Oh boy has it been a really difficult “few” years (since 2017) but finally some of the distraction and self soothing techniques in which I tidy whenever I need to (including midnight) is paying off. Yesterday and today I was able to cut 40m of boning to fit my effigy stays and my bobbinet 19thC gusseted stays, and finally my coutil and bobbinet corset. There is maybe 10m left.
My effigy stays are a super smooth linen satin, I have some C1700 stays cut from as well as my 16thC meider/seelgin. My 1700s stays needed straps and an extra section in the back with that classic curved panel that acts a bit like a very small gusset over the side back of the hips.
My 1700 stays have already been stitched but I’m hoping I can stitch between panels for some 3mm boning I really want to use for even more accurate boning density. It is a bit of a tough ask for that though. 7mm into two 3mm channels? Sounds feasible but the boning pushes on the fabric so you really need a good 4mm per channel. I’ll use a long machine stitch to test a panel and from there I should be able to decide if it’s okay. I might be able to de-stitch the panels and re-stitch them if the payoff is what I hope it is.
Tidying meant I had only two places to look for the already cut straps and for enough of the linen to make those built in gusset panels.
Fatigue and pain and recurrent chest infections mean this is still taking far too long, but I’m able to catch up quite quickly if I can trust past me to have tidied efficiently.
My effigy stays are fully boned. So that means every 7mm there is a line of stitching and between every single line of stitching is a piece of boning. This is the only kind of stays in which the advice to alternate the curve of boning (from being stored in rolls) really pays off immediately.
My 19thC style stays with gaps between boning work better with the curve always pushing away at the waist, curling in at the upper and lower edges. I’ll try and get photos of all this today.