My first 18th century corset, or stays as they should be called. They don't look quite like they were from a museum, but perhaps like from a half-decent period movie at least...
The fist step towards my dream, an 18th century dress was to make the base for it, a pair of stays. I chose a half boned model, because I wisely thought beginning with a too ambitious project too risky for my sanity, and besides I have neither a waistline nor a bosom needing extreme measures in a way of restriction. And of course, as the boning channels are hidden under the top fabric, they can be machine sewn without any scruples.
The top fabric is found from sale basket, artificial but very pretty. The colour choice is a bit boring, perhaps, as there were lovely coloured stays at the period, but I thought white would be the practical choice, not showing through white dresses. The stays are edged with a ready-made bias tape - not period, but nice and easy to handle. For the boning I chose narrow steel boning. I filed the bone ends rounded and covered them with tape so that they would not break the fabric.
After the first mock-up version I actually buried the project for a long time. I got back to it much later, when I came up with the idea of making a similar style of corset decorated with the logo of my favourite band, Kamelot - a project of which you can read more here. So I got back to work with the pattern, keeping the shape of the pattern pieces I had managed to get quite well so far, but erased all the boning channels, which had suffered somewhat from altering the pattern so much. I drew them anew, partly following the original pattern, partly using other sources. I also left off the horizontal bones at the bust line, because they demanded some extra trouble in the construction, and as I said earlier, my bust is of the size that does not require extra support.
Then I began the Kamelot-corset, which thus also served as a helpful prototype. At first I thought I would add more bones in the real stays, but the Kamelot stays turned out so nice and comfortable that when I begun the real thing again I did not have to change much. I made the upper edge rise a bit higher both front and back, and made the waist a bit tighter in case it would give away in use.
The method I used in constructing the stays was a mix of the instructions that came with the pattern and various internet sources, most notable among them the "How to Make an 18th Century Corset"-tutorial from La Couturiere Parisienne.
I cut the two inner layers out of stiff cotton/polyester-fabric, and stitched the boning channels. I know linen to be the accurate choice, but I was afraid of the stretching. The lining is thin cotton batiste. I shamelessly broke the rules of accuracy again in interlining the top fabric with iron-on interlining, because it frayed in a most horrendous fashion.
Another not very authentic choice was to stitch the centre back boning channels on both sides of the lacing through all the layers, and with machine too, in hopes of stabilizing the lacing eyelets.
Yeah, the eyelets. I used the metallic ones yet unheard of on this century. I would not have, in spite of all my impatience, considered hand-bound eyelets an unconquerable task, could I have been sure that the finished stays would fit perfectly and serve me for all eternity - which I wasn't. So, in case that the stays would fail (because you can't really try it on until it's pretty much finished, and you only see if it's truly good after some use) I did not want to put too much work into them.
On the other hand I also know from experience how easily metal eyelets get crooked and fall off, especially the ones you can insert yourself. So, I combined the best of both methods (or so I thought), by stretching, not punching the holes in the fabric. The problem was that stretching big enough holes to take in the metal eyelets was so very slow, tedious and difficult, that I doubt that binding them would not have added that much trouble on the end. When I later decided to try the hand bound ones on the shoulder straps, I noticed that they were surprisingly fast to make, anyway, and seem much stronger than I would have thought.
Presently we shall return again to the tabs. In my Kamelot-stays I found out that edging them was not quite as simple as I had imagined, but wiser from that experience, this time I took my time and made much more of it by hand. I still attached the tape on the outside on machine on the parts where it was handy, but on the ends between the tabs I made it by hand.
After the lower edge the rest of the edging was child's play almost, a quick job with machine. This time I had the patience, though, to fasten the other side of the tape on the inner side of the stays fully by hand, not stitching on the seam line between the tape and the bodice (the fast solution I use with modern stuff). When done by hand, however, in a stiff garment like this it gives a lovely, tight and neat finish.
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