#DD-01 Daffodown Dilly Regency Era Wrap Stays

[Mme de Beaufort]

"Multi-Sized Small, Medium, and Large $20.00

Brand new, and we love it! This pattern was inspired by an extant example, the "Corset Blanc" ("White Corset") in the Musee de la Mode Galliera, with influences from the early 19th century "brassiere" in the Kyoto costume collection. It has very extensive instructions that are illustrated with actual photographs (what a treat!), and everyone that we've seen in this set of stays looks fantastic. Includes an option for a short front busk."

Found here: www.spencersmercantile.com/patterns/Regency.html

[dawnluckham]

LOL! Yes! That’s “me”! ;D

Thanks for posting my pattern, Steph.

You may “Trash away”.

I want totally honest feedback from anyone who tries this pattern. If there are problems, I’ll be completely grateful to have them pointed out and I’ll do all I can to help you work through any issues.

By the way, this style of stays is discussed in Frances Grimbol’s new book “The Lady’s Strategem”. These are described as “morning belts” or “half stays” by two authors of instructional manuals originally written in the 1820’s. They are suggested as wear for women who are simply dressed for morning (and are not yet formally dressed for the day’s activities outside the home). They are also suggested for wear during pregnancy. Short front tied stays are suggested for travel (combined with a front opening gown) as it would be easy for to loosen for comfort if one needs to “pass the night in a carriage”.

I’m really excited to have her additional documentation to direct people to!

[artemisiajolie]

Is this only available from Spencer's Mercantile? Just hoping a US store has it to keep costs down, since the us$ is still doing so brilliantly.
So Dawn, if I have trouble with this I can come crying to you?
I think it's pretty nifty that you have a published pattern. Would this not be a proper stay for a day dress then?

[dawnluckham]

Yes, at this point it's only available through Spencer's Mercantile and me directly. ;D Happy point (for you) - the Canadian dollar is worth a fair amount less than the American. Possibly other merchants will eventually pick it up, but I haven't as of yet actively sought them out.

Apr 3, 2009 1:56:44 GMT -5 artemisiajolie said:

So Dawn, if I have trouble with this I can come crying to you?

Absolutely! You can ask me any questions you wish. My email address is on the pattern or you can ask on any forum you might find me on.

And yes, these stays are suitable to wear with a day dress. I wear them all day when dressed in period clothing. To the casual observer, they'd never be able to tell the difference between full-length formal stays and these stays when worn with a busk.

- There is a difference in silhouette when wearing these without a busk. I've given instruction for sewing with or without the busk pocket. I suggest you make the stays with the pocket and remove the busk if you wish to.

With the busk in, the stays make quite a presentable ‘lift and separate’ period look. Without the busk, you get something more casual and ‘sportsbra-ish’.

[artemisiajolie]

Apr 3, 2009 8:32:32 GMT -5 dawnluckham said:

And yes, these stays are suitable to wear with a day dress. I wear them all day when dressed in period clothing. To the casual observer, they'd never be able to tell the difference between full-length formal stays and these stays when worn with a busk.

Fantastic!
And, I'm ordering this today or tomorrow. Can't wait to start it!

[Val]

I have one already, and Dawn, I PROMISE I will start mine as soon as I get all my gowns done for Costume College.

[missmardi]

Dawn I just have a quick question before starting my own. I am relatively tall and therefore usually am in need of lengthening most patterns in some way. Where is the bottom supposed to sit? Should it just come to the bottom of the ribs, or all the way down to the hips?

Okay it was more than one, but my pattern should arrive tomorrow, and I am anxious to get started.

[dawnluckham]

I will guess that you'll need to lengthen the straps a bit. I warn in the instructions about over-lengthening but you'll be able to tell when you do the mock-up.

My own stays come to natural waist. (That is when you do the "I'm a little tea-pot" dance where you bend to "tip me over, pour me out" ;D ) But while wearing, the stays scrunch up just a bit to under bottom rib. You don't want these stays coming to hip.

The other two things that you'll need to personally adjust are the gussets, (Every single body is individual and there is a full selection of gusset sizes in the pattern to choose from but for the best fit, you'll need to take your best guess in size and modify. A lot of women even have one side slightly larger than the other and you may need a tiny adjustment there. This is what the mock-up is for.) and the busk length. The busk length needs to be chosen for personal comfort. It's possible to get it too short and then it pokes you mid body. Again, my own preference is to take it to natural waist - an inch or a bit more above the belly button. I've not tried to stop it very short - say at the seam line under bust because it needs the ties to hold it in.

One last additional point – because of the adjustability of the wrap style, it’s really hard to pin down “this size will fit a person of these measurements”. If you make a medium size mock-up and discover that the back shoulders fit too tightly (for example) feel free to mix and match pattern pieces for the different sizes. In helping a friend make these we discovered she needed the medium front and the large back because she’s broad shouldered. Just because a gusset size is printed on the “small” size page, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use it with the large size pattern.

Hope that helps….

[artemisiajolie]

Dawn I need help!
I've finished the lining and I think I may need to adjust the gussets, but I don't know how, or if that is even the problem. I have pictures, but I'm not sure if I should post them here or send them to you directly.

[dawnluckham]

I've sent you an e-mail. We'll get it worked out.

[patternsoftime]

I notice you stated you haven't contacted any US vendors to sell your patterns. We would be interested in negotiating terms to carry them - you can see our site at www.patternsoftime.com and contact us at [e-mail] if you would like to discuss having a US vendor carry your patterns.

I look forward to hearing from you,
Thank you,
Charlsie
www.patternsoftime.com

[Mme de Beaufort]

Hey Charlsie,

I just dropped a bunch of dough at your site buying stuff. I wanted the Rocknig Horse Farm frock-coat pattern but you didn't have it because they are taking an age to rework it. So I bought other patterns instead.

[artemisiajolie]

Whoo hoo! I finally finished my stay! I'm pretty happy with it
Obviously, I need a proper chemise, but that will happen eventually.

[Mme de Beaufort]

Okay, THAT is insane cool!

[artemisiajolie]

Jun 28, 2009 22:30:54 GMT -5 Mme de Beaufort said:

Okay, THAT is insane cool!

Kudos to Miss Dawn for the awesome pattern! Even a newbie seamstress like me could produce a respectable outcome from it

[dawnluckham]

Whooo! Hoo!!! Awesome job! They look great!

Will you need to alter any of your gowns now?

Wow! I go away for a week and all kinds of stuff happens!

Thank you, Charlsie. I’ll be contacting you later this week.

[artemisiajolie]

Jun 30, 2009 22:32:31 GMT -5 dawnluckham said:

Whooo! Hoo!!! Awesome job! They look great!

Will you need to alter any of your gowns now?

Thanks! And yes, amusingly, I will have to alter my gown. But not from fit, but because the upper seam from the stay make a ridge through the bodice. Oh well. I think I'll try making the Simplicity S&S drawstring bodice to see if that make it look better. I'm beginning to see the danger of making costumes; there is always something else to try

[francesgrimble]

Thanks, Dawn. To clarify: _The Lady's Stratagem_ gives instructions for making 13 styles of stays. But the "morning belt/half-stays" is technically the upper part of a pair of long stays. The different self-lacing/strap options (one of which is used in your corset pattern) can be applied to either half-stays or long stays, although it is mentioned that wraparound laces can start to dig into the wearer's side after awhile.

Fran

[Mme de Beaufort]

Dawn,

I am considering doing this pattern to wear with my riding habit mostly because it's a smidge longer than a transitional, because it uses a busk, but it also allows from more freedom of movement if I do eventually actually climb into a saddle with it. However, I'm a big girl, and I'm not sure if it will fit me.

What are you recommendations? And where do I buy this thing?

[dawnluckham]

Hi Steph,

I’m sorry if you’ve had to wait for a reply from me. I’ve been out of town for almost a week with NO (!!!) e-mail or Internet.

I still don’t have my own website set up so I recommend purchase of the Daffodown Dilly pattern through Spencer’s Mercantile. www.spencersmercantile.com/
She’s set up to take credit cards and is quick to mail out purchases.

The pattern is very flexible in sizing. You’ll be surprised. That wrap goes smaller and larger with the ties.

I’ll be totally honest here: It fits a lot of different figures. I have tried it on people both large and small and different body shapes of many kinds. However, with one lady who is very “soft”, I don’t think this was the best stays choice for her even though she wanted the simplicity of these stays to work for her very much. This was the only person I thought that this style of stays was probably not suited for.

People have a “squish factor”. I know that sounds funny: What I mean is some people are firm and some people are soft. As these stays have no boning in them to support the fabric, other than the busk, and only two ties as opposed to lacing all the way down, if a person has an extremely soft body, the ties have no support and I think the stays may not be comfortable after an hour or two of wearing. It’s possible that a solution could be found with added boning, but I haven’t experimented with that.

From your photos, you are not a similar body type to the lady I’m speaking about. – And yes, I think the size large will fit you. You will of course, need to make adjustments for height and shoulder strap length, as I suggest in the pattern instructions.

I think these stays could fit you and work in the way you wish. I always suggest that people make the stays with the busk and then remove it from the pocket if they wish. The stays style may work very well for riding stays with this option. In fact, I’d be very excited to hear what you think of them as “riding stays” should you ever give them a try in this way. I think my own stays would work very well for riding in, but I only ride astride. In fact, the stays force the posture that I know is right for dressage. I do wonder if the busk would get in the way of my use of core muscles, but then, a “LADY” probably shouldn’t ride herself into the sweaty, dirty mess that I frequently exercise myself and my mare into.

I can’t wait to see photos of your Regency era equestrian event! Riding habits are so much fun and so elegant!