Stomacher

Claire’s pacific blue (deep teal) bodice

If you’re paying close attention you’ll see that Claire has a set wardrobe in S1, with a few bodices, jackets, stomachers, and skirts being worn again in different combinations. I loved noticing this, and appreciated Terry’s dedication to the character design aspect of film costume. Yes, you could have Cait in amazing new outfits back to back, but realistically how would she have gotten all these new clothes? Claire only has a couple plain stomachers early on, and I remember being distracted noticing she had a new one with some spangly bits and embroidery. “Ooh, where did she get that? Not Mrs. Fitz, she’s been roaming about… maybe in return for helping a sick person?” Haha! Do you get caught up in your own imagined backstory scenes too?

Claire’s heather brown bodice can look caramel or rust in different lighting.

I had put aside my then-too-large stays and turned to the stomacher as an easy check-off on my list while I figured out what to do with them. The stomacher looked like a quick bit of sewing and, as it is often the case with such assumptions, it was a pain and took way longer than it was supposed to! Even if you’re new to sewing you could make a stomacher without a pattern: trace a long triangle, wrong sides together, turn it out, add some boning channels, sew up the top, et voila! Except…

Does anyone else imagine Tim Gunn silently judging their sewing with his chin in his hand?

Okay, so it wasn’t quite that bad, but this tiny piece of fabric refused to cooperate. But as Mr. Gunn says: “Make it work!” In retrospect I think using a different backing fabric would have probably solved everything. Since I wasn’t able to find a light-colored damask that was 100% cotton, my fabric is 40% polyester and I didn’t anticipate how much stretch that would give it. It behaved very nicely with the cotton canvas for the stays, and I should have used some of that leftover canvas for the lining instead of lightweight broadcloth.

A lovely example from the V & A with embroidery, trim, and do I spy some piecing?

Depending on your gown  you could use solid fabric and embroider it, add self-fabric or decorative trim, or leave it unembellished for a casual or “undress” look like I did. I cut out the stomacher very carefully to have the damask pattern centered. Thankfully I had ordered extra fabric in case I had any mishaps with the stays so I could be choosy about where to cut. All you need is a clear quilting ruler and a disappearing marker so you can see the design, and then mark the center line extending beyond the top and bottom so you can see it when the pattern is on top. Pin the pattern so that it’s centered, then carefully cut. I used pins and scissors instead of weights and my rotary blade to make sure there wouldn’t be any wiggling. Transfer the boning channels from the pattern using the pin and marker method, then use your ruler to draw the lines.

I wanted to make my stomacher more historically accurate by adding tabs. The stomacher should be pinned in place to your stays using the tabs. I haven’t tried this yet, but the consensus is the thickness of the stays will prevent you from stabbing yourself! The fronts of gowns were also pinned in place and you can even see those pin marks on dresses in museums. I used leftover twill tape from the bum pad to make 6 tabs that were about 3″ long. Folded in half they were long enough to hide about 1/2″ in the seam allowance. They were pinned in place before I sewed the front and back together. The tabs would also have been leather-backed, to hold up under daily pinning, and I’d like to try adding it in the future.

Boning channels centered and ready to be sewn!

Centered stomacher with tabs-yay! But then my desire to use up all my scraps came back to bite me. The shifting meant that after one boning channel was sewn the top no longer matched up, and seeing a wonky line front and center under a bodice or jacket would be terrible. Plus, this is the only part of the outfit that calls for steel boning and the bunched up fabric let the spiral steel peek about a bit. Some steel boning can be shortened and recapped, but the lengths I have are very solidly hammered closed at both ends. So I had to take out the stitching and try again, but first I quickly hand-basted the top closed. I also re-positioned the pins along the sides that had been in to help prevent any movement.

Hard to believe, but this is actually an improvement!

This helped a lot, but it was still uneven and the back was a mess. I picked out the stitches again, but it still looked the same after another try so had the bright idea to machine baste the edges. This did a much better job than the pins and I might just keep it in, even though it’s not pretty, since the edges will covered by the bodice anyway. The pointed end isn’t as crisp as it should be, but I was just glad to be done with it and move on.

Backstitching makes the boning channels look very messy so you’ll need to leave long threads so you have something to work with. I like to double-knot, sew a few small stitches just through the lining and then trim very close to the fabric. Just wiggle the fabric a little and the thread ends will slip in-between the layers.

I started putting the boning in and realized that, unlike the stay’s plastic boning, the steel ends are slightly wider than the rest which makes it difficult to put in. And the caps are very sharp so when I tried to pull it back out I almost tore the lining! I managed to get them all out and decided to wrap the ends with some clear tape. It went it much more smoothly! But then I had to remove it again because I realized that the blue marker lines would need to be removed with a damp cloth.. and possibly make my steel bones rust through my lovely, ivory pain-in-the-butt stomacher. DEEP BREATH.

Finished! You can see how thin my lining is with the steel bones showing.

Since there was no room to machine sew the top closed I simply did it by hand.  Even though it’s still not favorite I’m realizing that there are certain tasks that just work better sewn by hand. And of course now that it’s done I’m thinking I need to make a teal wool one to match the jacket 😉 What’s that saying about insanity and doing the same thing twice? Hmmm…

Wrinkly back, but front looks good! I left in the stay stitching along the edge.

Next up: The Stays: Part II

1 and 2. Claire collages by me with official stills from Starz/Outlander.

3. Stomacher, 1730-1750; object 702-1902. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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The Stays: Part I

Before we get into the making of the stays I need to be real with you. I kept this project a secret for over two months because I was really afraid I was going to end up embarrassing myself. I kept asking myself “Am I really doing this? This is all new. This is complicated.” Even as I was fabric hunting and researching I kept having a vision of this project turning into a wreck, a sad mess of fabric that would sit unfinished guilting me from a corner for the rest of my days. I usually share things I’m excited about social media, but I was worried that I would share something and then have someone ask about it “Hey, how’s that costume coming along?” …and have to admit that I’d f-ed it up beyond recognition and abandoned it in shame and frustration.

Because it’s happened before—although no one found out. I shared a work-in-progress on Instagram, right before making a huge mistake. In my eagerness to get more done during naptime I miscut the batting for an easy whole cloth “quilt” and well, once fabric is cut, there’s no undo button! My batting was too large and I was supposed to trim it down, except I forgot that I had measured and marked when it was folded in half. YUP. I had extra batting, and somehow managed to make it too small to use. The only option was to buy more batting, and I was crushed that I’d made such a stupid error before getting the part I was nervous about trying in the first place—the quilting! I decided to only share finished or almost-finished projects after that.

Guess what? Surprise, I made more mistakes! But tackling them and problem-solving gave me confidence, instead of draining it. I’m self-taught and felt I didn’t have any sort of authority to share my work with others. I am still nervous about zippers. I don’t have a dress form or a dedicated sewing studio. I don’t have a degree in theatrical costuming or art history. I’m terrible at hand-sewing and don’t even know all the stitches used in historically accurate gowns. Don’t let your current skill set be your ONLY skill set. You just have to start. I hope if that you’re interested in sewing this project will prove that if I can do it, so can you!

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The Stays

A trio of embellished German stays from the Germanisches Nationalmuseum.

A pair of stays would have been worn by every woman and girl in the 18th century, although the fabric and quality would have reflected her station. They could have be made with silk brocade and bailene (whalebone) for the wealthy upper class, or linen and worsted wool with reed boning for lower class women. Even though I do love this exchange between Claire and Mrs. Fitz in S1e2—“What kind of corset is that?!”—

 aa

“Corset” was the term used because the writers knew the audience would only know the more modern word. An older term for them was a “pair of bodies” and “pair of stays” seems to be used into the 1800’s with transitional stays. As I mentioned before these stays are made with the Simplicity 8162 pattern and work for mid-18th century garments. If you look at extant examples in museum collections you’ll see that the style and shape alters in later decades. A pair of stays gives a foundation for the dress and should take in your waist, but not be too uncomfortable. As noted in Corsets and Crinolines:

“the shoulder blades were thus permanently pulled back to give the fashionable narrow straight back… These stays do not unduly compress the waist.”

Unlike a Victorian corset with an extreme hourglass shape and little regard for a woman’s internal organs and indulgences like breathing!

I don’t have my early process photos because my phone met with a series of unfortunate events and I lost all my back up data. (The absolute worst. We will not speak of it further…)

You’ll need to measure yourself and cut out the appropriate size pattern. Then pin it and cut out your main fabric, which you’ll see on the outside, and your thicker interlining or strength layer which could be the traditional corsetry fabric coutil or linen or cotton canvas. Coutil is very expensive, and cotton canvas is similar to what would have been used so I purchased an all natural canvas duck. Natural fiber fabrics really are a must because you don’t want to be stuck sweating in polyester stays that don’t breathe! Upholstery fabric is popular for the main fabric because of the weight and designs, but so much of what I found was 100% polyester. Since you only need 1yd you could use a cotton-silk or 100% silk decor fabric that’s perhaps too pricey for a voluminous gown or skirt, but would make a very pretty pair of stays.

Carefully transfer all the markings (boning channels, cutting lines, etc.) by poking holes with a pin and then using a water-soluble fabric pen along those points. Complete the lines with a quilting ruler. Sew all 8 canvas sections to their corresponding main section.

Here are all the pieces with main fabric and strength layer sewn together and all the boning channels. You can see in the middle I was starting to sew the sections together and I found small binder clips held the bulky layers better than pins. On the right I was testing out the boning to make sure it fit.

CF, SF, SB, CB, CB and SB clipped together, SF, CF with boning.

Next follow your markings and carefully sew the boning channels. Rococo Atelier’s 18th century stays tutorial was very detailed and especially beneficial to a first-timer like myself. Her tip about starting where the boning channels cross, instead trying to stop exactly at that point, was like a lightbulb going off! American Duchess has a couple posts with video for making this pattern that took the stress out of working with boning for the first time. I definitely watched/read them several times just have the process feel like second nature.

Now you’ll sew center front to side front (CF to SF) and center back to side back (CB to SB), then sew the sections together. So you’ll have 4 pieces, then 2, then 1. Do the same for the other side, and now you have the left and right sides of your stays! Starting to look like something now!

This my left side- see all the markings? The seam on the far right has been pressed and whipstitched down with upholstery thread.

See how tidy the whipstitched seam looks? This will help strengthen the seam and keep it flat under the lining. Something bumpy will be very uncomfortable once you’re laced in tight. This step is not a part of the Simplicity instructions, but I learned how to do this from the American Duchess video.

I used a tapered awl to make small holes at the front lacing marks. At last getting to see what they look like on me! So I laced up the front and I tried on the stays… but they were TOO. BIG.

What? How is this possible?! Argharghargh. Only the front was laced because I was too impatient to make all the holes in the back, but I had a good hunk of fabric in my hand to hold it closed. It looked like a loose bodice, not a pair of stays with negative ease. Huge disappointment.I kept taking them out and looking at them, trying to decide if I wanted to undo the whipstitched seams. In the end I couldn’t bring myself to undo them (so many spare moments cobbled together to handsew them!) and gave them a closed back, taking out over an inch on each side. In the end it wasn’t as big of a deal as it felt like at first—in fact, front-lacing only is still historically accurate and easier to put on. I had considered making a size down for a tighter fit, but when I held the pattern up against me it was too short. I was already intimidated by this project and redrafting to lengthen each piece and adjust boning channels and markings—that’s a big pile of NOPE. Whenever I make another pair of stays (!!) I’ll have a better idea of what works and will remember to whipstitch AFTER trying on!

Those blue dots on the back seam? Those were supposed to be the back lacing grommets! Obviously there is no way these stays would fit with two more pieces of boning and a laced closed back, much less a small gap like I expected.

These photos are from my second fitting after making them one piece—please ignore the odd lacing with blue yarn! Stays should not be worn with a strappy slip over lumpy jeans, but you knew that right? Sorry they’re not very pretty It gets dark so early now that getting photos with good light requires some planning, and I wanted see what it looked like right away!

 

Hurray for photo timer apps! Still no straps here.

Lots of extra fabric to be trimmed from the center back seam and the point is too long.

Mistakes conquered! In case any sticklers are concerned the stays do fit properly, but photos with them worn lower are quite indecent and won’t be shared on the internet! 😉 These stays were started at the beginning of October and most of my free time has gone into getting this far so I’m very proud of them. Are you also sewing the SimplicityxAmerican Duchess stays? How have yours come out?

Getting there, but still much to be done! Part II will cover the lining, binding, and grommets.

Getting started: the Bum Pad

My previous post touched on my love of historical costuming, but it was the release of the American Duchess Simplicity patterns got the ze little grey cells working. After reading Lauren and Abby’s blog (and so many others!) I felt like I knew enough about the process and construction to take the plunge. I received lots of sewing-related birthday presents, so with pretty new pair of Gingher shears and a fabric gift card I started getting supplies.

I want to start off by noting that although I am in awe of completely hand-sewn, historically accurate gowns, I will be sewing 21st century style by machine. I’m only hand sewing where required—mostly because as the mom of a preschooler it would take me years to do this by hand! I would like to wear this before the next Olympics. Or Adele album. Or new Pixar movie—or however you note the passage of time.

Between mommy duties and chores there is not much free time for sewing. (Well, there could be more, but letting your toddler watch 7 straight hours of TV is generally frowned upon.) For me, “getting started” meant a few nights and afternoons of taping up and cutting out the pattern pieces. Then a couple nights pining and cutting out all the undergarment pieces. So you could certainly finish this project much faster than me–please don’t be deterred by my timeline! The American Duchess patterns are very well done and make each step easy to follow, plus they have pattern hacks on their blog for making it more historically accurate. My progress has really been impacted by time spent sewing, not difficulty—not at all what I expected!

Costumers say to start working “from the skin out,” and you really have to when sewing 18th and 19th century clothing because the foundations alter your shape so much that your garment simply won’t fit or hang right. You know that test taking strategy where you do the easiest part first to build your confidence and leave more time for the harder stuff? Well, I made the bum pad first–it’s basically a butt pillow ;).

The Bum Pad

“The Bum Shop” c. 1785. This classic cartoon from the NYPL shows that fashion trends have been simultaneously embraced and ridiculed for centuries!

The bum pad gives you that exaggerated rump all the gentlemen go crazy for! Thankfully the bum pad is more lightweight and faster to make than panniers. (Although if you want to make the court gowns from Outlander S2 you’re going to need panniers.) I struggled to find extant bum pads from the mid-1700’s, but did find some from the 1800’s:

The three on the top are similar to what we see on Claire, and the one on the bottom with three sections and a ruffle is very similar to the Simplicity pattern. Although I haven’t seen another bum pad with that sort of tufted seat cushion look before!

This was very straightforward so even though I lost the few process photos I had you’re really not missing much. I made it from a natural muslin scrap and white quilting cotton I had in my stash. So it’s a two-tone bum pad, but no one will see it. Plus, piecing and not wasting any fabric was common practice in the 18th century because fabric was very costly and made in thinner widths so I think it makes it more historically accurate! I can picture Jenny using some leftover fabric to make a bum roll and stuffing it with bits of wool and tiny cloth scraps from sewing for Ian and wee Jamie.

The only not-so-great part was the long narrow hem on the ruffle. I don’t have an ironing board (no place to store it in our little apartment) so part of the narrow hem frustration was trying press a skinny strip evenly on my make-shift ironing station.

Ooo, so plump and ruffle-ly. 

Also I accidentally did one ruffle section wrong side out and had to get the seam ripper (womp womp). I’ll admit I looked at it for bit thinking “Well it will be under my clothes and no one will ever see it…” but I knew it would bother me. Leave it to me to make mistakes on the “self-esteem boosting” easy part! It was a little fiddly getting the gathers to go evenly around the curved edges, but overall a quick and easy project. Rump padding: check!

 

**Next Up: The Stays: Part I

Image credits:

Art and Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. “The Bum Shop.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1906. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-fc3f-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Three “bum roll” bustles; England, early 19th century. Christie’s auction, 2009. http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/textiles-costume/three-bum-roll-bustles-england-early-19th-5280839-details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=5280839&sid=2c00841e-c412-4ca4-a354-a0a8bf1112f5

19th century bum pad, Abiti Antichi. http://www.abitiantichi.it/

Why historical costuming?

As I started working on my first historical costume I wanted to make a record of my progress—mostly for my own reference, but also to inspire me to keep going. Previously I’ve only sewn crafts and baby clothes so sewing for myself was a big 2016/ turning 30 goal. But lo and behold, my birthday came around in October and I had not sewn anything for myself!

Somehow my plan to simply make a dress that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to wear in public turned into 7-part costume… I always felt that a major costume like this was out of my reach. And you know what? It is! But I just decided to go for it because if you don’t move outside your comfort zone you’ll never grow. I’ve loved sketching and wearing historical costumes since I was kid, especially Elizabethan and 18th century gowns. My mom was a great seamstress and indulged me by making lots of great Halloween/dress up outfits over the years, including a colonial calico dress (American Girl Felicity fans out there? haha) and a navy and burgundy taffeta Elizabethan gown. I still kick myself for not trying to learn more from her, but it makes me happy that Mom’s sewing machine is still going strong in my little sewing corner.

Back to this blog—Soon I realized that my Outlander project was spread out over written notes, Pinterest boards, iPhone photos, and Evernote. I wanted to share some photos, but also felt like Facebook wasn’t the best format. Of course, numerous blogs have been very helpful as I learn and research 18th century fashion and construction, and it made sense to start one to have everything in one place. I am self-taught and not an expert, but perhaps this project will be of interest to someone else making the leap!

 

The Outlander Project

I will update the following with links and any changes as I go along.

The Look

I’m making a “Claire at Castle Leoch” outfit, and eventually will add outerwear (that fur-trimmed jacket! or a cloak! sigh.). The grand plan is to have one cosplay Claire outfit, and then alternate pieces that are historically accurate, such as a 1750’s jacket with winged cuffs. Of course it would be nice to order 5 or 6 yards of lovely 100% wool tartan from Britex but my accuracy, both to the show and the time period, is affected by my fabric budget. I plan on purchasing wool stockings and have some brown leather shoes that are serviceable, but would like to complete the outfit with proper shoes like the Fraser heels from American Duchess one day. You know, like after I finish sewing everything haha.

Official stills from Outlander-online.com

The Garments

Claire’s teal wool bodice (style actually like late 18th pierrot jacket) – wool or wool blend, TBD

1750’s jacket with winged cuffs – navy cotton twill

Petticoat (worn as skirt) – heather brown poly suiting

Petticoat – quilted cotton or maybe silk? TBD

Stomacher – cotton blend damask, cotton broadcloth

Shift – cotton voile

Stays – cotton blend damask, cotton canvas, linen

Bum Pad – cotton

Cloak or riding habit – midnight blue wool coating with a bit of mohair

 

The Patterns

Simplicity 8161 – View B: Bodice, Stomacher, Petticoat 

Simplicity 8162 – All Views: Stays, Shift/Chemise, Bum Pad

J.P. Ryan’s 18th century jackets – View C and/or View A    (I’ll explain why when we get there)

The Materials

I’ll provide more details on each garment, but these are the suppliers I used if you’re not sure where to start. I’m lucky enough to be able to make quick trips to NYC’s Garment District on my lunch break, and very much recommend ordering swatches or shopping in person when you can since colors and texture can be quite misleading online.

Fabric:

Fabric.com, Mood Fabrics, Joann’s, Paron Fabrics*

*I don’t really recommend Joann’s for fabric beyond quilting or kid’s clothing. However, I did find a good looking synthetic that was affordable for the 4yd petticoat—combined with a 60% coupon it was an awesome deal. Also, Paron is now closed after over 70 years of business 😦

I haven’t shopped from these stores yet, but they specialize in historical fabrics:

Renaissance Fabrics, Burnley & Trowbridge, Wm. Booth Draper

Notions: 

Pacific Trimming, M & J Trimming, Home Depot, CorsetMakingSupplies.com

*Pacific Trimming is my go-to for notions, like finding the perfect binding for the stays or a certain color of velcro. Sadly both Pacific and M&J have websites that are not nearly as good their stores. Or maybe part of it is losing the kid-in-a-candy-store feeling from walls and walls of ribbons and lace?

Odds and ends: 

Joann’s, Save-a-thon (pretty sure only in NYC), and my neighborhood hardware store

 

 

**Next up: Getting Started!

 

{Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any of these companies, I’m only sharing to be helpful!}

Hello!

This is my new blog to share my sewing thoughts and progress. I plan on showing the process of my Outlander project—a complete 1750’s outfit with undergarments—and maybe some other bits I’m working on. I’m not sure if I’ll continue blogging once it’s done, but I wanted to have one place for all my photos and notes instead of scattered updates on Instagram or Facebook. I hope you enjoy following along!