1790s Stays: Part Four

Everything appeared to be going great. The boning channels were finished, I trimmed the pieces down, and I had sewed the panels together...

But then I noticed something terrible...

Why was it so wierd and lumpy? After a lot of annoyance and begging for it not to be true, I figured out what it was: I sewed the panels together wrong wrong wrong! Nooooo!

Nooooo! So I had to undo about two hours of work and re-do those seams. It's not terrible, but quite frustrating!

Well, that issue was fixed. I made a checklist of tasks that needed to be done for the stays to be finished:

• Size up pattern ✔

• Mock-ups ✔

• Cut pieces ✔

• Baste on to lining ✔

• Cut lining pieces ✔

• Sew boning channels ✔

• Sew panels together✔

• Place bones ✔

• Close boning channels

• Punch holes

• Hem holes

• Cut tabs

• Line with ribbon

• Finish all hems and seams

• Hem strap

• Make holes for attachable strap

• Break in

• Done!
  

I used plastic zip ties for boning, and tied them together with thread for the places they were too short. I smoothed out the ends and cut off the little "buckles".

Next I began marking where they would be and punching the holes with a nail (as I do not have an awl... I would not reccomend this!).

I also began placing the ribbon to finish the seams and bind the tabs (which I only cut just now as the outer fabric has a tendency to fray... if you are using a stronger weave fabric, you may be able to just cut the tabs at first).

Next time I will be finishing the holes and ribbon lining, sewing the front panels together, finishing all seams. Thanks for reading!