Eighteenth Century Underpinnings

Hello, fantastical sewing friends! And non-sewing friends who are equally fantastical! This post is about creating the layers to make an eighteenth-century gown look "right." I put that word in quotations because I fully encourage you to do what you want and can in costuming, and if you don't want to wear stays but want to go for a Marie Antionette look, do it. I certainly won't judge you. I learned my lesson with my early Regency costumes that underpinnings--stays, petticoats, etc--are crucial to getting the silhouette that seems straight out of a portrait or fashion plate, but that might not be your goal. It wasn't mine at first, but it is becoming more an more so as I get better at this historical costuming thing.

The first layer in eighteenth century dress is the chemise or shift. These are essentially "underwear" and often have drawstrings at the neck to make them somewhat adjustable. I used the American Duchess Outlander pattern, Simplicity 8162, to make my shift (I left off the ruffles) AND my first ever pair of boned stays. I used handkerchief linen/cotton from Joann's to whip up the shift, which seemed to take no time at all compared to the STAYS.

I followed everyone's advice and made a mock-up, but I made it out of scrap cotton instead of the heavier linen I eventually used. I recommend making a mock up with the same weight of fabric. Ah, well.

It did not quite "fit" my dressform, but guess what? My dressform does not fit me, lol. The next time I make stays, I plan to measure on myself and then on the pattern pieces and make any major adjustments. Also, there should be negative ease here and there isn't. But I did not know this at the time.

So I forged on with my fashion fabric--scrap green linen from a Regency gown (originally bought for a medieval gown when I was in the SCA). The stays have three layers total--two of the green and one layer of white linen.

I bought the 1/2" wide heavy duty cable ties like it says in the paper pattern, but this was a mistake. Those are good for the front edges of the stays, or front and back where you lace them, but using them to bone the whole thing made my stays rather bulky. I did not realize this at the time and thought they gave me a decent conical shape. I bound the stays using white bias tape, and in the interest of time, I did not hand sew the WAY too many eyelets and instead used metal grommets. I don't know why but I did not follow the eyelet pattern and instead went my own (less convenient) way. It was fun using a rubber mallet, though! Kind of like using my rock hammer--angry exercise.

Verdict: They are uncomfortable, and there is NO negative ease, which means they actually increase my waist circumference. At this point, I had to move on because I had an event coming up (St. Louis Georgian Sewing Society picnic at SLAM). Next came the bum pad, also from Simplicity 8162, without the ruffle because I knew I needed to make the actual dress.

This, too, was made out of scrap fabric as well as scrap polyester fill. Waste not, want not! But when I made a petticoat and tried it on, there wasn't enough "puff." So I made an "ugly puffer," which I encourage you to Google and read about in blogs like the American Duchess blog!

Hurray! Much poofier. My petticoat and Italian gowns look much better with this extra bit of skirt support. I made the puffer out of scrap fabric and quilt batting, which I quickly sewed between two layers of the fabric in long, straight seams. I think it works, but it is not a cool garment. I feel like I need a fan under there in the humidity of Midwestern springs and summers. 

Which is why I look a bit sweaty at this fun spring picnic, but, if you squint, the general shape looks right!

I have since removed the large cable ties in my stays and replaced them with thinner ones. I also made the stays front AND back lacing to create more negative ease. But guess what? Because I switched to smaller cable ties, the stays got bigger, and there was only so much I could cut out of the back to create a new opening. *Sigh* Oh, well. They are a bit more comfortable, and I'll wear them in the future to events like Rendezvous at Vincennes where I am going for a more middle or working class look.

See how oddly stiff these are in the back? LOLOLOLOL. 

Here they are, marginally better (over pajamas because I could not be bothered). Although I now prefer to wear my Redthreaded stays, I value this pair for all of the lessons I learned!