Cheater Stays- Progress!

My tools laid out and ready to rumble!

Well, while I was working on Maybelle Thursday night, I had some down time while I was waiting for the foam to cure. So, what better to do than work on my 18th century (cheater) stays! My oak splint arrived awhile ago, and it's just been sitting there in the box patiently waiting its turn. I finished hand sewing my stay panels together Wednesday night and was feeling up to the challenge of tackling the oak splint.


I got my bucket of hot water to soak the oak (about 10 minutes according to the directions) and then gathered everything else I might need. Then I turned on my DVR and got to work.

Scraping the oak wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. My hubby sharpened my knives for me so that they had a good edge which made the work a lot easier. I did a few test strips and kind of got the hang of it.

Cutting the damp oak to width.

I even attempted a few shaped channels where I cut the oak to fit a point and curve so that it filled the channel entirely. It was actually sort of relaxing in a strange way. Of course, at this point I was in the middle of the Maybelle fiasco, so maybe that's why it seemed so methodically calming!

So far so good. Once I finish inserting the oak I can bind the stays and attempt a 1760's dress form... yay...

Historical Sew Fortnightly- Challenge #6: Stripes (or an 18th century striped petticoat)

Not the best photo of me, but you can see my
striped petticoat peeking out from (you guessed
it!) my semi-sheer striped cotton apron.

Well, this was my first challenge that I've done from the Historical Sew Fortnightly hosted by the Dreamstress on her blog. I was a little nervous (as I'm terrible with deadlines not associated with work!) but I thought I would pick a few challenges to try to keep me on track while working on my historical wardrobe this year. To the detriment of my non-stripe-loving-husband, I knew that this challenge was for me! 

This was my first all hand sewn (not just hand finished) petticoat. I am pleased with the results, and will only get better with time!

So, here she is... my sturdy, but lovely, new striped petticoat. All by hand-I'm slowly replacing everything I have made over the years with hand sewn period methods. 

 The Challenge: Stripes (read the original challenge here!)

Fabric: 2.5 yds lavender/white striped linen (maybe linen/cotton blend- I can't rightly remember, but certainly one of the two.)

Pattern: no pattern, per say. Made the way I make all of my 18th c. petticoats: Sew the panels together, cut pocket slits, hem, and then pleat to tape/waistband. Tadaa!

Year: 1768(ish) but can be worn for most of the 18th c.

Notions: 3yds or so of tape for waistband.

How historically accurate is it? As accurate as I know how to make it... It's entirely hand sewn, with a small hem and pleated to waist tapes. My pleats ended up a little smaller than I had planned, but it was so much easier to pleat using the stripes I couldn't help myself.

Top Left: Right side view of the hem. Top Left: underside of the hem.
Bottom: petticoat pleated to waistband tapes. 

Hours to complete: Hmmm.... 4 or so? I kind of spaced it out here or there. (I take a project bag with me everywhere so when I have down time I stitch a bit. But that sounds about right.

First worn: Timeline Trading Day at Midway Village in January (not all the way completed! eek!) First worn finished at Military History Fest in February. (It was my first challenge and I wanted to make sure I would be able to get it done in time!! March is the end of the quarter at the high school where I teach, so I wanted to be extra safe on the deadline. lol)

Total cost: Around $30. (I made one the first time out of only two yards and it ended up being too short after washing... so I gave it to my BFF. I got some more of the fabric for a second, longer version at $12 or thereabouts.)

Something finished, something new (to do)...

....Or projects that will shortly be completed so that I can start even more projects in the future!

Shot of some of us at Kalamazoo. Thanks to Spring Valley
Lodges for the photo! 

My "compromise" stays are almost to the point where I can shave my oak splint down to size and fill the channels. (This will lead to another plaster casting of myself in my 18th c. stays...)

My 1812 dress form is in the final stages of prep work before I can pour foam and finish up. (I just finished smoothing out the inside layer of plaster and can apply paste wax soon!)

Meanwhile, at Kalamazoo I picked up some lovely fabrics from Regency Revisited for some more 1812 gowns. We also stopped in at Field's Fabrics and found some more lovely finds for the regency fabric stash! This makes it even more important for me to finish my dress form so that I can start draping shapes for a regency wardrobe. My fabric stash is ever growing, so now I need to start turning fabric into garments!

Besides, June is coming quickly and I've got to have something appropriate to wear at our first Napoleonic event!

The 1812 Plaster Cast Dress Form Take Two...

Materials prepped and ready for plastering. I used medical
grade plaster for the first two layers, but regular hobby store
for the last. In the future, I would go with medical grade
for the whole thing. (Ran out and needed some quick!)

After letting my last cast dry out (read about that one here), a terrible thing happened; It spread ever so slightly as it dried and my cut edges did not line up completly (some areas as had as much as 3/4" discrepancy between the edges! eek!) so when I tried to put the two pieces back together they did not make the complete mold I had envisioned for myself.

I should have followed the advice of those who came before and tied my two casts together while still somewhat damp to allow for a matching seam. Oh well... back to step one.

In some ways, I was glad that my first form didn't quite turn out as this allowed me to do a couple of things differently on the second go. First, I was able to wear a shift instead of the tank top that was on hand during my first form. Secondly, I used cling wrap instead of a garment bag.

The cling wrap definitely helped reduce bulk between myself and the plaster while still protecting my clothing. Note to self, not a bad idea to use masking/painter's tape to hold down hard to wrap areas like arms/armpits/neck. No big deal, but would probably help keep everything protected. This took much longer to prep than when we used the bag, but overall I think we achieved a better result. I'd say it was about 30 minutes extra but much less puffage than the garment bag.

Cling wrapping over my shift and
1812 stays. (I made these at a
B&T workshop in 2012.)

It's worth the time and effort to cut the cling wrap in half (the long way down the roll) to do things like the waist and bosom. It's also important to note that while you want the cling wrap to stick to itself and be snug to the body, you want to also be careful not to pull it too tightly or it will squish your squishy bits in a different way than they may normally squish. It should lay nicely close to the body, but not necessarily cling to the body.

Once I was all cling wrapped up, my loving husband and my best friend in the whole world helped to plaster me up. They did quite a fabulous job. We didn't take pictures of the plastering me up this time, as it was just the three of us and once everyone's hands got all messy we left the camera alone!

Once the plaster had dried enough to hold it's shape, but still allow some flex for me to get out, we cut me out... with a dremel. (Check out this post for more info on making your own form. I borrowed a lot of ideas from him!) The first time we used bandage scissors. They worked. But the dremel was oh so better (if a bit nerve wracking, at first.) We got a nice clean cut. The only difficult area was the armpit. We managed to cut enough of one that we finished the cut with scissors and then I slid my arm out of the other "sleeve". We will cut that part off of the body for ease.

I've put some pictures of me in my stays as compared to the outer shell of the mold (remember, the foam will fill the inside of the mold so should end up much closer to my actual shape/size). I think they look pretty close so far, so I'm excited to smooth out the inside, wax it up, and pour foam!

Front view. You can see the mold picked up pretty well on my raised left hip
(right in picture).

I'm fairly pleased with the collarbone detail and ability to see the stay line
along the bust. (Part of that shelf look for which the regency is known.)

Back view. Nothing to compare to here
as I forgot to take a sideways back picture.
But it does look pretty close compared to my
actual body.

All things considered.... I definitely will do this again for 1760's, maybe even for a modern dress form. Worth the time and effort, and I can't wait to start draping on the finished form. I don't think I will make my end of February deadline (as I had to recast the form), but I think I can certainly finish her by the first week of March. =)

And now for something completely different... sort of...

Don't worry- I'm in media res with work on my 1812 dress form. (More to come on that later, I promise!) The problem is, I keep thinking that I need to be working on my stays for 1768. Like, problem as in I was awake in bed last night thinking to myself, " You need to work on your stays, too. You can't just stop making clothes for the 1760's because you've decided you need to go to Waterloo... you can't just abandon your first time period like that..."

So, to keep me on target to finish my dress form by the end of February while still working on items for my other period, I decided to compromise. I will make a second pair of 18th century stays using my pattern from my Burnley and Trowbridge workshop in November, but I'll machine stitch the channels and (since I won't be able to acquire and work on the baleen for my delicious teal stays) I'll use riven oak splits for this  pair.

My stay pieces cut and ready for basting. My handy dandy
Burnley and Trowbridge workshop folder in the background.
Those folders are magic! =P

So, to construct this second pair, I decided to use materials on hand (minus the oak splits, which I just ordered today.) I used some leftover linen from my B&T workshop, another piece of natural colored linen I had around the workroom, and I'll probably use the leather I bought for my teal pair to bind them. (I can pick up some more when I go to the breeches workshop next weekend...)

I've got my pieces cut and chalked (see photo). Two panels are prepped and ready for channels, so only eight more to go! I'm really hoping by making this pair first I can make most of my screw ups with binding, etc. on this pair before I go all out with my teal stays--plus these will go together faster as I'm using the machine for channels (the rest will have to be done by hand) and using the oak gives me time to arrange for obtaining the baleen and the tools needed to work it into stays. Plus, theoretically, using the same pattern should allow me to then make a plaster mold for my 1760s dress form while wearing this pair, allowing me to drape another gown or two that will fit over my teal pair of stays once they are finished.

I so dig it!

The Custom Made Plaster Cast Dress Form (1812 style)... Part 1

It all started with my very first workshop about a year and a half ago: my 1770's gown ( made at a Burnley and Trowbridge summer workshop in Aug 2011). It was so awesome. I went with a friend so we paired up as draping partners and were able to drape to our forms as an 18th century mantua maker would have done.  The gown so well fitted and I love the way I feel when I wear it. This started an addiction...

I next attended a workshop on devilish details, an 1812 corset workshop, an 18th century stays workshop, and coming up soon- an 18th century breeches workshop. (Not to mention the number of workshops I plan to take in the future!)

The more I decide I want to do things in as much of the period manner as possible, the more I am enjoying what I make and the more I want to make more! This venture often leads me down some pretty interesting paths to achieve my desires. ... read on for the first really crazy (or cool, if you're me) thing I've done this year for the sake of authenticity.

The Inspiration:

Waterloo 2015 is coming and I've nothing to put over that 1812 corset! I need to make some regency wear, and I'd like to make a change or two of clothes for my 18th century persona, also. Alas, I have no draping partner here, nor a workshop to attend to obtain one. Enter a little bit of ingenuity and a whole lot of here's hoping this works!

Me in a JC Penny bag over my 1812 corset
and covered in plaster bandages! (I cut
out my face because this was my "put the
camera away and cut me out or die" face...)
More pics to come...

The Crazy (Cool):
I decided to make a plaster cast of myself in my 1812 undies. That's right. I'd read quite a few tutorials online for DIY dress forms using this method and having better results than the duct tape or packing tape form, so I figured- Why not? My other option was to find some way to build a full size replica of myself that would act like skin and bone so that I could put my period undergarments on the form and it would squish into them just like me, or of getting my body scanned in a 3-D scanner wearing the undergarments for each of the time periods I portray.. After a lot of research (ballistics gel, skeletal structures, facilities with 3-D scanning capabilities, etc.) I figured that sounded like waaaay to much time/work/money.

I needed a better solution. Quick.

So I got plastered. Literally.

It really didn't take as long as I thought it would. The whole process start to finish was maybe 3 hours. It was relatively painless and I think my helpers actually had fun. (Special thank you to my husband and mother-in-law for their helping hands.)

My form has been curing for seven days now and I am ready to smooth out the inside with some plaster of Paris. This way when I fill with foam it will have a smoother finish (less sanding later on?). I'm going to work on creating a stand for it this week, so that I can cast the foam mold this weekend.

Once the foam cures around the stand I can take off the mold and VOILA! I'll sand her smooth and create a classy looking cover--maybe top her off with some neck and shoulder caps.

And then the fun part begins as I start draping my Regency wardrobe on a replica of myself.

Here's hoping this works!

Greeting the New Year

With the new year under way, I am assembling the list of things I should like to get completed for my "historical selves" as much as for my contemporary self.

After having decided that we would like to attend Waterloo 2015, I realized that I am going to have to really get started on that regency wardrobe I've been hedging about for the last few years. I started my 1812 corset in February of 2012 (via a phenomenal Burnley and Trowbridge workshop in Nashville, TN) and have been cording away on it since. Technically, it is wearable... I just want to cord the heck out of it to make it sturdy and pretty.

I've also been collecting (not hoarding as some might think) fabric for some lovely regency gowns. I'll need to make a few petticoats for this period and a few shifts, also. I'll be doing all of this by hand with period techniques.

The problems posed: I can't easily drape to form on myself, neither do I have someone able to drape on me who can keep the same hectic schedule I do and is available whenever I have the odd hour or so to work on a project. Thus, in order to facilitate the large quantity of items desired in the most expedient of fashions, I believe I'm going to have to create a body double.

I've been contemplating this for quite some time now, as it is, but have simply been procrastinating. I've seen quite a number of women who have made a variety of doubles for themselves out of all manner of materials. As my husband says, I am not a woman of half measures. I have decided on plaster casting myself to create a mold and then filling said mold with a polyurethane foam. The resulting form will be finished with a cover and voila. I have read many successful attempts at this from women who sew their 21st century clothing. It is my hope that it will lend itself well to the art of mantua-making.

Ideally, while I will attempt this first with my 1812 shape, I would like to create a form of myself for each time period I portray (1760-75, 1780-90, 1800-20, 1870-80's, etc.) Why the number of different forms, you ask? Why not simply make one and then just put on the variety of different undergarments? Well, if you look at the bust shape of 1765 vs 1812 you'll see there is quite a bit of difference. With a hard form that does not mold like flesh does, it would be almost impossible to take my natural body shape, cast it in hard foam, and then reshape it with the undergarments of the period. So, instead, I will cast each mold in the appropriate set of undergarments (namely the appropriate stays/corset- panniers, crinolines, bustles, etc. can all be added to the form post casting) and be able to drape my gowns to their appropriate period's form. It may sound like a lot of work (and it will be) but I firmly believe the benefits of being able to drape on "myself" will far outweigh the initial amount of work required. It will save me time in the long run and allow me to make better use of the time I have to sew.

18th c. Stays in Progress from B&T Workshop

Probably a form for my husband should be in the works, as well. He is lucky in that we will just need one form for him, but we'll need legs on his!

So the form is my big goal to have done by Feb. I'd like to start draping an 1812/14 gown to have done by June.

At another B&T workshop I attended this last November, I drafted and fit a pair of 1760's stays. I am in love with them! I cannot wait to get them all finished (they are my guilty pleasure stays- that teal! Delicious!). I've got to start channeling them soon and then need to order the baleen to fill them with.

While I am still in the process of making my specific garment list, the 1812 body form will be the first order of business. I'll sort the rest out from there!

Stay tuned for what 2013 has in store!