Stays. The first item you need for 18th Century costuming, and cruelly, the most complicated and time-consuming thing to make.
After much procrastination, using the size chart on the pattern envelope as a guide, I made a cereal box mock-up before cutting my fabric.
Many people who have made stays from this pattern have found it to be short-waisted. I have a long torso, so I added half an inch to the length of all the pattern pieces. The cereal box mock-up did not reflect the fit I later got with my fabric. While the length was fine, I ended up with stays that had a full 2 inches of ease at my waist and an extra inch and a half at my bust.
There are many ways you can have a long torso. Length from shoulder to bust longer than average? Or your hip-to-crotch measurement? Long rib cage? I think I have a long rib cage, but I’m not sure. More importantly, there is a really small distance between where my ribs end and my hips begin, which means where the tabs break became a bigger issue than the total length of the stays.
Advice: If you plan to make stays from either of the American Duchess Simplicity patterns, watch the entire AD stays video before you get started. I had the tab open on my browser with the video and even started watching it, but didn’t get very far. I came back to it after I started having issues while making my stays. The video answered most of my questions, but I had already made a couple of mistakes I couldn’t undo.
I have a big list of looks I want to make for costuming, and with a general starting theme of the 1700’s and more specifically, the 1740’s and 1770’s, I wanted to make pieces that would work for both historical costuming, as well as cosplaying some of the characters from my favorite historical dramas, like Verity Rutter from Jamestown, Demelza from Poldark and Claire from Outlander (I’m not a superfan of the show. There is a lot of violence and over-the-top nudity. I am a fan of the costumes).
My first pick was an outfit Claire wears in Season One in several episodes, working in her healer’s dungeon at Castle Leoch, and when she is doing laundry and attending Jenny at the birth of her child at Broch Turoch. These three tasks spoke to me, and added a layer of appreciation for the costume.
As always happens at our house, after I successfully made Six his 1860’s jacket, his brother wanted one, too. And since Four had already been waiting for me to make him a bigger vest since the last one was a mite too short, I figured I’d make him a matching set.
I made this jacket using what I’ve learned so far about historical patterns and techniques and I think I did a pretty good job of imitating my inspiration pic. I also know there’s a lot I don’t know, so I probably messed up in ways I’m not even aware of, and for that, I pray those who know better will forgive me.
My little guy, who is four, needed a warm jacket, 1860’s style, for the Victorian Strolls we’d be attending as a family in our area.
After we did our Victorian Strolls, I kept working on historical accuracy/appearance. Five looked fabulous in her costume, but it wasn’t super accurate, and I wanted to make a dress that better suited the period. The growth dress was perfect because it would last her a while since it’s designed to grow with her.
