Word of warning regarding linen tape: If I am not mistaken, I recently saw a Facebook post by Wm Booth & Draper warning it's been discontinued and they & Burnley & Trowbridge had bought up all the stock they could and were already running low on some widths. So it may not be so easy and cheap to acquire anymore!
A note about kirtles - I was very skeptical about their efficacy as bust support as a 34DD. Then I made a side-lacing kirtle out of coat-weight wool, and all my doubts went away. I was initially wearing a linen side-lacing "bra" that I made under it, and that was actually too much. Dunno how historically accurate my kirtle is, but it sure does provide bust support.
not exactly the same but adjacent... I'm a 32L and I have one dress that's a shwe shwe/anakara type waxed cotton and a polyester lining with a normal zip. It's the only dress I have where I can actually go braless and no one can tell. I think we're overthinking how much support we need tbh bc that dress is just a normal fitted bodice and a circle skirt. No crazy panelling.
@@saritshull3909 Yep! My kirtle has 1 piece of fabric for the front, 1 for the back. Only panels are the skirt panels start around the hip. Only shaping is through lacing and what curves the felted wool allows, and it's still highly effective.
you are probably the only person who instinctually percives stays as comfy, but as someone who regulary wears corsets and stay hybrids, I find those supportive garments very comfy, they feel like a permanent hug . . . moving in a corset can serve as a form of stimming
@@SingingSealRiana man, I’ve never thought of it that way. I don’t personally need to stim but I think I know exactly what you mean. I am absolutely obsessed with actually feeling my clothes while I’m wearing them and moving around. Stays are so comforting because I can always feel them without being uncomfortable. In a similar vein, swooshy floor length skirts are incredible to walk in because the fabric just swirls around your ankles. 10/10
I wore a pair of stays for a wedding and i kid you not this was the most comfortable i've ever felt while fully dressed up for a wedding. I felt supported without being suffocated or condtricted and I didn't have the problem of bras underwire compressing under the chest. And I KNEW i wasn't at risk of my boobs slipping out. Honestly, after wearing those i came to resent the fact that we moved on to bras. I wish stays came back into bormal fashion as an undergarment
The loss of that fitting footage for AD is an absolute shame. Stays are a beast for many sewists and I personally haven't found much helpful fitting info. Im looking forward to your future vids on the topic.
@@makadoodledoo Having made not too few breeches by now, as good as the video is, it just cannot feature all the finer points in fitting them, differences, techniques and ways to change and improve fit. That would need a multiple hour or multi part series of videos just on all the ways and points of fitting them for whatever style or decade. Like, in general, what we see in these videos, as extensive as they at times might appear, is just scratching the surface.
One added point to making buckram. From the things people like Mark Wallis and Neal Hurst share, 18th century buckram, if bought ready made, was calendered. Fed thrugh hot rolleres under pressure supposedly, to copress it and really get it to bind and the gum deep into the fibres. So what they reccomend is to let it dry till still a bit moist, just a little tacky but nothing coming of it, then iron it with an iron on a hot setting (ading some bakeing paper or other stuff as a sperating layer to not ruin the iron) till it´s completely dry. I have found that this really does change the durability and quality of the buckram a bit. It´s less prone to loose it´s stiffness after more prolonged wear and easier to get back into shape when pressing.
Neal was actually the one who initially taught me to make buckram. I didn't show ironing in this because of filming limitations, but since you generally have to after this process since it's so wrinkled it wasn't a concern. It does help to retain the stiffness through the making process, but a few hot days in the stays and it's gone pretty quickly. By then it doesn't matter and is more of the "breaking in" process.
One of my favorite things about all your videos is how well-researched they are. It would be so helpful if you could show us your process! Where do you look to find some of these fantastic articles, advertisements, fashion plates, etc? How do you determine the usefulness of an article to the particular topic you're researching? Do you have any tips for searching a database instead of getting lost inside it? (That's never happened to me before ;D) Thanks for all the quality you deliver on this platform; I appreciate it!
Your timing is impeccable. I just started trying to resize a 18th century stays pattern from a book last week. I am of course not standard sized with my swayback. I have been pulling out hair in frustrating trying to figure out how to account of that but honestly, like you, I just need to do it once and go from there. Thanks for the reminder that sometimes you just gotta get out of the planning stage.
Feel your pain, fellow swayback sufferer. I am working on my third corset now. The first pair was a commercial pattern. Will not ever fit. I have had to work it out by mock ups. My corset has a nice kick out in the back piece to fit that sway. Love learning from NIcole. I am hoping to try making stays next.
@laurenarigo3894 thanks for the suggestion, but I have Connie Crawford's pattern drafting book (totally stole it from my mom who likes her but doesn't like drafting) and I was able to make well fitting basic blocks from it
I'm sick of bras. I'm starting to think a shorter stay would be exactly what I've been stating I needed instead. Thank you for posting this, I makes me think maybe of testing it out. Thank you a billion for your in depth details, research and such. It really is important and helpful.
OMG I'm so happy you're doing a video series on this! I have done one mock up and a final pair but the fit and length are a bit off. I just recently altered my paper pattern for a more custom fit so this is my 3rd round but I learn that's how sewing is. Ill be following along with this series very closely to help guide me! Thanks again! 😊
Thanks for talking through the construction and tailoring to your body - I hadn't encountered that kind of explanation before and it was really interesting! Very much looking forward to the fitting series!
I am currently working on a pair of 1780s stays as well, though I have the feeling yours will be a lot nicer than mine. I working off of the Simplicity 8162 pattern. Unfortunately, I think my body changed quite a bit since I made the cardboard mock-up (thanks work stress) and now the stays are too big (they pretty much lace shut). A warning to anyone making this pattern, the measurement guide they give is a lie. You will probably need to go 2 or more sizes smaller than what is recommended for your waist measurement. I also find that the pattern is way too high under the arm and needs to be trimmed down at least half an inch to avoid poking.
This is going to be so awesome! I can't wait for the next part. And on a different topic, it's fantastic how our bodies change as we age! And I'm not saying that like it's a bad thing, we go from one type of beauty to another, like an evolving pokemon with a profound understanding of its own mortality and its own strengths.
Thank you for putting the Pokemon reference. I needed to see it that way. I always see the beauty in others but never in myself. So thank you for making me feel like a bad a ss Pokemon.
It's funny how you released a video on making stays at a time where I'm about to start making a pair of stays for the first time, I'll be taking a lot of notes
I heard you talk about your video for drafting stays and i am STOKED! i literally can't wait to see that coming. I love drafting, but stays and corsetry are not part of my fashion training. Great work!
I'm a year late to this, but it's interesting that Mariah Pattie addresses the same thing you're talking about at 16:50 where the arc method doesn't quite work in her video Sewing tab-less stays: Making the perfect 18th century / Victorian corset combo for summer (🐥🐥🐥🐥🐥🐥🐥) about two and a half minutes in. She said that for some of us short-waisted girlies, we tend to have a tilt and so she adjusts for it on her arc-method pattern.
Oh my gods I am finally understanding how to make stays now. It was a big question mark for me for ages and now I actually feel like I would be able to pattern a pair that would fit me well!! Thank you!! I'm really looking forward to your future videos on Stays!!!
Your dog (Bailey isn't it) forcing herself under your arm reminds me of my cat when I'm trying to draw while listening to/watching videos on my computer and he decides to lay down right on top of my paper in front of my computer. I have to move the keyboard so he doesn't accidentally press a key and do something weird. That happened when I was listening to an audiobook: he pressed some key on my keyboard and the audiobook went back 8 hours!
I am looking forward to this. I have been tying up loss ends of odd jobs at the moment and now that I finally have a spot I can sit down and sew I want to get started on my stays finally 😊😊I just need to pad out my new body form as it’s way too small in the bust area 😹😹I bought some neoprene to make the finally skin of my body form so it can take pins being stabbed into it 😹😹 I bought my own inker loom so I could make my own linen tape at any width that I wanted, plus I wanted to make a belt that I knew would fit me.
Your timing is impeccable! I just pulled out my 1740s pair of stays from their sad UFO pile and i've been struggling figure out the fit. This is inspiring and i'm stoked for the rest of the series
i’m so excited to see this video- i bought a pattern off etsy to make my first pair of stays soon, and watching you make some gives me a lot of inspiration!
I never realized that "tailor style" was a thing! I don't have much space to work in my house, so unless I'm at my machine, I usually sit on my bed with a lap desk. Sometimes I prop it higher with pillows for close work.
I’m so glad you are doing this I have made a pair of stays before but they are not a great fit. The under arm is too high the hips don’t have enough room so many issues really. So I’m exited to see what I can do in the future. I have back pain as well.(muscle spasms typically) and I now where the corsets I’ve made I call them my pretty back braces. Anyways I would love to correctly make a pair of stays. I think one large problem that I recently found out is that one of my hips is higher than the other, so that’s fun 😂
This is exactly the sort of content I am obsessed with! I love stays and corsets so much. Listening to your explanation of the arc method, we have similar body shapes and it now makes much more sense why it didn’t work out when I tried it.
Excited for this as I am looking to venture into late 18th century for the first time and, of course, need stays. As it happens, I did see that B&T has the chevron twill seam tape so I think that's going in the cart along with boning.
Not sure if you accounted for this but Mariah Pattie's stay curve video shows shortening/lengthening the curve on one side to account for short/long-waistedness. I don't think I'm really either but I do have a longer waist in the front than in the back so I chose to try this method of adjusting the curve and it worked great.
Yay! Excited to see this progress! Very interesting and informative video. Im attempting to make basically a long line bra for myself based loosely off those Regency short stays.
Thank you for sharing and I look forward to the development immensely. The amount of work put into this is appreciated. I've had a vague idea about stays, thinking about it being retro so that it can be worn as an outer garment and machine sewn. This video series will give me much to consider before starting my projects.
I've been trying for at least a year to figure out if the waist on stays goes at or slightly above the top of the tabs. And absolutely nothing gives an actual answer. Examining your pattern, it appears the waist goes at the tabs. So I'm excited to finally know and maybe be able to make my own pair fit! Everyone says that stays have to be fitted right, but no one then says what that "right" goal is.
This is lovely ❤ I hope you don't mind me saying so, but it's so nice seeing a corset process for a lady whose on the curvier side ❤ That's not to insult you, I know you've spoken before about gaining muscle and going to the gym, and I think that's admirable ❤
well you have to think of the arch as similar to the armscye, some parts are flatter and others curlier, but it still goes about the arm forming a circular shape, this is the same with the waist, with the different parts standing at different angles to each other.
Not tusks. Baleen are cartilaginous protrusions that make up the sieve that whales use to filter food out of water. Were it tusks, Narwhals would be extinct and as they have a singular horn, it would be extremely expensive - au contraire, one whale provides a ton of baleen in handy strips.
Thank you Nicol for another amazing video! I was wondering - where are the straight grain lines on each pattern piece..? Maybe I missed it in the video…
20:39 This is definitely not the part anyone should be focusing on, but you won't happen to have more information/sources of info on these tapes/ribbons (I have found more success looking them up with the term ribbon), right? You say they don't make those anymore, and my first thought is, "how can I make them?" I did find some info, thought so far I mostly looked for the materials that were commonly used. Most of the few sources I found said silk, which of course matches with your choice of tape. One source, which I haven't managed to find again, said that the ribbons were made of silk with linen inserts, I assume that's how the raised pattern is created, potentially with some of the warp threads being of a different fibre. I'll definitely have a lot of work and research to do before any sort of ribbon will come out from under my hands, but this is something that I would very much like to do. I would accept and dearly appreciate any sort of help you can give.
I'm planning on making the Scroop Augusta pattern and as a complete stay making novice, I was wondering how you'd know what alterations to make (obviously besides them being way too big or small etc)
Hi ! Thank you for making such interesting videos about historical costumes, it is nice to see how stays are made 🤩. Do you have any books you recommend about history and evolution of stays and corsets in French or in English by any chance ?
I needed to watch this twice, the fitting... How did you decide that fit wasn't good at the back high hip? I originally thought that it was just the bias of the fabric creating the small wrinkle. Birdy
There shouldn't be any wrinkles in that area. A few light ones that change as you move around is fine, but those are folds that only go away if I make the piece bigger or cut the tabs higher. If I bend forward and lengthen the torso it also goes away. I know it's a problem area for me that gets sore and bruised, so I always look for it.
Is there a corset or stay that would help with back pain due to tilted pelvis? Mine likes to lean forward and has cause major pain and even bulging discs in my lumbar. I’m also a US 24 which has its own issues with back pain. I can’t picture what shape would help hold the hips and yet let me sit and not dig into my legs. My imagination isn’t figuring that puzzle out! If you can, HELP! ❤
I'm not sure what in this vídeo made me think of this (perhpas tour Comment on adjusting to body changes), but I'm Very curious what the undergarments for a pregnant lady would be. Would love to ser a video on the subject
Alternative for the expensive and often hard to get Gum Tragacanth: Gum Arabic Which is most likely just as historically correct as Tragacanth, as it was with Tragacanth a widely traded Gum during the 18th century, so readily available and has basically the same material properties as tragacanth when used for stiffening buckram, as it too is a water soluble tree resin. And going off the historical documentation on making Buckram I could find, a specific type of Gum (or paste, or Glue, all valid) is never specified. And if have some sources from the early 19th century mentioning Gum Arabic as a stiffening agent. So while I so far have only circumstencial evidence, it a lot of it and taking the make do attitude of historical tailoring into account, I find it hard to Imagine that it wasn´t used. Especially considering that it makes a buckram that is basically the same as Tragacanth. My main problem is that historical sources basically never mention what type of Gum was used. A question for Nicole here, do you know the primary source on Tragacanth being used? All I have ever been able to find is a self perpetuating loop of it "Being the most commonly used Gum for buckram.", but nowere one word on where exactly that "fact" came from. And that really bothers me.
I can't say on the historical side, and there's always a chance that the variations weren't considered as important at the time or may have more to do with pricing and availability. However, from personal experience (and some modern science research) Gum Arabic is much more water soluble. It dissolves slowly, but still is more affected by it. Gum Tragacanth really never feels like it dissolves, and I usually have to do a VERY slow process of adding tiny bits to hot water and occasionally using the microwave to disperse it if I'm not patient enough. It never really feels homogenous though, just not lumpy. I do wonder what difference that makes in the long term effectiveness of the gums when it comes to humidity and the body. I honestly use Tragacanth because it's what's available from art and leather stores that I shop in.
About a year ago i spent 6 seasons of game of thrones (so about 70 hours) sewing a pair of stays. I only learnt today that theyre meant to be fitted to your body and the ones i made are 2-4 inches smaller 😭
If the plan is to wear stays with an adjustable skirt that would be eqivalent to 1 petticoat from history in terms of weight, could you eliminate the tabs without causing issues? I'm aiming for modern wardrobe with some historical techniques due to health issues and will be hand stitching everything due to personal choice (I am scared of machines so no plans to buy one but am getting one fixed for my youngest).
If the skirt is comfortable to be worn like modern clothing, then it's fine. 18th century petticoats just have a narrow band at the waist and tie tight to stay in place. More than one of those and it starts to be too much for long!
@@NicoleRudolph Totally understandable! Lol, I've grabbed chunks of fabric that were not enough for a skirt for me and they were already heavy! I wound up choosing to aim more for modern dress instead of walking skirts and such because it just seemed hot without AC in high humidity to have so much cotton on me and linen would be super expensive at this point. Thank you for answering my question!
I'm very excited of this series! I have a project of doing 1770's stays. I have done a mockup and a bit scared of starting actually doing the stays. I need to do some padding under my boobs because I don't know how else I can have my breasts rise up to the correct place 😅. So yeah the fitting is very hard and over my skills...
Would You ever consider selling a pattern of these or, especially, the older stays You have shown, or in pinch,flat picture? I have some issues with patterning and setting up the channels and the amount of work they take makes mistakes very costly time wise. Does anyone have any good resources on patterning they could share? As in, reasons for enlarging some pieces over others, adjusting for asymmetry, etc.
Word of warning regarding linen tape: If I am not mistaken, I recently saw a Facebook post by Wm Booth & Draper warning it's been discontinued and they & Burnley & Trowbridge had bought up all the stock they could and were already running low on some widths. So it may not be so easy and cheap to acquire anymore!
A note about kirtles - I was very skeptical about their efficacy as bust support as a 34DD. Then I made a side-lacing kirtle out of coat-weight wool, and all my doubts went away. I was initially wearing a linen side-lacing "bra" that I made under it, and that was actually too much. Dunno how historically accurate my kirtle is, but it sure does provide bust support.
not exactly the same but adjacent...
I'm a 32L and I have one dress that's a shwe shwe/anakara type waxed cotton and a polyester lining with a normal zip.
It's the only dress I have where I can actually go braless and no one can tell.
I think we're overthinking how much support we need tbh bc that dress is just a normal fitted bodice and a circle skirt. No crazy panelling.
@@saritshull3909 Yep! My kirtle has 1 piece of fabric for the front, 1 for the back. Only panels are the skirt panels start around the hip. Only shaping is through lacing and what curves the felted wool allows, and it's still highly effective.
I love the look of stays as a garment, they look so comfy and pretty
you are probably the only person who instinctually percives stays as comfy, but as someone who regulary wears corsets and stay hybrids, I find those supportive garments very comfy, they feel like a permanent hug . . . moving in a corset can serve as a form of stimming
@@SingingSealRiana man, I’ve never thought of it that way. I don’t personally need to stim but I think I know exactly what you mean. I am absolutely obsessed with actually feeling my clothes while I’m wearing them and moving around. Stays are so comforting because I can always feel them without being uncomfortable. In a similar vein, swooshy floor length skirts are incredible to walk in because the fabric just swirls around your ankles. 10/10
I wore a pair of stays for a wedding and i kid you not this was the most comfortable i've ever felt while fully dressed up for a wedding. I felt supported without being suffocated or condtricted and I didn't have the problem of bras underwire compressing under the chest. And I KNEW i wasn't at risk of my boobs slipping out. Honestly, after wearing those i came to resent the fact that we moved on to bras. I wish stays came back into bormal fashion as an undergarment
The loss of that fitting footage for AD is an absolute shame. Stays are a beast for many sewists and I personally haven't found much helpful fitting info. Im looking forward to your future vids on the topic.
Same with breeches. These things just need to fit so "right", it´s really a lot of work to get right without good helpful information.
@@theexchipmunk she does have a video for that with all the fitting info though
@@makadoodledoo Having made not too few breeches by now, as good as the video is, it just cannot feature all the finer points in fitting them, differences, techniques and ways to change and improve fit. That would need a multiple hour or multi part series of videos just on all the ways and points of fitting them for whatever style or decade. Like, in general, what we see in these videos, as extensive as they at times might appear, is just scratching the surface.
There's a set of blog posts to go with the Scroop/Virgil's Fine Goods Augusta stays pattern that does cover at least some of the bases.
One added point to making buckram. From the things people like Mark Wallis and Neal Hurst share, 18th century buckram, if bought ready made, was calendered. Fed thrugh hot rolleres under pressure supposedly, to copress it and really get it to bind and the gum deep into the fibres. So what they reccomend is to let it dry till still a bit moist, just a little tacky but nothing coming of it, then iron it with an iron on a hot setting (ading some bakeing paper or other stuff as a sperating layer to not ruin the iron) till it´s completely dry. I have found that this really does change the durability and quality of the buckram a bit. It´s less prone to loose it´s stiffness after more prolonged wear and easier to get back into shape when pressing.
Neal was actually the one who initially taught me to make buckram. I didn't show ironing in this because of filming limitations, but since you generally have to after this process since it's so wrinkled it wasn't a concern. It does help to retain the stiffness through the making process, but a few hot days in the stays and it's gone pretty quickly. By then it doesn't matter and is more of the "breaking in" process.
One of my favorite things about all your videos is how well-researched they are. It would be so helpful if you could show us your process! Where do you look to find some of these fantastic articles, advertisements, fashion plates, etc? How do you determine the usefulness of an article to the particular topic you're researching? Do you have any tips for searching a database instead of getting lost inside it? (That's never happened to me before ;D) Thanks for all the quality you deliver on this platform; I appreciate it!
Your timing is impeccable. I just started trying to resize a 18th century stays pattern from a book last week. I am of course not standard sized with my swayback. I have been pulling out hair in frustrating trying to figure out how to account of that but honestly, like you, I just need to do it once and go from there. Thanks for the reminder that sometimes you just gotta get out of the planning stage.
Feel your pain, fellow swayback sufferer. I am working on my third corset now. The first pair was a commercial pattern. Will not ever fit. I have had to work it out by mock ups. My corset has a nice kick out in the back piece to fit that sway. Love learning from NIcole. I am hoping to try making stays next.
I would look at keystone tailoring and dress cutting I think they have part about draft a body block for sway back. I can’t remember.
@laurenarigo3894 thanks for the suggestion, but I have Connie Crawford's pattern drafting book (totally stole it from my mom who likes her but doesn't like drafting) and I was able to make well fitting basic blocks from it
I'm sick of bras. I'm starting to think a shorter stay would be exactly what I've been stating I needed instead. Thank you for posting this, I makes me think maybe of testing it out. Thank you a billion for your in depth details, research and such. It really is important and helpful.
Look into regency short stays! I am working on a pair for the same reason you're considering, I am just done with modern bras.
@autumnleddy5966 thank you! I was wondering where to start looking for patterns or such .
OMG I'm so happy you're doing a video series on this! I have done one mock up and a final pair but the fit and length are a bit off. I just recently altered my paper pattern for a more custom fit so this is my 3rd round but I learn that's how sewing is. Ill be following along with this series very closely to help guide me! Thanks again! 😊
I love how you're getting back to your You Tube sewing roots with this video.
Thanks for talking through the construction and tailoring to your body - I hadn't encountered that kind of explanation before and it was really interesting! Very much looking forward to the fitting series!
Glad you are happy and well. I also have a child since your videos stopped. Life keeps flying by. Wishing you continued joy.
Thank you! I am just starting to make a Rev War ensemble for 2026 so this series is perfect!
I am currently working on a pair of 1780s stays as well, though I have the feeling yours will be a lot nicer than mine. I working off of the Simplicity 8162 pattern. Unfortunately, I think my body changed quite a bit since I made the cardboard mock-up (thanks work stress) and now the stays are too big (they pretty much lace shut). A warning to anyone making this pattern, the measurement guide they give is a lie. You will probably need to go 2 or more sizes smaller than what is recommended for your waist measurement. I also find that the pattern is way too high under the arm and needs to be trimmed down at least half an inch to avoid poking.
This is going to be so awesome! I can't wait for the next part. And on a different topic, it's fantastic how our bodies change as we age! And I'm not saying that like it's a bad thing, we go from one type of beauty to another, like an evolving pokemon with a profound understanding of its own mortality and its own strengths.
Thank you for putting the Pokemon reference. I needed to see it that way. I always see the beauty in others but never in myself. So thank you for making me feel like a bad a ss Pokemon.
It's funny how you released a video on making stays at a time where I'm about to start making a pair of stays for the first time, I'll be taking a lot of notes
I heard you talk about your video for drafting stays and i am STOKED! i literally can't wait to see that coming. I love drafting, but stays and corsetry are not part of my fashion training. Great work!
Mariah Pattie has some great videos on this, too!
Woot!! 🎉 Looking forward to this series.
I am thrilled for this series. This might become my new favorite video series! (Sorry Winnifred)
I'm a year late to this, but it's interesting that Mariah Pattie addresses the same thing you're talking about at 16:50 where the arc method doesn't quite work in her video Sewing tab-less stays: Making the perfect 18th century / Victorian corset combo for summer (🐥🐥🐥🐥🐥🐥🐥) about two and a half minutes in.
She said that for some of us short-waisted girlies, we tend to have a tilt and so she adjusts for it on her arc-method pattern.
Oh my gods I am finally understanding how to make stays now. It was a big question mark for me for ages and now I actually feel like I would be able to pattern a pair that would fit me well!! Thank you!! I'm really looking forward to your future videos on Stays!!!
I am VERY excited for this series!
This came out at the perfect time! Am drafting a pair of stays right now!
I’m looking forward to seeing the next one! This was great for how to make adjustments.
I love to see stays being made and Im so excited for seeing more late 8th century stuff! Would love to see a 1790s mens suit
Your dog (Bailey isn't it) forcing herself under your arm reminds me of my cat when I'm trying to draw while listening to/watching videos on my computer and he decides to lay down right on top of my paper in front of my computer. I have to move the keyboard so he doesn't accidentally press a key and do something weird. That happened when I was listening to an audiobook: he pressed some key on my keyboard and the audiobook went back 8 hours!
I am looking forward to this. I have been tying up loss ends of odd jobs at the moment and now that I finally have a spot I can sit down and sew I want to get started on my stays finally 😊😊I just need to pad out my new body form as it’s way too small in the bust area 😹😹I bought some neoprene to make the finally skin of my body form so it can take pins being stabbed into it 😹😹
I bought my own inker loom so I could make my own linen tape at any width that I wanted, plus I wanted to make a belt that I knew would fit me.
Your timing is impeccable! I just pulled out my 1740s pair of stays from their sad UFO pile and i've been struggling figure out the fit. This is inspiring and i'm stoked for the rest of the series
I would love a series of the history and making of all the corsets. I love watching all of your stuff
Yay! I'm so excited! I know I shouldn't, but I want to remake my stays, YET AGAIN, but make them like how you'll do it. I just love your content. :)
i’m so excited to see this video- i bought a pattern off etsy to make my first pair of stays soon, and watching you make some gives me a lot of inspiration!
Oooh very interesting, to see the process and reasoning in such detail, thank you! Looking forward to the rest of the series.
I never realized that "tailor style" was a thing! I don't have much space to work in my house, so unless I'm at my machine, I usually sit on my bed with a lap desk. Sometimes I prop it higher with pillows for close work.
I am in need of my first pair of 18th century stays and am eagerly awaiting the continuation of the series.
I can’t wait! I find this fascinating I wish I was accurate and painstaking enough to make some xx
ohh new motivation to try making stays again!
my fingers: pls monsieur, we beg thee, don't 😢
I can't wait to see how they turn out!
I think I may need my own stays! Thx
Wish i had watched this earlier in the week! I already cut out a pair yesterday.
That's exactly the serie of videos I need right now ❤️❤️
I hope to see the finished stays. Your puppy is adorable!
Love watching videos on stays and corsetera in general! Can’t wait for the next video!
Looking forward to the next episode ❣️
I’m so glad you are doing this I have made a pair of stays before but they are not a great fit. The under arm is too high the hips don’t have enough room so many issues really. So I’m exited to see what I can do in the future. I have back pain as well.(muscle spasms typically) and I now where the corsets I’ve made I call them my pretty back braces. Anyways I would love to correctly make a pair of stays. I think one large problem that I recently found out is that one of my hips is higher than the other, so that’s fun 😂
This is exactly the sort of content I am obsessed with! I love stays and corsets so much.
Listening to your explanation of the arc method, we have similar body shapes and it now makes much more sense why it didn’t work out when I tried it.
Excited for this as I am looking to venture into late 18th century for the first time and, of course, need stays. As it happens, I did see that B&T has the chevron twill seam tape so I think that's going in the cart along with boning.
I want to make my own pair of stays soon for a costume. This series is going to be so helpful
Not sure if you accounted for this but Mariah Pattie's stay curve video shows shortening/lengthening the curve on one side to account for short/long-waistedness. I don't think I'm really either but I do have a longer waist in the front than in the back so I chose to try this method of adjusting the curve and it worked great.
If you see where she shows how her arc is canted forwards it’s essentially what Mariah was describing needs to be done on her body to
I'm excited to see this come together. I'm looking forward to all the videos in this series.
So excited for this project!!! ❤
Very pretty 😀
Wonderful. Thank you lovely lady Nicole : )
How exciting! Looking forward to this series!
Very informative, thank you.
I am very excited for this series. Thank you.
Can’t wait to follow along with this!
oh that's so wild, i ordered silk braid from the same place ages ago for corset lacing! and also to use as a substitute for soutache on a waistcoat.
I am soooo excited for this project !!🎉
Yes im so excited for the fitting series.
so interesting to see how you work, thank you
Yay! Excited to see this progress! Very interesting and informative video. Im attempting to make basically a long line bra for myself based loosely off those Regency short stays.
Thank you for sharing and I look forward to the development immensely. The amount of work put into this is appreciated.
I've had a vague idea about stays, thinking about it being retro so that it can be worn as an outer garment and machine sewn. This video series will give me much to consider before starting my projects.
bless this academic rigor + great fun
This is such an amazing resource for someone like me who wants to make my own stays! Thank you, and I cannot wait for the fitting video now ❤
I've been trying for at least a year to figure out if the waist on stays goes at or slightly above the top of the tabs. And absolutely nothing gives an actual answer. Examining your pattern, it appears the waist goes at the tabs. So I'm excited to finally know and maybe be able to make my own pair fit! Everyone says that stays have to be fitted right, but no one then says what that "right" goal is.
Very excited for this video series! I've been looking into making stays lately and I always appreciate how thorough you are.
This is lovely ❤
I hope you don't mind me saying so, but it's so nice seeing a corset process for a lady whose on the curvier side ❤
That's not to insult you, I know you've spoken before about gaining muscle and going to the gym, and I think that's admirable ❤
Puppy! Stunning video as always. ^_^
I love these videos! Please keep it up. I find this stuff so interesting :)
I’m still very scared of making a pair of stays but this video helps.
well you have to think of the arch as similar to the armscye, some parts are flatter and others curlier, but it still goes about the arm forming a circular shape, this is the same with the waist, with the different parts standing at different angles to each other.
Stays are really intimidating with that wrapping side piece. Especially since my torso is disproportionately long.
Nicole: ...or colloquially whalebone-
Me: OR TUSKS!!! WHALE TUSKS SHOVED IN THE CORSET!!!
I'm sorry that one video is one of my faves truly!
Not tusks. Baleen are cartilaginous protrusions that make up the sieve that whales use to filter food out of water. Were it tusks, Narwhals would be extinct and as they have a singular horn, it would be extremely expensive - au contraire, one whale provides a ton of baleen in handy strips.
@@margodphd no thats a joke from a previous video about corsets Abby made :D I'm aware it's not tusks.
@@necrofatasy oh:D it whooshed over me then:D
@@margodphd hehe no worries!!
This is fascinating and thanks
Thank you Nicol for another amazing video!
I was wondering - where are the straight grain lines on each pattern piece..?
Maybe I missed it in the video…
20:39 This is definitely not the part anyone should be focusing on, but you won't happen to have more information/sources of info on these tapes/ribbons (I have found more success looking them up with the term ribbon), right? You say they don't make those anymore, and my first thought is, "how can I make them?"
I did find some info, thought so far I mostly looked for the materials that were commonly used. Most of the few sources I found said silk, which of course matches with your choice of tape. One source, which I haven't managed to find again, said that the ribbons were made of silk with linen inserts, I assume that's how the raised pattern is created, potentially with some of the warp threads being of a different fibre.
I'll definitely have a lot of work and research to do before any sort of ribbon will come out from under my hands, but this is something that I would very much like to do. I would accept and dearly appreciate any sort of help you can give.
I'm planning on making the Scroop Augusta pattern and as a complete stay making novice, I was wondering how you'd know what alterations to make (obviously besides them being way too big or small etc)
Hi ! Thank you for making such interesting videos about historical costumes, it is nice to see how stays are made 🤩.
Do you have any books you recommend about history and evolution of stays and corsets in French or in English by any chance ?
I cant wait❤
I wish...beautiful ❤
I needed to watch this twice, the fitting... How did you decide that fit wasn't good at the back high hip? I originally thought that it was just the bias of the fabric creating the small wrinkle.
Birdy
There shouldn't be any wrinkles in that area. A few light ones that change as you move around is fine, but those are folds that only go away if I make the piece bigger or cut the tabs higher. If I bend forward and lengthen the torso it also goes away. I know it's a problem area for me that gets sore and bruised, so I always look for it.
Hi! Is there any video were i can find the pattern making from scratch? Thanks ❤
Is there a corset or stay that would help with back pain due to tilted pelvis? Mine likes to lean forward and has cause major pain and even bulging discs in my lumbar. I’m also a US 24 which has its own issues with back pain. I can’t picture what shape would help hold the hips and yet let me sit and not dig into my legs. My imagination isn’t figuring that puzzle out! If you can, HELP! ❤
I wanna make one too but I'm a total novice at sewing so I really need the help, especially as a bigger person with lots of back issues
I'm not sure what in this vídeo made me think of this (perhpas tour Comment on adjusting to body changes), but I'm Very curious what the undergarments for a pregnant lady would be. Would love to ser a video on the subject
Enchanted Rose has one! It's not for this exact time period but she does make pregnancy stays
Alternative for the expensive and often hard to get Gum Tragacanth: Gum Arabic
Which is most likely just as historically correct as Tragacanth, as it was with Tragacanth a widely traded Gum during the 18th century, so readily available and has basically the same material properties as tragacanth when used for stiffening buckram, as it too is a water soluble tree resin. And going off the historical documentation on making Buckram I could find, a specific type of Gum (or paste, or Glue, all valid) is never specified. And if have some sources from the early 19th century mentioning Gum Arabic as a stiffening agent. So while I so far have only circumstencial evidence, it a lot of it and taking the make do attitude of historical tailoring into account, I find it hard to Imagine that it wasn´t used. Especially considering that it makes a buckram that is basically the same as Tragacanth.
My main problem is that historical sources basically never mention what type of Gum was used. A question for Nicole here, do you know the primary source on Tragacanth being used? All I have ever been able to find is a self perpetuating loop of it "Being the most commonly used Gum for buckram.", but nowere one word on where exactly that "fact" came from. And that really bothers me.
I can't say on the historical side, and there's always a chance that the variations weren't considered as important at the time or may have more to do with pricing and availability. However, from personal experience (and some modern science research) Gum Arabic is much more water soluble. It dissolves slowly, but still is more affected by it. Gum Tragacanth really never feels like it dissolves, and I usually have to do a VERY slow process of adding tiny bits to hot water and occasionally using the microwave to disperse it if I'm not patient enough. It never really feels homogenous though, just not lumpy. I do wonder what difference that makes in the long term effectiveness of the gums when it comes to humidity and the body. I honestly use Tragacanth because it's what's available from art and leather stores that I shop in.
About a year ago i spent 6 seasons of game of thrones (so about 70 hours) sewing a pair of stays. I only learnt today that theyre meant to be fitted to your body and the ones i made are 2-4 inches smaller 😭
I seriously want to make a pair of myself, but my learning disorder kicks in so hard.
I almost wonder if they used tablet woven tapes for the seams.
If the plan is to wear stays with an adjustable skirt that would be eqivalent to 1 petticoat from history in terms of weight, could you eliminate the tabs without causing issues? I'm aiming for modern wardrobe with some historical techniques due to health issues and will be hand stitching everything due to personal choice (I am scared of machines so no plans to buy one but am getting one fixed for my youngest).
If the skirt is comfortable to be worn like modern clothing, then it's fine. 18th century petticoats just have a narrow band at the waist and tie tight to stay in place. More than one of those and it starts to be too much for long!
@@NicoleRudolph Totally understandable! Lol, I've grabbed chunks of fabric that were not enough for a skirt for me and they were already heavy! I wound up choosing to aim more for modern dress instead of walking skirts and such because it just seemed hot without AC in high humidity to have so much cotton on me and linen would be super expensive at this point. Thank you for answering my question!
I'm very excited of this series! I have a project of doing 1770's stays. I have done a mockup and a bit scared of starting actually doing the stays. I need to do some padding under my boobs because I don't know how else I can have my breasts rise up to the correct place 😅. So yeah the fitting is very hard and over my skills...
2:47 not me un-hunching👁️_👁️✨
I filled up with national pride when you said the silk tape and silk cord were from Japan. Which ones, if you don't mind me asking?
👏👏👏👏👏👏
Do I need more motivation for stays? No. Will I consume this video like I’m starving? Oh, but of course.
🖤
Are you going to the event at the Brighton Pavillion?
I love your channel, do you make clothes for other people.
Would You ever consider selling a pattern of these or, especially, the older stays You have shown, or in pinch,flat picture? I have some issues with patterning and setting up the channels and the amount of work they take makes mistakes very costly time wise. Does anyone have any good resources on patterning they could share? As in, reasons for enlarging some pieces over others, adjusting for asymmetry, etc.
note to self: make stays in July or August