Olympe’s Stays – Overnight Stay

The boning channels, stuffed.  I should have taken more care to cut the peach jacquard in a way more, well, thought through, but as a mock-up garment it was not the priority.  Next time!

Stays are not built overnight…but almost.  Amazing what one sleepless seamstress can accomplish in the dark hours.

I’ve sewn all the boning channels in the second side of the stays, and then set to “stuffing,” using 1/4″ zipties (my favorite!), and armoring this delicate piece of pretty peach frippery like Joan of Arc headed into battle.  I’ll be out today to hunt down more zipties, and of the longest length I can find, for the back.

One side almost entirely boned, and pinned onto the non-squishy dress form.  The real test will be when the eyelets are in and it can be fully laced over a soft form, to test measurement.

What you see on my dress form does not reflect the fit of the final stays.  The waist will be pinched in considerably – we are doing a 2.5″ reduction, and the difference between the bust and waist measurement will be  about 11″ – and the stomacher will show in more of a triangular shape rather than rectangular.

More to come and quickly – I love how fast corsets and stays go together (at least until you get to the hand binding and eyelets!).

The left side is boned, the right side not.  What a difference!