S&S Stays - a question in scrunching...

[workswithwords]

Hello!

I am in desperate need of help. I've finally been able to make a pair of S&S stays that I'm happy with in terms of the "shelf". They give me great lift and support in the front. I do however, have a real problem with the back and the side seam area. They keep scrunching up, and after the Living History conference I had a bruise where they had been constantly pinching me all evening...

Could this be because they are too big or too small or because short stays just won't work on my body type....

Any help would be much appreciated!

[dawnluckham]

Are your stays comfortable when the fabric is flat and not scrunched up? Is it just the wrinkled and rippled fabric that is causing discomfort?

If this is the case there is a pretty easy fix.

Boning supports the fabric from wrinkling up.

Use good quality boning (not the wimpy stuff they sell at most fabric stores). German plastic or artificial whalebone are better quality plastic boning that you can still easily cut with scissors. Alternatively, you may wish to consider spiral steel boning.

To create boning channels in your already made stays:

If you’ve made your stays with two or more layers you could take the binding off the bottom edge of the stays and then sew boning channels that will allow you to slide the boning in between layers. You will then need to rebind the lower edge of your stays.

Alternatively, you could sew cotton twill tape or boning tape to the inside of your stays and slide the boning in between the tape.

Use boning in decorative patterns of 2 or more channels together. It sounds like your stays are scrunching quite a bit if you are uncomfortable. Keep the fabric flat with boning and then the ripples in the fabric won’t press on your skin.

Hope that helps!

[workswithwords]

Dawn,

Thank you so much for your help on this! I did exactly as you suggested and started adding boning to the back and sides, it completely fixed the issue! No more scrunching!

It's so great to have people like you who are such wonderful resources for information and help!

[dawnluckham]

I'm so glad to hear that you've got it all straightened out!