stays, stays, stays

OK, making the stays was not that difficult at all, I did get lots of advice. Before I started I made up a stay made from cardboard, so that I could get the right fit. I used the stay pattern from J.P. Ryan and adjusted it as needed. The pattern called for me to put the stay pieces together and then sew the boning chambers onto the fabric, but I sewed the boning chambers on the fabric first just because I thought it would be much easier to handle that way. I used plastic for the two chambers by the eyelet lace ups in the back of the stay and bamboo for the rest.
I just need to put the lining in and the binding and I have a stay. I saved the stripe lining that came with the kit to make another stay.
The bamboo I used was in a roll and its made it hard to get a good picture of the stay. The bamboo is causing it to be bowed under around the edges, I'm sure wearing it will fix this.

Silly Sister Stay Kit

My stay kit arrived!! I ordered the stay kit from the Silly Sisters. I am very impressed with the quality of the linen. The packaging it came was nice. I can't wait to get started

My role

I learned today that my role at the fort will be the apprentice to the resident weaver. I gotta admit I feel a bit intimidated. I am not someone who is crafty, but the weaving interests me and my other choice was hearth cooking. I didn't think that poisoning my fellow reenactors would be a good way to start out the season.

Getting Started

Here's my to do list.

• buy period correct shoes
• make a decision between straw hat and felt hat
  
• finish petticoat
• finish short jacket
• make another shift
• decide what color stockings to get ( I really want stripes because I'm obsessed with stripes but not sure that would look OK)
• make stays

I know it doesn't look like much but that's at least 4 months of work for me.