Thursday, September 16, 2010

My Colonial J.P. Ryan Stays

You may have been wondering what my sister and I have been sewing lately. If you have been reading my sisters blog, which you can find in my side bar; then you can see that our first colonial event is on monday the 20th! We are sewing like mad to be ready, but its a good chaos! Not stress. :)

I finished my J.P.Ryan stays which are the colonial equivalent of a corset last week. Its been so busy I did not get pictures up until now. Without further or do here are my purple stays! :) Yes my sister and I dyed the linen purple! It was my dream come true, even if it might not be "period correct" for working impression color wise.

It was a lot of work to sew all those channels and put in the wooden bones(cane), as well as sew all the eyelets by hand, and sew the binding on by hand. But all in all I am so happy I did it! It was my first pair of any type of undergarment similar to a corset, so I am pleased! I had great help from my sister Bethany Lynn as well.

The binding was my favorite part of the whole process actually! Easiest part in my opinion.


The colonial shape is my favorite in regards to corsets, but my favorite period for dresses would be the 1830s! I just received a lovely gown from Sarah Jane over at RomanticHistory. I am so pleased with her handiwork and I will post pictures of the dress on me for her enjoyment as well as your own as soon as I can. :) I am tickled to have a dress that I really don't need, but its beautiful and I can't wait to have a tea party or something to wear it to.


I would have posted pictures of it on me, but I am not that bold. Pictures from mondays colonial event coming as soon as I can, as long as my camera does not have issues again. :)



God bless and have a lovely rest of your evening!

In Christ,

Rebecca

6 comments:

Stephanie Ann said...

The color is gorgeous! They look great. I hope you guys have a fun time.

Sarah said...

What gorgeous stays! I've been in awe seeing everything Bethany has been making for your colonial event. It sounds like such a fun thing to look forward to! I'm almost jealous! :)

You know, I have a 1990's ugly linen dress that is almost the same shade of your stays - a lovely purple color - and now I'm inspired to take that awful dress and make something pretty and useful with it. :)

I am looking forward to seeing pictures of the dress on you, when you have time to take some pictures! :) You can't know how happy I am that it has gone on to a good home! :D

merel said...

You have a wonderfull blog! Love to stay in. I love history!!
Blessing from Holland!

Danielle Pajak said...

Wonderful work! It seems pretty complex to me, but it turned out perfect. You even dyed the fabric yourself, which is also impressive. I hope your first colonial event went well today. I am sure you will have pictures up that I look forward to seeing. Also, I want to see this new dress you have received! I wish we could have a tea party together. I always find an excuse to have a tea party. :)

Oh! Which reminds me! Did you see my finished dress on my FB? I will post it on your wall right now!

Sewings and Goings; Love of Historic and Vintage Fashion said...

Ok first of all, I just adore your site soo much!!! Second of all, I LOVEEEE the stays!! The color is so beautiful! What did you use to dye it with? I have recently dyed yarn, and I used cranberries and red dye to make a beautiful pink for my CW Norwegian Hood! I understand a little more about dying, and truth be told, it is a little time consuming, but it's so much fun! Seeing something transformed before your eyes into a beautiful result is remarkable!!! :D I will definitely be looking at your other posts, and I know I'll enjoy them!
Good Day!
Samantha Jane

Rebecca Ann said...

thank you all for your encouraging comments! It was fun to sew and I can't wait to sew up my first civil war corset next when I have the time. God bless!

Sarah I will try and post pictures of myself in the dress soon. I actually have miss placed my camera so it may be a while. Pray I find it!
Rebecca