The Bohemian Belle: Historical Sew Forthnightly Challenge #3 pink

I'm finally getting around to doing some of the HSF challenges again. And this time I even finished on time!

For HSF #3 Pink
http://thedreamstress.com/2013/11/historical-sew-fortnightly-14-challenge-3-pink/
I made pink 18th century stays, though they could also count in the next challenge#4 Under it all, I chose to present them for the pink challenge, since I actually have some pocket hoops in the works for the the next challenge. I also think that a pair of pink stays is rather appropriate for Valentines day!

So here we go.

The Challenge: #3 pink

Fabric: Pink glazed cotton outer, denim interlining and a totally adorable but not very period appropriate white and green cotton toile for the lining.

The cotton toile lining.

Pattern: Simplicity 3536

it's a decent pattern, but whats up with that wig?

Year: These stays work for a pretty broad range of years. But I would say. They would most likely be worn sometime between 1750 to 1785

Notions: Gutermann's sew all poly thread, cable ties for boning, metal grommets, embroidery thread, for the little decorative embroidery on the center panel and to overcast the metal grommets, and bias tape for the binding.

Center panel embroidery detail.

How historically accurate is it? Maybe 40 % or so. The body is entirely machine sewn with poly thread, the pattern is a commercial pattern that's not based on an extant set of stays. The boning material is cable ties, the lining is a modern cotton toile print, the bias binding is store bought, and the lacing eyelets are thread covered metal grommets, However, I did all the binding by hand, the stays give me the perfect period shape and while that pattern isn't officially based on extant examples they do look a lot like many period examples I've seen, so the overall look of the stays is perfectly period. The outer fabric is glazed cotton which was a popular material in the 18th century, and the stays are spiral laced as originals would have been.

Extant pink cotton stays.

Hours to complete: I entirely lost track, but I worked on these stays pretty intensely for a week or so, and I know I spent at least 6 hours hand sewing that binding on, so a rough guess would be 30 hours, perhaps a little less perhaps a little more...

First worn: They haven't been worn yet, but the stays will make their premiere on March 1st at an 18th century dinner party I'm going to.

Total cost: I used a lot of stash materials for this. The pattern I've had for years, I picked it up for a $1 at some point. The lining and interlining where remnants from other projects, and the glazed cotton I recently got for $1 a yard! The only things I specifically bought for this project was the binding and the cable ties. I used 2 packs of cable ties at about $10 and 3 packs of bias tape that I spent $5 on.So all together I spent perhaps $15 to $17 on the stays.

This is my first set of 18th century stays and for that I'm really happy with how they came out. They are comfortable and fit well. They where a challenge to make, but really more because they where work intensive than actually difficult to put together.

And now some pictures of the completed garment!