Regency Stays - the mock-up with a bonus Long Covid Update

 Several posts across a number of days…

I’ll deal with the Long Covid aspect of things first: I have just started the active part of a research trial intervention aimed at reducing symptoms. Because mine are largely dysautonomia and histamine related, I can’t see there being any great change, but that’s the primary reason for my going into the trial; to prove them wrong. Otherwise, I’m much the same as I usually am, with some fairly horrible insomnia at the moment, but my sister arrives tomorrow and I am delighted! 

The mock-up has gone well. Each piece went together neatly. I think I mentioned before that the main differences to the wrapover and ones are a pacing background and the front of the bodice raises up, per the sensibility pattern. This is a good thing when you are restraining twins the size of mine. 

I placed the side gussets (towards armsyce) first, after draping the thing against me in front of the mirror. Sure enough, the best side gusset was the one closest to the armsyce, so I cut accordingly. I then basted in the round, rather than rectangular, shaped gussets (these are slightly shorter than the ones to the centre of the chest for shaping). It was at this point I remembered just how much I hate putting gussets in, even basting, by hand. If you read about other costumers also complaining about this, it’s for REASONS. Another look in the mirror and yes, these are in the correct position. I then used the furthest gusset mark from that for the inner ones and, cursing again internally, I basted those in and held them up for a look in the mirror. They look pretty good, proving my theory that getting the positioning/placement of the gussets is key to this; after all, they won’t do what they’re meant to if they’re not where they need to be for a) the period look and b) your body shape. The gusset marks on the Sensibility Simplicity pattern might well be to take into account the fact they’re front lacing and will likely have a gap, but would never have worked out for me, given I am actually narrow of body, with wide spaced twins. It means I also have narrow shoulders. 

Anyway, I made some notes as follows: 

1) I need to move the central gussets over towards the middle point a bit more. The gap between gussets needs to be about 2 1/2 inches - again, this is about my shape and size. 

2) On measuring the whole width of the garment, I need to redraft the gussets to overall reduce it and also use the 1/4 inch seam allowance rather than 1/2 originally drafted. At the moment, if I lose weight, the cups will be a little on the big side (this is why the whole idea of gathered cups is such an interesting prospect and I really want to have a go at these next for a pair of transitional stays). As I’m going to add in a drawstring along the top bodice bias, that will help overall, but the point of the chemise and other undergarments is to help corral the chest (and it wasn’t like regency ladies were doing anything other than sashay gracefully, rather than engaging in Georgian Era Cross Fit). Plus I have an idea for a fix for that, just in case. 

The other thing is I’d already decided on a 4 inch lacing gap for these, precisely because I want to be able to use them as I am losing weight. As a general rule, my underbust might drop by 2-3 inches, so if I cut to accommodate that, this set will do me quite well for a range of sizes. I’ve tentatively marked this on my mock-up.

3) While I had already arranged for a bit more coverage at the armsyce edge, whilst holding the mock-up to me, I noticed I need to add a bit more here, 1cm in fact, shaping it in. This, once the cups and planned boning are in place, will significantly reduce side and gravity effects. 

I have decided to use cotton drill - as it turns out left over from the wrap-over stays - as there are extant examples of this fabric, cutting all pieces except the front bodice pieces on the grain, with the top front section cut crosswise. The reason for that is to do with reduction in stretch and support (my brain), but I haven’t decided if I’ll cut the gussets on the bias or not. I suspect not, as I want to avoid stretch later and because I think there would be even more tears in gusset setting if I do. 

I am still undecided on the lacing aspect and also on the straps: I do think it would be easier to just use inch wide twill tape for them in their entirety, but make some kind of fabric “sleeve” out of drill to sit over my shoulder where it’s likely to dig in. Not remotely period correct. I also have to contend with VERY narrow shoulders, so I always have to narrow straps etc. you should see my chemisette - it’s so very wide it doesn’t work (and is also in the pile of things to be altered to fit better). 

Here follows some more photos, which may or may not be accompanied by explanations…

Regency stays - drafting, part two

 Anyway, as a second part to the former, in drafting these things, here’s what I want:

A) has to be back laced for the body part; nothing else will do in respect of both support and gravity defying. Trust me: I know this from bitter personal experience. Back lacing also allows for a degree of size shifting as well

B) Needs to have crossover straps. There is already the example I am mostly basing these off, as well as others in contemporary drawings. Do not ask me to link these; I am not good at embedding links, images as I think we can tell from part 1. The straps will be fabric and twill tape. There will be strap guards in two places on the main body of the stays, to secure the straps at the cross point and side. These will be tied in front. I dithered about whether or not they should be entirely twill tape, but experience of bras tells me that the fabric strap part will be more comfortable and dig in less than twill tape on its own, if it comes to it. 

C) Needs a busk at the front, which I have from the previous project. It’s an interesting, not entirely straight shape. This also helps with the classic “lifted and separated” “shelf” cleavage shape.

D) Gravity assistance - this will be in the form of small “pillows” creating a squishy shelf under each of the twins. I will also put in some short boning under the gussets to help keep its shape. The former has been documented in extant examples and boning under the gussets is recommended in a couple of patterns I’ve seen. I strongly suspect that the cording in many extant examples also fulfilled the purpose. I, however, have never corded anything in my life and despite the YouTube videos showing it to be relatively easy, I’m not confident.

E) This thing needs boning, so it will be boned at the back, on either side of the eyelets, at the side seams and will also have diagonal boning at the armsyce side of the gussets. I will probably double the boning at the side seams, but then again, I might not. That’s TBD. As mentioned before, there will be a busk centre front, with a slightly wide flare to the bottom of it and some short boning pieces. I currently have steel bones, as well as synthetic whalebone kicking around, but I also have a packet of plastic zip ties and I am SORELY tempted to try those for the most part. We will see.

I did intend to use a basic back lacing, but then I watched a YouTube video with fantail lacing last night and aside from the fact it looks a) stunning and b) would make it SUPER easy to get oneself into, I’m not sure if I actually have enough ribbon or twill tape to do this. What I do think is that if I decided I wanted to change the lacing in future, I would be able to. The big thing for me would be if it would work, given gap required to get it over the head, therefore the amount of lacing and so on. So I am sticking with the usual way I lace mine for ease (and lack of maids or helpers).

The other key part of my project was to avoid buying any more materials unless I absolutely had to. During the abortive search for the Mantua Maker pattern, I not only found a lack of coutil for yet another corset project I haven’t made, but what I think is enough cotton drill (period accurate), plus a LOT of muslin/natural cotton for mock-ups. Yes, I can hear you from here that a layer of cotton isn’t enough, but all I need my mock-up for us to check the gusset position and depth - anything else will come from as I am making it.

Naturally, I am delighted at avoiding fabric expense for this (and the next project, which will be the replacement white dress). With the drill and all the twill tape kicking around, I think we are nearly good to go. As an even bigger bonus, I have a whole load of bias tape that I carefully unpicked from the chemise a La reine failure I can use to bind this. Binding will be along the base, along the bust and top edges, but probably won’t include the straps, due to their design. 

Of course, having Long Covid, needing to do things round the house etc has left me a bit wiped out, plus I’ve been distracted looking for patterns and images of how I want my replacement white regency dress to look, not to mention getting carried away with future regency wardrobe planning… so far I am at a morning over gown (Costume in Detail), a Black Snail Patterns sleeveless spencer, probably an open robe based on that pattern,  new spencer (we don’t talk about the one I made before) and I really, really want a new bonnet. I am torn between an image in one of my books and a Timely Tresses pattern, for which I suspect I have enough buckram kicking around, but I do need some other little bits and pieces to make. This then resulted in my going into a rabbit hole of online fabric retailers, but I have now found silk. And possible Melton, from which I can remake my red cloak. And I may have found another garment pattern to work from in respect of drafting a mantelet… but I am getting carried away.

So, once I have showered today, the plan is to cut out the mock up and check the placement of one of the gussets, which will decide placement of the second (and gap between). It *is* possible to have a third gusset if needed, but I am hoping to avoid that.if it comes to it, I’d rather do a full drawstring cup (which is basically a cup shape, with lots of drawstrings and drawstring channels, which then help push the twins up and into the shape required).

I also just realised I do need to buy some macrame cotton for drawstrings… I also need some kind of disappearing or chalk marking pen. I cannot find mine anywhere.

Regency Short Stays - drafting, part one.

 Greetings, friends. 

I think I might have alluded to the fact I was taking my regency wardrobe to task in my last post. I can now confirm that I have done this, as well as take apart a Chemise A La Reine that had never really worked. The first regency dress I ever made (hand stitched: I was terrified of my sewing machine) has now had its sleeves and front bodice removed, leaving the lining, back etc as a petticoat. I am also casting a stern eye over my other petticoat, which is similar style and I now want to attack and change. That’s by-the-by.

I have a set of long regency stays - stitched by hand, some 11 years ago - and a set of short ones, which have a wrapover back. I do actually have another set of very short stays, beautifully made for me, which never quite worked and are like the extant example in the Kyoto collection. The short stays I have are based on an extant example, but which did not have pictures of the back at the time. It was assumed crossover back, but it turns out only the straps crossed over and the back was secured with a series of ties: Slightly different to lacing, but not much. As this is kind of what I’m looking for, I then decided to dig out all the patterns I have. (This is the point I found out I could not find my Mantua Maker stays pattern to work from. I looked everywhere. So I bought a replacement from my usual site then realised I could have got it cheaper at a U.K. site. Argh). So I’m working from the Daffodowndilly short, wrap-over stays and also the Simplicity Sense and Sensibility patterns. Then cue many YouTube searches and watching of videos, including one on how to draft your own ones, as well as online searches for drafting and making said short stays.

I should say that when I say short stays, I mean somewhere between short and long: There is no way, with the sizeable assets I have, that short stays are going to work. This is primarily because, due to cup size, the gussets would need to be an extreme length, so mid length stays this is. I already know that the wrap-over ones are comfortable to wear, so I am not worried about them digging into my waist. 

(I will also admit, at this juncture and knowing what I know about pregnancy stays and my body’s ability to sway in size, whether it would be an idea to use some degree of side lacing, but I digress). 

So, having dug out the patterns, I decided to create a pattern by tracing each part of the wrap-over pattern and then over-laying the simplicity pattern pieces. 

To begin with, I’ve taken some measurements: 

1) underbust; 2) Overbust (usual bra); 3) overbust in sports bra (to give an idea of the right amount of compression - in my case 2 inches), 4) gusset (which is the distance between your underbust and apex/nipple) and, finally, 5) the distance between nipples (which, as it turns out, is quite important for situating your gussets).

I already knew, from the wrap-over and other stays, that the gusset size in my case needed attention, both in respect of width AND depth. In my case, 3 inches is NOT going to cut it. Add to the issue that there is a large gap between the twins AND a lower apex point on me and whatever I design is going to look a lot more like later regency/early Victorian, but i have to adjust for what I’ve got. So I have looked at my pattern pieces and marked ALL the gusset cut marks on there, with the ones related to my chest measurement (5) noted. Basically, I have temporarily marked my midpoint. What I don’t know YET is whether I’m having one or two inches between the gussets. That I’ll figure out on my mock-up. I have drafted two sets of gussets, which correspond to the overall difference between underbrush and sports bra measurement - (each gusset = 1/2 (measurement 3 minus measurement 1, divided by two), so the top point of the gusset will be 2 inches. One set is more triangular and the other is more rounded. The latter will give me more room to play with. If those don’t work, I’m going to use a more transitional design, cut out the cup shape and have adjustable cups with a lot of drawstrings, if I need to. I actually have a yet ANOTHER stays pattern design that shows just how to do this.

Having transferred these measurements over, per usual, I note that one of the gusset marks is literally going to be right under my armpit, but that’s my body. Anyway, as I’m a useless blogger, please see the photos attached showing my processes and the drafting of all the bits and pieces, including where I laid my existing short stays over the pattern piece to see if I was, indeed, correct, re the position of the side Gusset slit.

That’s all for now. Unfortunately, none of the photos are in order, but I don’t think it matters particularly. It’s just to give an idea of where I am in the process. Next step is to cut out my mock-up and see where those gusset slits are going to go and if I need them to be as long as I think they should be. 

Long Covid and Costuming

 Ha, friends! Definitely much later than I planned, but still keeping the blog sort-of up to date…

Momentarily distracted while I was ironing black cotton drill, might be twill, yesterday, my eyes fell on the box of Regency costume goodies I had packed up for my sister, who, along with a friend attended the Season 2 Premiere of Bridgerton. Needless to say, I’d expressed my concerns nothing I own would fit (she’s several sizes smaller than me) so she took my advice and sorted costume hire. They looked MARVELLOUS. 

Anyhoo, it’s been a LONG time plan of mine to really sort out that wardrobe; reusing petticoats that don’t really work, dresses that don’t fit or are kind of old and getting to grips with the Chemise A La Reine that I never even finished….which I started back in 2009? 2010? 

Yesterday I successfully pulled apart the chemise a la reine, memories of hand sewing in metres of bias binding apparently something that’s scarred to my memory: Ripping it out took much less time. That’s all now ready to be washed, ready to be stitched up into a drawstring, front fastening Regency Gown. Then I tackled the other, favourite regency gown, which has done me well over the years, but was never QUITE right; the sleeves and neck binding are removed and I am pondering on how to successfully remove the front bodice. I need to locate my white thread, as this will involve reinforcing hems so I don’t have the whole thing fall apart. There’s an underbodice lining that’s pinned to secure it, with the drawstring front over the top; I’m keeping this and using it as the bodice, with a separate skirt. It’s going to be my new petticoat.

All of this, while extremely thrifty, obvs, is actually period correct; old dresses were often altered to become petticoats and others cut down to become the new fashions. It is really, really common. I am particularly pleased at the lengths of bias binding and ribbon I have managed to save in this endeavour as well. 

My favoured type of regency gown is the kind that’s apron or drawstring front, as opposed to the slightly later fixed bodice. This is mainly because of weight fluctuating and those dresses I have found can often be worn to suit a range of sizes. My Lizzie Bennet (a macgyvered creation) is one I made to fit me when larger, but fits well when I am smaller. This would be common as well, particularly amongst those who could not afford a whole new wardrobe for size changes, as well as maternity. I am erring on the side of drawstring front gown, but I don’t have a pattern for it. I *think* I can use existing patterns for most of it and I AM keen to give the Laughing Moon drop front gown dress pattern a chance as I a) have that and b) I hear good things about it. I am lucky in that I have good friends who do a LOT of regency and period costume dress making who can advise on how much to add to the front dress/bodice panels.

My bigger issue is the sleeves; long is period correct, but I prefer the 3/4 length. Sigh.

In recent weeks, I have heard of and been investigating a company called Black Snail and they have a couple of period patterns I am really keen on investigating; one is a regency/transition drawstring front and the other, I think, a drop front, with bonus waistcoat/Weskit/sleeveless spencer thing (which has distinct possibilities to create overgowns from).

The third item I am chopping to pieces is the first petticoat I ever made and, I think, the first pattern I ever, using instructions, was an adaptation - the skirt is coming off, to be reused as a petticoat (but with straps), while the bodice will be used for lining, if I can get enough out of it. It’s been too small over the bust for a long time, plus never accommodated weight fluctuations. 

I also have a striped, very fitted regency dress that I’ve always had reservations about. That’s going to be pulled apart and the fabric reused for something modern. There’s probably enough to get a decent garment out of, either for me or for my nerfling. Actually, there almost certainly is. I’ve got a great kid’s pattern for dungarees or pinafore it might work for. Maybe. If not, definitely longer shorts or summer trousers, deffo another summer skirt for her. Poor kid is now up to two skirts from me, one a cut down from another period garment, another from fabric I had had kicking around for at least a decade. 

Anyway, Long Covid continues to leave its mark and daily reminders of how it’s firmly got me under control. I am about to start the rapid diet phase of a study aimed at seeing if weight loss improves Long Covid symptoms. My suspicion is that it won’t, but I am willing to try anything to see if it helps. Plus side: I am saving on food for 12 weeks. Down side: It is highly likely this won’t work, I won’t lose weight (bs of what LC does), the ingredients are going to set off histamine etc symptoms and so on. I have said I will try. I also suspect I will cheat a bit. Bigger sigh. To be honest, if I DO lose 15% of my weight, I will have to get all the smaller clothes back out of vacuum storage and I’m not thrilled about that idea, I can tell you, but at least I do have them. 

That’s all for now. I hope you’re all well. En marche!