Dorothea bodies c. 1598, Part Two

Although my stays have been finished for a month now, I haven't gotten around to write another blog post about them. My master thesis and my wedding past month have been pre-occupying my mind, plus due to the pandemic, I haven't been able to attend any events and actually wear the stays. I've only tried them on once after I finished them, to check the fit and also try on a spanish gown that I am currently working on, so the photos aren't that glamorous – apologies. Since my last post I've added the tabs, binded the rest of the stays and made all the eyelets.

 

 

I am quite happy with the fit apart from one thing... unfortunately the armscye is too tight. It was fine when I made the mock-up but for some reason it's tighter now. I may have gained 1-2kg since making the mock-up but surely that minimal weight gain doesn't make that much of a difference, does it? Of course it's annoying, but I'm still quite happy with the results. It gives me a nice shape and I can live with a tiny bit of discomfort underneath my armpits. Maybe it will become more comfortable once I lose weight again – at least I hope so.

 

I tried the stays on to fit my 16th century spanish gown and it gives me a nice shape. When I made the mock-up for the gown, I used my effigy stays, but the fit works well with both stays... but I will write more on that in a separate blog post.

Edit: Since wearing them once, I have altered them a little. The armscyes were too small, hence the tightness and discomfort underneath the armpits. I enlarged them by 2 cm by cutting into the fabric underneath the armpit, as the straps did not allow for any further alteration. The fit was immensely improved. I haven't worn them for almost 2 years now and I have gained some weight again, so currently (June 2023) I am not sure if they fit or not. I don't plan on altering them again though.

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Dorothea bodies c. 1598, Part One

I own quite a few stays and corsets. Two of them are 17th century appropriate, so I don't have the need to make another one, but I do love a new challenge. One of them is styled after the 1603 effigy stays of Queen Elizabeth I. and boned with reed, the other one I would date between 1640-1660, which is fully boned with steel. I used to love to bone everything with the steel, even though it meant more work. For some reason I thought that I needed that extra support and cinching – the more rigid, the better. I wouldn't say that I regret it, but I wish I knew that using synthetic whalebone (fancy word for plastic, but very durable) is just as good and not so heavy. Hence, these stays will definitely be made with it!

The pattern I am using is from the Tudor Tailor. I scanned the pattern and enlarged the pieces on Photoshop, making sure that every box was about an inch in size just like indicated in the book. I may write a tutorial on how to do this, otherwise Morgan Donner has a great video on how she does it.

Pattern from The Tudor Tailor

 

I always have to alter patterns to my size, but in this case I was quite lucky. The Tudor Tailor patterns inside the book are pretty much my current measurements (after some significant weight gain *ahem*). I had some leftover coutil fabric, which is quite often used for 19th century corsetry, and created the mock-up. It fit perfectly and I didn't have to change anything. Yay!

For the stays I used:

• 50cm pink silk dupioni, which I bought shortly after Christmas for only 3€/metre!
  
• two layers of interlining (linen)
• 50cm lining (pink linen)
• synthetic whalebone

I basically followed all the instructions from the Tudor Tailor. I fused interlining and fashion fabric together and stiched the tunnels with a double running stich. I left out the busk, as I didn't find one that would fit the measurements I needed and I didn't want to cut my own. I simply boned the centre with synthetic whalebone too.

Tunnels and boning finished

 

Then I sewed in the lining (because I absolutely hate not having a lining inside, it's one of my pet peeves) and did the binding. Finding the right tape for binding was a pain, because the colour of the silk was so unique, that it took me several weeks of searching, only to find some grosgrain ribbon at an interior design shop. I was very content though... I like it when everything colour coordinates.

Colour coordination of silk, linen and grosgrain ribbon

  

After all that was done, the last step would be making eyelets. Usually I am a lazy person and would simply use metal grommets, but this time I wanted to be as historically accurate as possible. After all I already made the effort of sewing everything by hand, why would I stop at the eyelets?

 

So far I have only done four eyelets, as it's pretty hard to get through all the layers and I get quite tired after just one. My next post will show the finished eyelets and hopefully I will have pictures of me wearing it already.

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