The Trimmings (Historical Costuming)
After an unintentional three month break, Sewcial Studies (my historical costuming group) reconvened and I've begun the next phase of my stays! (Refresh your memory on this project and what, exactly, "stays" are here) Here is my artistic interpretation of what mine should look like upon completion:
The garment above is composed of many bizarrely-shaped panels, each one composed of three layers of different kinds of fabrics. You can see two of the three layers in this picture below:
Well! I'm now at the stage where all these pieces are sewn together! Technically, if I added the laces now, I could actually wear it! However, all of the raw edges are, well, raw and will only continue to fray the longer they are left exposed to the the wear and tear of being worn and torn. The next step is to trim all the messy, fraying edges to be flat so I can sew a binding tape(?*) over them.
*(I don't think it's actually called "binding tape"??? It's, like, this kind of ribbon? That you fold over the raw edge of fabric and sew down so the raw edge is protected from being jostled and further fraying from the natural friction of movement. Is it called "trim"? Is this "trimming"???) Here, see? Here's some of the trimming(?) in action, next to raw edges still awaiting their turn:
My sewing group said it'd actually be easier and faster to just hand sew this part instead of using a machine, so thaaaat's what I'm doing. I really do love hand sewing. It just feels good.
I've got a month till our next meet-up, let's see if I can get all the bottom trim (binding?) sewed on! Next up, I should be inserting the boning in between the fabric layers, which will give this under garment its shape- and then I sew down the top binding (trim?), forever sealing the boning inside.
And then- then!- I'll finally get to lace this thing up and try it on????
I keep thinking and telling people I've been working on it for a year, but it's actually been like two? Oh yeah, my first post on it was June 23, 2023.
The whole point of this project was to teach me how to use my sewing machine and, lol, I am still terrified of it. But at this point I can mostly thread it on my own! Mostly.
I have ambitions of actually sewing clothes someday.
Someday!
Comments (7)
Ooh they're turning out so lovely! And yay for Sewcial Studies returning n_n
Very cool! I can manage to use a sewing machine if I have to (or at least I could thirty years ago when I was in high school, and a few years ago I successfully set up and used an embroidery machine) but making practical things out of fabric is scary. I'll stick to my hand embroidery.
Gorgeous! I love seeing all the steps involved in a project like this 🤗
That might be bias tape? Not confident, I am supposed to Know Things so I can teach teens to use sewing machines but secretly, I know nothing
I have a sewing machine that has never been used, my wife bought it new and was too intimidated by it to do more than have me take it out of the box it came in. She can't use it now, and it's been over 40 years since I touched a sewing machine (I had a Sailrite back in the late 1970's), but I could use it, where do I find an instructor? I know 1 person who sews, but I would feel weird asking her?
I just finally learned to thread my sewing machine yesterday 🤭, it’s so darn intimidating but I’m excited! Thanks for the interesting fabric arts insight!
Love it! Check out Bernadette Banner's YouTube channel for videos on how to create historically accurate stays and other garments. Her historical facts and overviews are fascinating!