Stays, and Stays
October 27th, 2011
I think, fingers crossed, I’ve finally done it. I lost count long ago of how many iterations I’ve made of this pattern for stays (originally from Peterson’s, 1855). At least six. And here are the last two.
The one at the top fits perfectly — or comes very close to doing so. There are still some persistent wrinkles around the waist, but I think I’ve reduced them as much as I can with redrafting. The rest will be done with boning. It’s actually a rather dreadful pattern for stays. I’ve seen extent stays from the 1840s and from the 1860s that deal with the hip curve (raison des plis) in a much better way — either with a deep gore that wraps all the way around the side of the hip, or with a separate curved hip piece. Maybe this pattern was meant to be more like the deep side gore, circa 1840, but the picture and directions from Peterson’s led me back time and again to these smallish front slanting gores.
Now to make them in some nice fabric for a change!