However, the silhouette they gave me was the perfect 18th century one, unlike my 1780s ones which gave me no shape at all. The only problem is the strap placement. They're too far apart, so keep slipping off my shoulders, but I'd rather them there than peeking out from the gown.
The Making of...
I realised it was because there was more flexibility in the 1776 ones because I'd used 2 layers of cotton canvas rather than the stiffer linen canvas I had used for the 1780s ones. That's my theory anyway. The softer fabrics allowed it to mould to my body better.
To test this theory I used the same pattern, because I knew it fitted perfectly, and re-did them in a fabric I picked out last year specifically for a pair of stays. Unlike the last 2 times where I used linen, this time I used a printed cotton. And unlike my first pair which were both front and back laced, I only put eyelets on the back of this pair, hoping rather than knowing I could lace myself into them.
I love Waugh's 1776 pattern because it's so simple. It has 2 pieces, front and back. Unlike other pairs of extant stays which have about 4 panels for each side.
I also used....metal grommets. I can hear the HA community gasp from here but since my last disaster with hand-sewn eyelets I wasn't about to invest all that time just for the lacing to be off. So metal grommets it was.
I love the cotton because it looks so much like brocade. So much so that someone commented on my Instagram that it was similar to a silk brocade they'd used for their stays. Although I can guarantee mine was much cheaper.
The only snag I hit was trying them on after I'd sewn all the boning channels. Because they were back-laced it would be quite fiddly to get them on, and then I went and got a tattoo on my back, which was quite sensitive during the time when I was supposed to try them on and didn't feel like pulling my arms back and breaking the skin over it. I was slightly concerned I hadn't altered the front panel right since I'd taken out the inch I'd left for the CF opening. But I wasn't that bothered since I'd bought nothing new for this project, everything was taken from the stash. And believe it or not I already had another stay pattern from POF 5 lined up to do.
I was also doing my 1890s corset at the same time, switching between the two, and also some prototype pocket hoops, so they were moved around the sewing room quite a bit. I'd cut out a bit of boning here and then leave it for a few weeks, this was the project that became my procrastination project when I was sick of doing the main project.
Eventually I got them boned and then cut out the tabs (or skirts as they're called in POF 5) and tried it on.
The problem I found with this was because the pattern was for front-lacing stays the shape ended up being a bit too low at the CF. I also didn't cut the tabs symmetrically, and the pattern (which I so carefully kept intact for the CF) isn't actually on the CF, but looks pretty damn close.
