Quick Update Post

I’ll have a picture of the second set of panniers soon, they’re almost photographable!

Other Noelle has nearly finished her stays, and they are gorgeous!

We went to JoAnns today, and I found this lovely celery green brocade – the picture does not do it justice!  Guess how much it was?!  No really, guess.

You’re wrong.  It was $3.50/yd.  BWAHAHAHA.  Score!

Also, Other Noelle and I have come up with a logo for our joint project.  Conveniently enough, both our last names start with “P”; so the monogram is “Double Noelle Project/P-for-last-name”

Back to our regularly scheduled programming–”Stays Edition”

First, a bit of whining:  I’m incredibly uninspired when it comes to these stays.  I very much understand now why there were two separate and distinct professions; those who made stays, and those who made clothing.  I am very, VERY much not a person who makes stays, or any sort of shaping garment. 

I haven’t been this close to tears over a sewing project in years, and I am about to loose it.  I know how to sew, honestly I do – but for some reason these stays are escaping me!  If I had the time to commission a pair of stays, I very much would at this point, but time is limited, and the very few whom I would entrust them to wouldn’t have the time in such short notice.

Ok, deep breath!  Stays, and my progress (or lack thereof)

Here’s my mockup, which went fairly well.  At this point, I was still pretty positive about the whole endeavor.  I read somewhere on LJ recently about taping boning in place for corset mockups, and I will say, it works like a charm.  I will be using this trick when mocking up my boned bodices from now on!

I promptly ruined the front panel of the lovely silk that Jaqulinne gifted me to make my stays out of by water staining from my iron.  I’ll have to look at it again in the light of day to see if I need to replace the front section.  (Um, ok.  It doesn’t show up that well in the picture, but I assure you, it’s there.)

And here are all the pieces cut out and ready to be assembled.  (The front panel is already constructed

I got as far as finishing all the major seams before I quit for the night.  I need to take a break and look at it with fresh eyes in the morning, because right now, I’m at the end of my proverbial rope!

Signing off for now!

Double-No-L CoCo Project

I decided I’m going to at least attempt a period-correct pair before falling back on my Effigy stays.  They’ll do in a pinch, but I’d rather have something that’s actually meant for this project.

         

I’ve had this Reconstructing History (#833) “1740s-90s Stays” pattern for a couple of years, and decided it’s time to pull it out.  I’m slightly disappointed at the level of instruction in the pattern, so I’ll be surfing the blogOsphere for dress diaries to see if I can figure out how these are supposed to be put together.  Not that this is a new situation for me, I rarely use patterns to begin with, so I’m actually ahead of the game this time.

I’m feeling pretty uninspired when it comes to fabrics for my stays.  I think they’re going to end up plain-jane black!

I’ll be doing the half-boned stays in the lower-left.  So far, I’ve ‘shopped’ in my stash and I’ve gathered up some black coutil, black silk taffeta, and black twill. 

After this Saturday, I’ll be working either on the stays, or two sets of panniers.  Hm.  I’m not looking forward to these stays, and I’m not in love with my color (or lack thereof) choices, so I may end up working on the panniers instead.  Hmmmmmmmm.

And in actual sew-y news....

.....All I need to do to finish my stays are attach the straps, and bind the top edge! Yay! I've written two pages of (really, really lame) documentation. I actually have hope for the first time in weeks that I will make the deadline for Kingdom A&S. (Which I'm totally not stoked about, but I promised I'd enter. So I will. I might most likely will be wallowing in self pity that night, picking up the shards of my fragile ego, but I'll enter.)

.....I know what HRH wants for her gown. I'm going to try to nail down the nitty gritty details with some sketches and fabric swatches. HRH on the other hand, doesn't really care what he wears (or so he says) as long as it's not punkin' pants. I'll be working up some sketches and fabric swatches for him as well. I need to check with TRH and find out if I can post progress pics and whatnot. I'll let y'all know what happens with that. But assume if you don't see anything, it's because I got the no-go.

.....My vic outfit has been languishing in the corner. Taunting me. Calling me names. Must finish so I can put it in the garb closet and check it off my ever-growing list of *oooh shiny want to do!*

Eyelets - Practical Application!

With the prompting of bodice_goddess, I finally bit the bullet and finished the eyelets on my stays. The fit is OK - there are a few tweaks here and there I will do to the pattern for the next one (mostly taking out some of the width at the shoulders. The back felt a bit big...actually it felt kind of big all 'round, but I would rather it be too big than too small), but as a first round, not too bad. I really like the cane boning, it is extremely comfortable (or at least felt like it in the short time I actually had it on.)





(I'm actually not all lopsided in real life, I'm just holding my hair out of the way, and it looks like my left shoulder is all wonky.)


So, left to do are the straps, and the binding - then I am done, done donnity done.

:D

Stays progress....

I've gathered my books for documentation writing, and I have another on order from the ebil Amazon.com.

I've officially started on the other side. Yay! I'm not so sure the eyelets are up to Kingdom A&S standards, however. (They're pretty much the fugliest eyelets I've ever done.) Boo!

Oh well. If I was actually *competing* there are a lot of things I would do differently......this is mostly to get feedback on my writing, not the piece itself.

The plan is coming together.....

I'm spending the weekends exclusively on the vic, and the weekdays on the bodies. (Since the vic will require some serious time investment to get traction, while the bodies can be worked on and set down sporadically) So far, so good! Alas, the pictures for the bodies are kinda boring-like. (Unless someone is just dying to know how to make hand bound eyelets?)

Last night I got all of my eyelets marked out on both sides, and 6 of them completely bound. Not too shabby considering I left work late, got caught up in some epic traffic, went grocery shopping, cooked dinner, and spent almost an hour searching for my *BLEEPING* beeswax. (Which I didn't find until this morning, completely by chance, in a room I never would have thought it would be in, but that's another matter. By the by, beeswax that has gone through the washer and dryer is a very *interesting* tactile experience.)



I still have not decided my method for binding. Hm. I'll have to ponder that some more. I can't wait until the eyelets are all done so I can strap it on and see if it fits! (That has to be the worst thing about corsetry of any type - you never quite know how it's all going to fit until it's acutally done. Eep!)

Effigy Corset Progress

I used wire nippers to cut the reeds do size...


And then used my dogs nail file to smooth and round the edges....


The finished reed boning


All the reeds inserted into the casings..


Closeer view....the two front pieces were extremely bowed from the reeds, so I rolled the pieces up, tied them together, and soaked them in warm water. I let them dry overnight.


And the reeds straightened out quite nicely! The back is still a bit bubbly, while the front is nice and flat! I've whipped the right front piece to the back. I still need to go back and whip the linings together, but it's coming along!


Yay! After I get the pieces completely attached, the next step will be to add the shoulder straps, slit the tabs and start on the binding. What I'm really not looking forward to is all the hand-bound eyelets. I'm not very good at them--wish me luck!

Weekend Sewing not-so Frenzy

I had originally planned on working on my stays and drafting up a bustle pattern. Seeing as it is now 3pm on Sunday, I'm not so sure how the whole plan will work out. Yesterday, my sis came over in the morning, then I went to the movies with mah hubby, then we ended up working in the yard for the rest of the afternoon. With going to bed early, I got next to no sewing done yesterday.

I did, however, get to finish the other front piece of my effigy corset!

Today, I got the back piece cut out and the lines all drafted out. After posting, I'll start on sewing the lines. *blah* I am really excited to see this project to completion, but my fingers are turning to hamburger.

Ok, on to the pics!

Starting to look more corset-y, no? :)


Lines, lines, lines!


I really am quite excited to start getting all the boning in, but I'm making myself finish *all* the casings first.

Effigy Corset Update

I have the channels sewn on the front left side. I'm about 1/4 the way through the right hand side, then I'll move onto the back.

I'm not that worried about it being too loose now...I wore the corset I based these off of all day for MMM, and was comfy, even after a big huge meal. I wouldn't want them much tighter, though! (I did overlap the front a smidge though.)

All the channels sewn......(The large channel is based on the Effigy corset, that has the same thing. The angles are slightly off, I think it's because I'm much larger than the original, and the bust/waist ratios are drastically different)


And the front two pieces. (The side back seams are actually more angled than they show in the picture!)


I hope I will still want to make the 18th c. stays when I'm through with these!