Making 18th Century Stays by HAND - Historical Corsets

[@pippaseaspirit4415]

Hi there! As a great-grandmother I have to say that if washing an unwashable fabric is your worst sewing mistake then you are an incredibly lucky lady! Life throws these things at us, and eventually we almost get used to it! I love your videos 🙂 Your work is beautiful. Have you tried leather thimbles? Over time they shape to an exact fit for your finger, and they are breathable (unlike rubber ones). You may find that you prefer them - and you can make them yourself! I think the most likely reason for your stitches getting larger is muscle fatigue in your hands. Take a ten minute break each hour, run your hands under warm, then cold water, and massage them. It helps reduce fatigue. If bones are sticking in the channels, you can lightly wax the edges of the bones to help them slide smoothly. I do have to say that this is one of the best talk-throughs of stay-making that I’ve ever seen 👍🏻

[@EamaneEarane]

So much good advice in one comment! I know Bernadette Banner has a leather thimble but I've never seen or heard anyone else refer to them. And waxing the boning - genius! I sanded mine down once, but waxing might have worked just as well with less work or at least mess!

[@ettaz]

With waxing, I'll just add that beeswax can sometimes stain through if you put too much or if your outer fabric is too thin, like some silks

[@BellaMaesDesigns]

Thanks for the tips! ❤️ And yes, I have tried the leather ones and they weren't my favorite. :)

[@martina21953]

@@EamaneEarane I melted the ends over a candle.

[@Emmajen]

I'm so sorry about your damask fabric, but when you said "itll be grand" I KNEW haha. Love Leap Year!!

[@inkwingart]

As a heads up for next time, they would actually often line all the tabs and straps individually first, and then they would line the body of the stays! This way you can use scraps and things for the small/narrow shapes and have plenty of seam allowance and no awkward corners to snip

[@MissGroves]

I am damn impressed. That doesn't happen often. Those would be in place in any museum. The process historically could be done by different people but when you realise how long it takes to hand make a garment, you get to understand why they were worn till they fell apart and why clothing was such an expense. Very well done 🇬🇧💚

[@thirza9508]

Something I've done to safe my fingers some stress when sewing through thick layers of fabric is using a small pair of pliers (I've got some jewelry making ones) to grab the needle. You might snap some needles but it will safe you some pain (I also get clammy hands and fingers easily so it helps with that too).

[@HosCreates]

I sewed the channels of my stays made out of duck cloth and cording by hand when my trusty machine Betsy decided to skip stitches. It was hell on my poor fingers! Looks beautiful though and keeps my posture good !my only regret is that I didnt put back tabs. Your stays are glorious to behold! Congratulations on your accomplishments!

[@seanmcgcostumes]

You know? I actually love the fabric post washing. It's a beautiful gray color, and the lack of a pattern really makes your hand stitching the star of the show! (Also, kudos for the Leap Year reference. I love that movie, and no one ever remembers it exists!)

[@nerdaccount]

I almost hated to see the lining go in. I'm sure that's 100 percent right... but it was cool to see all that stitching!! You are AMAZING and that is one hell of a project! Thank you for sharing this with us!

[@bunhelsingslegacy3549]

I hear you about tossing fabric in the wash, I've just been lucky the times I've forgotten it was wool or rayon. Fortunately I cold water wash everything so aside from one rayon garment in the early aughts and an acrylic formerly fuzzy and now matted scarf last decade, I haven't irreparably damaged anything by washing it. And I'm glad to see someone else who prefers to cut seam allowances off patterns, I'm so imprecise at the actual sewing part, I need all the help I can get! Also sometimes it's helpful if you're tight on fabric, you can literally cut corners that were just gonna get cut off anyways. I'm working on a stays mockup right now that's not going too badly, though it's meant to be rear-lacing and I want front-lacing so I need to move the armpits back where they belong, but other than that the shape's surprisingly close from the online corset calculator thingy, and I think I'm going to be messing with it more and rearranging the boning once I see how it looks when I cut the tabs so it stops riding up. Thanks for showing how the bones run in your pattern, I'm probably going to try to make mine look more like that than it currently does. And mine will also be hand-sewn, partially because I like hand sewing and partially because I'm arguing with most of my sewing machines again. On thimbles, I've been making my own out of leather, just a tube that fits just over where I push with the needle, the thing I hated about every other way I tried was having the tip of my finger covered, I need to feel what I'm doing. And leather stretches, so I've started doing a shoelace stitch and leaving a 16th inch gap so I can just tighten it later. A leather thimble lasts me about a year, something about the oils in my hands makes my thimbles really soft and eventually the back end of the needle will go through, but the advantage of the leather tube is I can just turn it around to a spot without a hole in it... And I need an awl like that. Right now I start with a darning needle. work up through a few nails to a pencil to get the size hole I need by the time I've finished stitching the eyelet!

[@angarielthalion7867]

I love how knowledgeable you are about the history of the costumes you make! Also fun that you scanned them from the paper to make them digital. That was actually how I did the custom printing on my swimsuits. But now that I’ve seen you do it from a tiny photo, I’m realizing I could have at least half scaled mine and had a little less work to do. 🙈

[@florenna]

Wow, it's really SO empowering to hear all that can well be done by hand!! I really don't know why most people these days seem to consider hand sewing something for crazy people only, since up to about 1860, *ALL* clothing was handsewn! And to me it's much easier & simpler than machine sewing (even if I did own one, which I don't)!

[@devh6168]

They turned out absolutely lovely and have totally reinforced my desire to NEVER sew a pair of stays by hand 😂😂 I've had a couple wrist surgeries and my fine motor skills / hand-eye coordination didn’t quite come back afterwards. I know my limits, but totally appreciate you sharing the results of your effort!

[@EamaneEarane]

I took like a month to make my stays from printing the pattern to the final thing, going through two mockups. I did the boning channels on the machine which saved me some time but I did double the eyelets as I did lacing both front and back to allow for more flexibility.

[@saberg1082]

17:39 😍 I LOVE waxed linen thread! You can't compare it to anything else - it is almost like fusing the pieces of fabric together. Btw I also used to avoid thimbles, but since I have found one in my correct size I always use it and it has really helped with speed & consistency. It never slips off my finger and I occasionally even forget to take it of and carry it around 😂

[@elizabethh1804]

Thank you for going into detail on the construction methods and materials/tools/techniques you used. Very helpful!

[@sandyfloyd8451]

You literally just bypassed the drafting process! That is brilliant! I am so impressed... I love the results!

[@zettelundstift9498]

my tipp for binding with leather is to sew the binding in place and fold it over using a hammer. Gently hammer the fold first from the right side and then fold it to the back and hammer it again. The mechanical work also has the advantage that it will make the hand-sewing a bit easier on the hands.

[@tenaoconnor7510]

I watched Nicole’s video of full boned stays and your half boned stays. Both beautiful projects, but I think it’s more sewing than I have the patience for by hand so I will be using a sewing machine. I think I will try one of my hand-crank machines to do the boning chanels and it will probably be the half boned style. I have decided to make more time for sewing from now on. Life came to a fork in the road so I’m in between jobs but probably not for long but I’m going to make more time for the things I want to do. And I want to make a couple different styles of stays and corsets. You have inspired me. But first I have to ( years of clutter) clean my house and do some organizing 🤦‍♀️😵‍💫 there’s always something you have to do before ya get to the fun stuff. 😅

[@celticgoddess81]

I use a thimble by dritz that is thin silicone with a metal "hat" on its top. I've also found that size if a factor not all thimbles are the same sizes.

[@Haleyessie]

I’ve been thinking of hand sewing late 18th c stays for YEARS, but I’ve been too intimidated by the prospect of seeing boning channels, binding, etc. This video really demystified the idea, so thank you! Now I just have to save up money for supplies 🫠

[@martina21953]

Just do it! You won't regret trying.

[@georgesalt2039]

thank you so much for this video, im about to start making a corset for myself and this has given me some great tips and tricks! its inspiring to see how much research you do in your historical makes! thanks again. George

[@cynthiadugan858]

❤ they look absolutely perfect. I love that you completely hand sewed them. It is really interesting to know exactly how much went into them (I am pretty sure that you sew much faster than me 😂)

[@aroger2486]

Omg wow absolutely beautiful. You did an amazing job. I love the leather binding.

[@makeda6530]

Your work is always amazing but they look great. Hand sewn stays is mind blowing every time I see it. I still haven’t done corsets but I love watching you make another. Hehe

[@tracylamb903]

I love them also. You should be so proud. Looking forward to next video!!!!

[@bonniecolleenpappin8807]

Astounding! Congratulations! Thanks for sharing.

[@iwanxlojjiz9986]

Such an amazing job, Bella! Congratulations!!! You always get better every time. I love how it turned out

[@robintheparttimesewer6798]

This is stunning work! You should be proud! The fabric still looks lovely even if it did get unstamped in the wash. Stuff happens I'm sure everyone watching has done something if not similar at least on par. Ignore that part and stay proud it's a lovely piece! Enjoy it.

[@Bookwormscififan]

I’m so amazed that you made those stays by hand!! They look amazing!

[@maryhardcastle5362]

I've been looking watching pattern buying for years I like what you've done, looks great!

[@HeatherLewis1700]

Wow it's so beautiful of 18th century dress to costumes!!! 💖

[@The_Viking_Highlander]

Wow Bella. Just incredible. What an achievement. Absolutely stunning and a joy to watch you create. Although I think we all felt your pain a little. Poor you, your fingers must have been so sore. Way to go girl, way to go! 👏 So very excited for the over petticoat and robe!

[@stefania8708]

Beautiful work! I was waiting for the other parts of this project 🥰

[@elisabethprice4697]

these stays are gorgeous!

[@garbtheater]

These came out beautiful!

[@ushere5791]

gorgeous!! that is an awful lot of result for what does not seem like a royal ton of time--you must be very efficient! the stays are just beautiful!!

[@claudiafairbanks]

If you do a metal thimble, you have to get the correct size! It makes all the difference!

[@deborahd3810]

Such a joy to watch. :) What an incredible achievement, you should be VERY proud!

[@elisabethprice4697]

hand sewing is so much fun!

[@sarahheri7027]

wooooow it came out SO PREEETTYY!

[@sewcute_sewvintage]

It's beautiful!

[@penultimateh766]

Our skilled and beautiful craftsperson can do basically anything.

[@slenderpear4945]

...Off topic but I just watched your tour of your studio from years back and you did not show a form. I am wanting to purchase a form. What do you recommend? If you have another video with a recommendation I missed it. I love your custom ironing board if you still use it. I just found your channel and you are an amazing talent!

[@NicolettaM..]

Thank you! Beautiful work! 💖

[@kirstenpaff8946]

I am currently working on a pair of stays and this video made me realize that I messed up the welting. I only did it on the front and didn't take it around the back. Now the question is, do I take out all of the hand sewing to fix it, or say screw it?

[@BellaMaesDesigns]

I'd say it's good as it is! Especially if the binding will cover the cut edge of the welting!

[@Jelliebean42]

Would it be possible, you think, to make a set of stays reversible if you assemble the pattern pieces before making the channels for the boning? I'm wanting to make a renfaire/hobbit outfit/cosplay and I would like some versatility in what to wear my stays with 😊

[@CatariaNigra]

So beautiful! I hopefully will make my own in the not so distant future.

[@AlexaGinn]

I am completely mind boggled that you did this all by hand. I had phantom needle pain in my finger just watching you. I’m glad you found it enjoyable, but I could never 😂

[@florenna]

Well, I for one really don't know why most people seem to consider hand sewing something for crazy people only, since up to about 1860, *ALL* clothing was handsewn! To me, it's much easier & simpler than machine sewing.

[@tanasha67]

It's beautiful! 🥰

[@hallelrofe2555]

Thank you so much this video was very helpfull

[@tanasha67]

Talking about all this handsewing and how it effects your fingers made me think - have you seen Bernadettes video on how to handsow? She goes through a lot of tips - including how to use a thimble correctly 😅

[@noahsolomon120]

Hi! I'm not sure if you'll see this but I wanted to tell you you're so amazing and I absolutely love your videos! When you're sewing your eyelets, do you tie each of them off? Or do you keep the thread running between each eyelet. For either answer, how did you do it?

[@BellaMaesDesigns]

I kept the thread running in between them as much as I could. Though I did a little backstitch (I think!) before running the thread just to be safe.

[@carmenm.4091]

Making a mock up saves time. Better make one more mock up than waste time taking things apart and trying to fix things. (51+ years old, making clothes from the age of 12) trust me. 😇

[@TriciaLBarber]

Want to recommend Craftoptics to you for your detail work. I have a pair and could kick myself for not getting them sooner. Yes they are expensive but more than worth the investment.

[@MadameDeLaForet]

Amazing

[@Emmajen]

Also, who is the little one sitting next to you at 28:20? :)

[@sewcute_sewvintage]

One of many nieces I would guess

[@BellaMaesDesigns]

Yup, it's my niece Willa (the one I named my petticoat pattern after!)

[@LynnHermione]

DO NOT USE BETTER HELP. It it EXTREMELY shady in privacy matters and there are people there WHO ARE NOT REAL THERAPISTS. They hire ANYONE, people with NO DEGREE OR TRAINING.

[@josefinebrannlund7297]

👗💜

[@poples5799]

while it's great to hear that you care about better mental health and is open about that, it is disappointing to hear you advertise for better help. from what I hear their "therapists" aren't necessarily certified (and can thus do more harm than good), not to mention they've been in hot water quite a few times, like there's been filed a class-action lawsuit against them earlier this year.