Time Traveling | Early 19th Century Corded Stays

I’ve been on a sewing roll in 2019 and my latest project is a pair of early 19th century stays. As fashion moved towards a neoclassical influence around the turn of the century, the undergarments worn also evolved. Instead of shaping the torso into a conical shape (like my first pair of stays), the shape of the bosom was more defined by lifting and separating the bust (versus just smushing them up like previous centuries).

The construction for this new shape incorporates gussets, or triangular shaped inserts, to give more shape to the stays. To me this is probably the first version of the bra we know and wear today - from flattened uniboobs to more rounded cups.

When it comes to my historical undergarments - you know me - the more elaborate, the better! Enter the idea for corded stays. These actually fall more towards the 1820-1830s due to the cording, but I’m hoping the shape of this garment will work for costumes between 1800-1840. Plus I wanted to make something spectacular, and I think I’ve done it!

For my base pattern, I worked with the Laughing Moon Mercantile 115 and chose a white coutil (a tightly woven fabric made for corsetry). I made a quick mock up in size 16, determined I could size down and got to the business of cutting and cording my pieces.

For my cording design I used extant museum pieces (specifically this one) as my inspiration. I first drew sketches of the overall look and then moved to creating them on my paper pattern. I then taped my fabric and cording design to my windows and traced them with a water soluble pen. The design I started with is far less intricate than my final design because I just kept adding, adding, adding channels (even after front and back sides were joined) but I’m really glad I did. This is an intentionally softer style corset (there’s way more breathing room than my earlier pair) and isn’t meant for major waist reduction like mid 19th century - 20th century styles. It does provide posture correction and some shaping, but my rib cage can expand so much more than a heavily boned version. There are only four total boning channels, plus the front busk pocket so all of the extra cording gives the garment more strength. Plus I think it’s really beautiful!

After the channels are sewn, loose tails are threaded into a needle and taken to the back side. Every single stop and start of a stitching line! After a while I altered my technique a bit so I could sew one whole section (like 4 parallel lines) without cutting my thread. It can get mighty messy with all of those threads on the backside. Once they were pulled to the back, I tied the bobbin and top threads together and cut them near the knot. Then comes the fun part of actually getting the cording into the channels.

I did this using a combination of large needles, needle nose pliers and a fierce determination to carry on even when my fingers were so sore! You need the pliers to grab the needle and keep it from slipping as you gather the thick fabric and push the needle through. I can’t imagine even getting one channel complete without them! For the majority of the channels, I used a blunt tapestry needle, but I also used a long (4-5”) sharper needle to quickly get me through shorter channels. I had to be very careful to not puncture my top fabric with the needles and keep the cording (I just used cotton yarn) in place.

After the gussets were sewn and flossed (part embroidery, part stabilization), I moved onto the back eyelets. Those are all hand sewn and call me crazy but I LOVE doing them. They’re so cute and strong! Finally, after the straps were sewn to the back, I did bias binding around both the top and bottom edges. This is another thing I really love! If you’re precise, it looks so crisp and amazing. During that process I also added a drawstring channel to the top of the front so I could draw in the excess space created by the bust gussets.

The center front busk is a flat wooden piece inserted into a pocket. In my early construction phases I just used a freebie paint stick (as many a historical costumer has recommended online!) but wanted something a little more special and straight (there’s a small indentation about 2” from one edge on both left and right sides I didn’t want showing through my stays. Adam was able to run out to his woodshop and brought back a gorgeous ash version (wood leftover from our dining room floors!) in under 5 minutes! Thanks Adam!

This project took about seven working days to complete (during weekends, while kids are playing or at night). My pattern, fabric and lacing were a gift from my mother in law - thank you Mary!!!) and I harvested old steel bones (creepy!) from a corset I’m not planning on wearing again.

In the end I’m excited to add this piece to my costume closet and start making regency style dresses to be worn over it. If you’d like to see more behind the scenes, check out my Instagram Highlights to watch the process!

Time Traveling | 18th Century Snow Day

It’s been a while since I’ve gotten gussied up in my 18th century gear! With a gorgeous snowy morning as my backdrop, I pulled out my red chintz Italian gown and styled it for a wintertime scene. I wore my dark red petticoat, a 1970s silk Dior scarf as a fichu, a black silk wired ribbon and pair of long black gloves. I powdered my hair and arranged two feathers in it. I went a little more dramatic with makeup (please tell me I don’t look like a badger?) and I felt so beautiful posing for these images!

Time Traveling | Making My Blue Brain Hat

I love hats! Especially the fancy, floral, floofy numbers from bygone ears. For a large part of history, women wouldn’t leave the house without a chapeau!

For my 1780s look, I decided to work with a straw hat I had in my stash. Once upon a time I thought I might have a go as a milliner and thus collected a lot of straw hat bodies and blocks to make new hats of my own. This base was actually a modern hat, but the size was perfect for this project. Here’s what it looked like when I started.

After removing the inter and exterior bands I started steaming the hat out. Moisture allows the straw to relax and take a new shape (which is why you may have noticed if you get a straw hat wet at the beach, it will lack the definition it had when you bought it). I wanted it to have a very shallow crown, like a bergère hat that was popular in the 18th century. I knew I’d be covering the hat with fabric, so an identical shape wasn’t necessary - just the rough form. I also found that I could flip the back brim up and it would hold nicely, which I knew would be a good place to slip in some decorations. I gave the whole thing a good steam and let it dry.

Next I started on my fabric covering. Around the brim I created half inch pleats using a cotton sateen, a bajillion pins and a ton of patience. I first pinned the pleats to the edge of the interior brim, as you can see at the right. As I brought them to the edge of the brim, I let them spread just a bit and then brought them back in on top where the brim meets the crown. This was an easy place to become too perfectionist and fiddle! One thing I like to remind myself about historical sewing is that imperfection is historically accurate. We’ve become so accustomed to huge racks and full size runs of identical garments it’s no wonder something handmade feels a bit foreign to the eye with a little jumping stitch here or a slightly bigger pleat there. I’ve started to really love what a handmade piece looks like - one of a kind!

So anyway, when I got the brim pleats to a place I liked with pins, I hand sewed it down to the straw.

With the whole brim complete, I moved onto the brainy bit at the top. I used the same fabric but in a darker shade of blue and I love the combination of the two. For this part I turned to The American Duchess Guide to 18th Dressmaking (which I highly recommend!) and used their tutorial in the 1780s section to create the texture. Once it was all pinned in place, it also got tacked down with heavier buttonhole thread.

Now that the top of my little hat looked perfect, I set out to make the inside of the crown just as lovely. I made a very large and shallow tube (only a few inches deep) which I gathered at one side and created a drawstring channel at the other. The gathers were drawn in to match the circumference of the crown and sewn down. The drawstring channel was also draw up using a piece of string, tied, trimmed and tucked into the new crown covering. I also made two ties that were tacked down before the gathered interior crown bit went on. These let me to pull the hat down tightly and further emphasize the flipped up back!

Lastly was the question of feathers - how many and in what placement. After trying a bunch of different combinations, I settled on just one white feature layed horizontally in the back and tacked down.

In all I used 1 yard of light blue fabric and just a half yard of the darker blue. I had enough leftover to make a matching waist sash/belt to coordinate everything together. Because there are so many pieces to an 18th century kit (shift, stays, petticoats, bum rolls, socks, shoes, buckles, gown, fichu, apron and hat to name a few) I think I’ll keep my costumes from this era in the same general color story with this pretty blue as the common link.

I can’t decide if I should make one more gown (I do have the fabric on hand) as a birthday present to myself (it would photograph so beautifully in the snow!), do some modern sewing or start planning for the next era. I realized when I was sick for a day earlier this week that I cannot not have a project sitting around to pick up and play with. And as all of our outdoor chores are coming to an end for the season and it’s time to sit by the fire for the next few months, I do think another lap project is in order. Are you interested in progress shots or is a big reveal more fun? I’m not sure which way to take this one on. Let me know what you think!

Time Traveling | 1780s Italian Gown

Ta da! Here’s a look at my completed 1780s Italian Gown that I’ve sewn for an event later this month. It was a complicated project - from making historical undergarments like a linen shift, stays, petticoats and bum rolls, to the finishing touches like a silk neck scarf, sheer cotton apron and hand made brain hat! And then there’s the fabric, which was an existing reproduction print that I over dyed and recolored by hand painting in with a new palette of colors. And every single stitch was a pleasure! I learned a lot about hand sewing during this project (I love using silk thread now!) as well as new-to-me techniques. This post is going to be a long one, so grab a cup of tea in your prettiest teacup and let me tell you more about this project!

Historical Background

Italian gowns were very popular during the latter part of the 18th century, replacing English gowns almost entirely. What’s the difference you ask? English gowns look similar from the front in many ways, but the key difference is how the back portion of the dress is constructed. An English gown is fitted to the body through a series of pleats tapering to the waistline and then opening up into a full skirt. The other key style of the 18th century was the Robe a la Francaise which flowed from the top of the back bodice downwards to the hem.

By contrast, the Italian gown features four main back bodice sections that were cut pattern pieces (not pleated), a very pointed center back and a separate skirt with small (1/4 inch) pleats.

Cotton prints, imported from India (and appropriately called Indienne) were also very popular during this time period. They were predominantly on a white ground and the number of colors increased the cost of the fabric. I started out with a white chintz print, but I wanted to be a little different from the crowd so went with red instead (read more about my inspiration here).

In the end, I wanted this project to be a mix of historical reference and accuracy paired with personal design preferences. Something informed by the past but also not a carbon copy of a portrait or extant museum piece. I think I did that!

If you’d like to see some of the images I used as inspiration, here’s a link to the pinterest board I’ve been adding to for the last three months.

Now… onto the dress!

Gown

To create this dress I used the Fig Leaf 101 pattern and cut the sleeves one size smaller. I fit the dress with a mockup after completing my stays, which give the torso a conical shape that minimizes and curve of the bust (and pushes it upwards for major cleavage!)

The fashion fabric is a reproduction cotton (see it white here) I picked up from my insta-friend Penny River Costumes (see her etsy shop here) which was dyed using Rit dye in Wine and then painted in using white gel pens and chalk paint pens. It took between 20-30 hours to complete, but was incredibly satisfying and relaxing! I’d work on it at night after my kids went to bed while drinking some red wine and listening to podcasts. Needless to say I will not be testing this dress out in the rain and plan on being very careful not to get it dirty and will only spot clean it as necessary.

The dress bodice is lined in left over natural linen from my stays. The 18th century seamstress was incredibly thrifty and did whatever she could to conserve fabric and notions. I found myself unpicking seams and reusing the thread and carefully cutting my fabric to make best use of the yardage. Speaking of, I was able to eek the gown out of just three yards of fabric and even pattern matched at the center front bodice! Another thing I love about 18th century sewing - 1/4” seam allowances!

As for the construction, I chose to reference the pattern instructions but used modern techniques. I assembled it in the way you might do a lined tailored jacket by sewing both lining and fashion bodices and then joining them via the neckline/front opening. I used my machine for these seams, as well as the sleeve lining. From there, I turned to hand sewing for attaching the outer sleeves, skirt and finishing the lining. I also made use of the selvage edges in any place possible to get more out of my fabric. The front edge and bottom hems are merely turned once and finished with a tiny running stitch.

At the last minute I pinned up my skirts a la polonaise (not a true polonaise, which has a different bodice cut and construction!), because my hem is just short of the petticoat. I can fix that for the next time I wear it, both by doing proper tapes under the skirt (to hold it up just right) or by shortening my petticoat a smidge. Each skirt is over 9 feet of hem and I have a lot to get done (i.e. the costumes for the rest of my family!) so that’ll come down the line. Hopefully before my event or I’ll continue to wear it poofed up or don my red petticoat instead.

Underpinings

Although they aren’t visible from these pictures, let’s talk a little about what goes on underneath the gown! First there’s the shift - a simple linen slip with a wide neckline, sleeves and knee length hem. Women of the 18th century didn’t have huge wardrobes and to help keep the outer dresses clean longer, shifts were worn. Women of all social classes would have more than one shift that could be regularly laundered. On top of that are my stays. Next is a quilted petticoat that I gave a double turned hem which really gives my skirts more width and bounce! Lastly is a split false bum which accentuates the narrow point of the bodice and fullness of the skirt at the same time.

The shift is from Simplicity by American Duchess, the petticoat was done using my measurements (the hem is 4x my waist circumference) and the false bum is from the American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking.

Petticoat and Apron

I actually made two petticoats for this dress - although I didn’t begin with that plan. I began with a white cotton petticoat, made in a similar manner as the quilted petticoat and dyed it three times to try to get a deeper burgundy than the dress. My first attempt was splotchy, my second was a perfect match (but was too matchy matchy for me which says something!) and the last was a quick dip in black dye.

After my first dye I thought perhaps I had some more white cotton laying around and could do a light tea dye to see if an ivory petticoat would work. That’s when I stumbled on some white and blue striped cotton I got for a song ($2/yd and super wide!) in my stash. I pleated in all of the white stripes so it made a blue waistband and sewed that up in one night. I kept going back and forth on which petticoat to use and at the last minute thought - what about a Georgian style apron?! I had some super sheer cotton (from Burnley and Trowbridge) to spare, so using historical references, I made a simple apron with a pretty ruffle at the hem. I was so against aprons at the start of this project and now it might be my favorite accessory. The brightness of the white was something I changed by a dip in a tea bath to create a very delicate ivory.

Accessories

I’d like to do a whole post on my hat, so I’ll briefly tell you that I used an old hat I already had, removed the original interior and exterior bands, reblocked it and then covered it with cotton sateen. I used the American Duchess book as a reference for the brainy top and did pleated fabric around the brim. It was entirely hand sewn!

To coordinate, I made a simple belt using left over fabric in two shades of blue! It’s not laying as smooth and flat as I would hope, so I’ll probably take it apart and use a sturdier fabric as as a base and then cover it up again.

At my neckline, I’m wearing a silk gauze scarf tucked into the bodice of my gown. I’d like to add some sort of decoration to the center front - perhaps a bow or a corsage of little pink roses?

I also made a sheer silk cap (using the American Duchess Guide) but did not wear it for these photos. I may go with a huge hairdo and cap for my event just for something different next time I wear it) In the meantime, If you’d like to see it now, check out my instagram stories for videos!

Lastly, my shoes were a gift from my mom and are from American Duchess (as are the buckles). I was planning on thrifting or recovering something else so receiving these was just… ahh, I feel like I could cry. Thank you so much mom, not just for the shoes, but for being encouraging of my sewing my entire life and for being so enthusiastic when I text you updates of my costume. It really means a lot to me! I’m wearing over the knee socks I already had that are DvF, but the color and pattern feel like something a funky Georgian would wear! Hems were intentionally short during this era to show off those beautiful shoes, socks and sexy ankles!

Final Thoughts

You guys - I really love costuming. REALLY REALLY. If you watch my videos you can probably sense my excitement and passion for this hobby. I would say it’s a new hobby, but it reminded me of how I used to do this as a child and it’s so cool how it’s all come full circle. I love history, I love research, I love historical dress, I love using my hands, being technical and artistic in one project and I love how I feel when I wear these pieces. I love thinking of how women would express themselves through clothing 250 years ago just as they do today. I love how pieces were meant to be mixed and matched and how a smart woman would chose colors and fabrics to make the most of her wardrobe. I love the way my skirts flow as I walk, how I hold my posture wearing my stays, how I lift my chin to keep my hat from wobbling around, how my apron and feathers dance in the breeze. I feel like me wearing this ensemble. I love everything about this project and I cannot wait to wear it at an immersive historical event with my husband and children also done up in their 18th century wears! And it should also be noted that the community of women who share their expertise and passion are so inspiring! I’ve messaged so many of them with questions and they are so welcoming and knowledgable! You know who you are! Thank you!

Lastly - are there any Hoosier or Midwestern 18th Century enthusiasts out there? Please be in touch - I would love to host an event locally and have you join!

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