Transitional Stays....10, Katy and the Girls.....0!

SO yesterday I hopped onto an idea to make transitional stays into regular everyday wear.   WOW what a challenge!  Sorry I don't have much for photos...I just got too excited about doing them.  I started trying to do the ones with the gathered ups.  They should end up looking like this....

http://www.koshka-the-cat.com/1790s_stays.html

 Unfortunately, the GIRLS are WAY to big for this method and I ended up having a square boob.  I know what you are thinking...how do you end up with a square boob...it happens even though I tried different shapes and sizes I still could not get the fit properly for the girls.

Let me point out that the base, (the area that goes around the body), fit perfectly, so I have been fighting with fitting the cups for hours at this point.

The next shape I tried was this.....

http://romantichistoryclothing.blogspot.com/2009/10/1820s-1830s-corded-stays.html

With the bust gussets, (the triangular shaped thingys in the chest area).  This shape worked out a bit better, but still flatted the girls into pancakes.  I did however like the way the under boob looked in it, just not the shelf look.  If that makes sense.

So I was left with a conundrum, I could stay with period style or I could deviate and do a more modern cup.  I have opted for a more modern cup and so far so good.  Right now I'm just trying to play on size so that the girls have enough room to fit.  THe other problem I'm faced with is the center front between the girls.  It bows out, when it should separate and help lift the girls.  I think the solution to the problem is having the busk in there, (a long wide wood or metal or plastic piece), I'll try that on another muslin to see how it works.  I also need to see how I am gonna close it.  Is it gonna lace in the back, in the front, the sides.  How is it gonna wear and how easy will it be t o get into it? 

I should also point out that the pattern for this has been draped on my mannequin.  I love draping because you get to see the effect on the body of how the fabric shapes to it.  Maybe one day I'll do a tutorial.  I much prefer draping to drafting.  I just can visualize the shapes on paper and seem to do a great deal of altering in order to get what you want.  at least with draping you have almost a finished pattern to start with.    I also learned that cotton organdy is THE BEST for doing muslins and draping patterns for garments that need stability.  It is very stable, although somewhat expensive, at about 10 bucks a meter.  But I would rather sacrifice cost for working with wobbly fabric.