New 18th Century Stays

18th Century Stays at the MET

I've looked at the above stays for a while. I really, really like them and wanted to make a similar pair for at least a couple of years. Once my beat up old ones finally became completely unwearable and popped a seam, I got off my duff to make ones similar to the above.

Front of my new stays

Side View

Back View

Mine aren't perfect by a long stretch but I'm really happy with them.  First, the fit.  The dress dummy they are on is a size 8.  I used a cotton twill flocked with black velvet I got at Joanns fr the fashion fabric.  The bias tape is black silk taffeta scraps I had lying around in the scrap pile.  I used linen for the lining and cotton duck from Ikea for the inner lining.  The boning is a combo of both cable and duct ties - some of the channels were too thin for the larger duct ties so I doubled up the cable ties instead.

My point on the stays is much broader than the extant pair.  The front upper edge is curved - it's just hard to tell on this dress dummy.   Like the original, I spiral laced the back.

I wore the stays this past weekend - although I hadn't finished binding the bottom edge fully- and they fit!   I just really, really need to go get longer laces!