New 18th century stays!

I've been needing a new pair of stays for a while. I love my old ones, they're comfortable and for my first pair, I'm happy with how they turned out.  But they've stretched and they're starting to look their age, so I've had plans for a new pair.  But I'm not someone who really enjoys making stays, so I kept putting them off. I've been trying to tie up old or half-started projects lately, so it was time.

The fabric is silk taffeta I bought a few years ago at a little 18th century market I went to with Bauhausfrau.  It's a teal/orange shot fabric if you look at the threads.   I found the gold striped bias trim on etsy and I thought it would be really cute.  The ribbons are silk, also from the stash.  I used cable ties like I did for my first stays, except for two spring steel bones used near the lacing.  The pattern is the Diderot one from Corsets & Crinolines. I didn't make any changes  to the pattern since the first pair of stays worked so well.  Hopefully these will too! Forgive the wrinkles in the taffeta - they really show up in the pictures. 

18th century stays and shift

This was my first pair of 18th century stays.  I used the Diderot pattern from Corsets and Crinolines (thanks, Jenny-Rose for giving me a pattern to base my stays on!).  The shift is Kannik's Corner. Unfortunately, I had no idea what I was doing, and though the construction of the shift is actually pretty good, it's out of a linen that is way too thick to fit below a gown, and the neckline is too high in front and back. So I never use it.  I've been very happy with the stays.  (Yes, they have historical inaccurate metal grommets in the back, I just wanted them done and wearable.) The fabric is a linen-look remnant from Joann's.

Here is the web page for my costume construction details and more photos:
http://costumersguide.com/maggie_costumes/stays.html