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.

I'm sorry they are bad mirror pictures, but stays don't do so well on dress forms. Above is a front view. These stays are made of two layers of a cotton-linen blend and a layer of twill on the outside. They are boned with heavy plastic cable ties.

Cleavage view! They don't reduce my waist all that much, but they sure do give me some nice cleavage. The chemise isn't right either, but it was the only one with a neckline wide enough to match the stays. I'll have to make another, more appropriate shift.

I had to steal a lace from one of my other corsets to try these on. They are spiral laced. They aren't actually meeting at the back, as I left an inch seam allowance on the back pieces and I have not turned them under yet. There is almost an exact two inch gap from top to bottom, which pleases me greatly.