This video details the intricate process of creating historically accurate 18th-century "stays," a precursor to modern corsets and bras. The creator aims to construct a late 1790s style with a single bust gore by adapting an earlier 1780s pattern from "Patterns of Fashion 5." The process involves meticulously scaling the pattern pieces from a grid, drafting a custom base pattern using an "arc method" based on personal measurements, and then adjusting the historical pattern pieces to fit this customized draft. A key stage is the creation and fitting of a cardboard mock-up, which behaves similarly to finished boned stays, allowing for crucial fit adjustments, such as reducing excess material in the back and incorporating bust cups, before proceeding to a fabric mock-up.
Summarizing 18th Century Stays: Patterning and Mock-Up Process
0:06 Understanding Stays: The video introduces stays as 18th-century garments providing bust, back, and petticoat support, shaping the era's silhouette. Early 18th-century styles were cone-shaped and straight, evolving to a "prow front" in the 1780s, and by the late 1790s, introducing bust gores and gathered cups for a softer, more natural shape.
0:49 Project Inspiration & Resource: The creator opts to make 1790s stays with a single bust gore, disliking the bulk of gathered cups. The primary resource is "Patterns of Fashion 5" by the School of Historical Dress, which provides historical patterns on a grid.
1:16 Adapting a Historical Pattern: Instead of using the book's two-piece 1790s pattern, the creator decides to adapt a 1780s pattern by "slipping gores into them," a method suggested by experienced historical costumers for creating late 1790s styles from earlier patterns.
2:03 Scaling Pattern Pieces: The process begins by scaling the historical patterns from the book's half-inch grid onto gridded paper. This involves identifying anchor points and precisely counting squares to draw out each pattern piece using a ruler for straight lines and a French curve for curved sections.
4:31 Drafting with the Arc Method: A new, personalized pattern is drafted using the "arc method" from the book, based on the creator's 18th-century-style measurements for bust, waist, hip, and tab lines. This foundational draft ensures the stays will conform to the body.
6:30 Adjusting Pattern Pieces to Fit: The copied historical pattern pieces are then aligned and adjusted onto the personalized arc-method draft. This involves widening pieces as needed, ensuring correct alignment at key points like the bust and waist, and rounding the center front point based on historical examples.
10:33 The Cardboard Mock-up: A crucial step is creating a cardboard mock-up, which mimics the rigidity of finished boned stays. This quick, low-cost method (using recycled cardboard and duct tape) allows for early identification and resolution of fit issues before cutting expensive fabric.
12:00 Fit Assessment & Necessary Adjustments: The cardboard mock-up reveals a significant overlap in the back, indicating the pattern needs reduction. The creator also plans to incorporate bust cups by making slits in the stays, anticipating that this will help alleviate the chest restriction observed in the mock-up, which likely contributed to the back overlap.
13:51 Next Steps: The video concludes with the plan to re-edit the pattern based on the cardboard mock-up's feedback and then proceed to make a fabric mock-up in the next stage of the project.