best fit was drawn in before the mockup was loosely assembled with a basting stitch on the machine.

Basting the mockup to the bra cups for a final fitting.

I ended up shifting the darts over the bra cup a bit so that the darts above and below the breast would be along the same line.  I tried to leave a 1" seam allowance on all edges for wiggle room, but I ended up not having that in all places. Luckily, the 1/2" that I'm wanting to have on the final pattern was available and the rest of the seams were trimmed to match that. The dress will close at center back with a zipper, over the bra closure. The seams for this were folded back and stitched down and a small dart/box pleat was placed at the bottom of the zipper space so that the entire back can be cut from one piece.

 

For fabrics, my honey picked out a sparkly red stretch that was just perfect.  I was really glad not to have to bother with sewing through sequins and V was infinitely glad I talked myself out of the red glitter pleather (Gods, would that have been stuffy).  This way, the sparkle will go all the way into the seams without broken pieces or missing sequins. The fabric is also pretty forgiving when it comes to depth perception, so V ought to be able to go without any torso shaping garments. Yay for comfort.

 

I'd left the red fabric hanging on a hanger for about a month so that whatever damage gravity is going to do can be done with (also as a motivation/reminder to be getting on with the project).  This had the added bonus of relaxing out the folds from spending two years in storage.  I was terrified of the thought of trying to iron the fabric, or even apply steam to those wafer thin shiny plastic disks.  Luckily, gravity did the trick and the folds are gone.  I'm thinking (hoping?) that the difference in stretch between lining and fashion layer won't be an issue as the only places where the fabrics will be sewn together will be around the top of the bra, along the right side seam at the slit, and along the hem.

 

The dress is lined with a simple lavender polyester lining that I pulled out of the discount pile at one of the store in New York's fashion district.  The bolt had been standing near a window long enough that one end suffered from sun discoloration.  But for <$2/yd, their loss was my gain.  The narrow panels of the dress made it super easy to work around the damaged bits.

 

 

We had to get some sheer-to-waist panty hose, as that thigh slit is pretty deep.  The gloves were white nylon and picked up at the party store for around $10.  I lucked out and had a pair of red heels that fit collecting dust in the closet.

V as Jessica Rabbit, with her roommate dressed up as Roger.



Wigs don't last terribly long with this one, I'm afraid.  But Roger loves his carrot cake enough not to mind.

Overall, I think the dress looked fairly nice.  I underestimated how much the red fabric would stretch and, as a result, the back closure was a little loose.  V could only hook the bra on the first set of hooks and said that it made the whole thing feel a bit insecure.  I went back and ripped out the stitches that attached the dress to the bra strap in the back and am deepening the back darts.  This should allow her to hook it on the tightest setting and feel a bit more secure.  I love that her roommate latched onto the notion of playing Roger, as I thought this was a fantastic costume for pairs when the woman is significantly taller than the man.  He even brought a carrot cake!

HSF #23: Generosity and Gratitude - the 1770s Stays

Historical Sew Fortnightly's Challenge #23: Generosity and Gratitude, Due November 18

From our Challenger: Celebrate the generosity of spirit and willingness to help others that makes the historical sewing community great, and give credit and thanks to those who have contributed to our collective knowledge without expecting payment in return. Make anything that fits the general HSF guidelines, and utilizes research, patterns, and tutorials that have been made available for free. Be sure to acknowledge all the sources that have helped you to create your item.

Well, I've been working on a pair of late 18th century stays since the spring and when this challenge was announced, I just knew that I had to apply these to it.  I already had a collection of articles and websites that I was using to get started. Actually, it was this challenge that was partially responsible for inspiring me to start blogging about costuming, so thank you to Leimomi for the nudge in the right direction.  I rely so heavily on the knowledge and experience of those willing to take the time to tell the internet about their costuming, I thought it was about time I make an effort at paying it forward.



Yikes!  Those can't be mine.  I don't know where they came from.

I'll start by offering a super huge THANK YOU to the following people for what
- sasosiserinde also used the same pattern I was using and it was nice to see it put together. The little notes one where she ran into problems with working directly from the pattern were helpful when I was getting ready to do the same steps. http://www.marariley.net/stays/staysinstructions.htm - Some useful construction notes.
- There is a SUPER detailed set of instructions on marquise.de that cover the process from start to finish. I found this site most helpful when I was making adjustments to the pattern pieces to get a fit that would work better for my body.
- Brocade Goddess has an excellent follow along to someone's recreation project. Super detailed and with lot of notes as to why things needed to be done a certain way, or of a certain material. Might have been the post that convinced me that I just wasn't interested in binding my stays with leather, after all.
- Isis Wardrobe did some lovely embroidery that I think I'll try to imitate at some point, as I forgot to sew ribbon/bias over my construction seams before sewing on the binding and I'd really like to do something to hide that machine top-stitching.
- Festive Attyre has a very useful article on the placement of spiral lacing that let me just outright ignore the instructions and lacing guide that came in the pattern. Having the math concepts for eyelet placement really appealed to my scientist brain.
- I also found this article by Sidney Eileen to be helpful in figuring out what to do with my laces, once I'd gotten them into place.

The pattern: Simplicity 3635.  I was having trouble figuring out where to start when it came to drafting my own pattern, and so I dug through the drawer and found that I had acquired this one at some point along the line.  I figured it would be a good launching point for having pattern pieces on about the right scale and shape.

The construction instructions started getting frustrating, though, and before long, I'd put those back into the envelope and just used the resources I had found online and in a few books.  The only downside to this step was that, without the happy reminders of 5/8" seam allowances, I reverted back to sewing 1/2" as that's what the rest of my historical patterns from non-mainstream sources use, as well as what I default to when drafting something of my own.  Whoops!  This resulted in a little bit of wrinkling when I tried to make my support with its 5/8" seams line up with the lining and outer layers with their 1/2" seams.  I wasn't going to get too worked up about, first pair and all.  But still.  Learn from my fail.  When I'd first started sewing historical garments and had to get used to the 1/2" allowance, I took myself a small strip of electrical tape and marked the proper point on my sewing machine table so that I'd have an easy visual reminder when sewing.  Would have been handy if I'd done that this time.



One continuous line of lacing with ribbon.  I've since replaced the ribbon with two shoe strings anchored at the top and bottom.  With the plastic tips on them, I can leave the top and bottom few holes laced before slipping the stays on over my head and reaching around behind me to finish he lacing.  It takes a bit of finagling, but once I got the feel for it, it wasn't too bad.  The pattern had the lacing stop several inches from the bottom, but when I did that and tried them on, they felt really insecure.  Probably a product of being a bit too big.  I figure I'll give them a few trial runs laced as is, and if I decide later to end the lacing sooner, it's no big deal to go back in and insert another eye between two others.

 

The eyelet holes were put in by hand with an awl and edged with a thick silk thread.  I'm pretty sure the last time I tried to do this on a corset, I used sewing thread.  No wonder it took forever.  I timed myself and it took me less than five minutes per eyelet, which I thought was doing pretty good.


So in summary,

The Challenge: Generosity and Gratitude
Fabric: Cotton canvas and a mid-weight linen for sandwiching the boning.  Grey linen for the fashion layer and white cotton muslin for lining.
Pattern: Simplicity 3635
Year: 1770s, or 'round-a-bout
Notions: polyester thread for the construction, silk thread for the binding and eyelet holes, reed for the boning, shoes stings for the lacing.
How historically accurate is it?  Points off for cotton layers and machine stitching, so let's give it a 9/10.
Hours to complete: TOO long for a first attempt.  The boning channels alone were a tremendous time suck, as was the binding, but there's not really a good way around that last one.  I did get to sew the front side of the top binding down by machine, so that helped, but all the rest of it had to be done by hand.  Everybody was right, binding tabs leads to swearing.
First worn: Needs a top or dress to wear over it before it'll be fit for wearing.
Total cost: Mostly made from leftover bits of fabric, and the reed was much less expensive than the steel boning would have been (and omg, would that have been heavy), so I'll estimate it $35.

WIP: 18th century Stays

Now, I'm a bit clumsy and it's not unusual for me to jab myself in the fingers, elbow face with a stick pin while sewing.  But I've set a three stick rule for myself: if I'm sewing along and I draw blood three times, I'm supposed to take that as a sign that I'm too tired to be doing this and should probably set the project aside and go to bed.  However, I've run into problems with attaching the bias on the 18th century stays that I'm working on.  I've been hitting three sticks within minutes of starting!  Not cool.

The first hurdle was when I was attaching the bias to the relatively tame top of the stays.  With an extra set of hands from Minion V to help hold all the awkward pieces, I was able to attach the front side of the bias tape with the sewing machine.  Score!  It looks pretty and went together in a quarter of the time.  I then folded the tape over and inserted about eleventy billion stick pins in prep of sewing down the inside by hand as I've done on other corset projects.  Then it's Labor Day weekend and a trip to my folks' house and I needed to find a safe way for the heavily pinned project to travel.  In a moment of genius, I pulled an oddly shaped scrap of leather from the stash and wrapped the stays in that.  Score!  Not only did it travel well without pins getting snagged on the inside of the duffle bag and yanking out, I was also able to drape the leather over my lap to protect my body from random jabs.   

I found a way to apply the same bit of logic when working on the tabs.  By cutting off a 6"x10" scrap of the leather, I was able to wedge it between the tabs and create a safe place to rest my hands white sewing. 

Pit of vipers, right there.  All those pins on both sides, many of which
I just could not get the points to anchor back into the layers.

SUCCESS!

Yeah, it was enough of an epiphany that I needed to share it.  These stays have been months in the making and at the rate I'm going, I'm thinking they're going to get done at about the right time to be applied to the Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenge #23: Generosity and Gratitude, as I've got a whole slew of online articles, tutorials and project diaries that I need to thank for all their help with this project.