The Stays are finally complete!
Part One is here
I began the finishing touches by strengthening the seams, covering them with some cotton tape on the inside and some ribbon on the outside.
I then spent several weeks procrastinating over sewing the binding, though once I actually sat down and started stitching I found I had been worrying over nothing. For my first pair of stays I had stitched the binding on the machine, this time i decided to do the whole lot by hand and it came out very neat and was actually very enjoyable and relaxing to sew!
The worst part of the binding was at the top centre front of the stays were I added an extra piece of binding over the reed to stop it from poking through the fabric.
I decided to make the straps of my stays using cotton tape similar to this example from the McCord Museum. I stitched a hook onto the front of the stays in order to hold the straps in place as they cross over the back and fasten at the front.
I then tried the stays on (I still need to figure out how long the shoulder straps need to be). Unfortunately as these stays are back lacing I found getting myself into them to be quite difficult, I think that the next pair I make shall definitely have to be front lacing.
As I write this I have already begun to make the petticoat, so hopefully the next blog post should be up soon
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