Red Rover, Red Rover, Bring Your Stays over....

So I am ALMOST done the stays for Mrs. S.  They are made from 3 layers, 2 cotton canvas and 1 is a rough textured red silk.  The binding is a faux suede that I had  purchased at a fabric store in Vancouver BC many years ago.  I bought it because it was literally identical to real suede but much easier to sew through.  The channels are machine sewn as I don't have the patience or the ambition to do it by hand.  I'm not that hard core!  LOL.  I used German  Plastic Whalebone, cutting and sanding each end so that it had less of a chance to poke through the fabric.  I also used metal grommets which I'll cover in thread to make them look period.  I just have to finish up the binding and put in a lining. 

Now that is one gorgeous figure! 



The bowed shaped front of the 1780's