Halfway There

I've been steadily working away on my new set of stays. I worked each panel by hand, boned them, and then whipstitched the seam allowances down on the inside. I then whipstitched the pieces together. The result is a very sturdy seam.

A New Project

I have been reading the Outlander book series by Diana Gabaldon for the past several months. That being said, I was inspired to make a dress appropriate to the 1700's. I have absolutely nothing from the period, so this is another start-from-the-ground-up ensemble.

First things first: I need stays in order to achieve the correct shape for the period. I have Norah Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines, so I looked through and found stays from the 1780's. I figured the shape would be fairly appropriate for most of the mid- to late-1700's if I ever decided to branch out, so I got to work enlarging the pattern.
I made a quick mock up and the pattern pretty much fit me as-is. The only modifications I made were to add a bit of room to the bust, raise the top edge of the stays slightly (things would be a bit dicey otherwise), and to remove one waist tab to make the waist smaller.
These stays are for practice to test the fit, but they will be a working pair of stays. I have ordered period appropriate linen and reed to hand stitch the next pair based on these practice stays.
I also ordered the fabric for my robe, but that's another post.