Previously on The Cassandra Stays Sew Along:

• Choosing Material for the Cassandra Stays
• Making Linen Buckram
• Making your Mock-Up 
• Fitting
• How to alter the Cassandra Stays pattern to be front-laced only
• Cutting Out & Basting
• Testing techniques
• Sewing the Boning Channels

Today’s Cassandra Stays sew-along post is a quick, easy one.

If, like me, you’re making View B, but with historical materials, you need to think about how you’re going to finish the back of your stomacher.  You don’t want it to just be buckram.  that wouldn’t be very nice!

Lining the Stomacher: Option A

One way to finish the stomacher would be to sew and assemble the stomacher just like the stays, and then add a floating lining at the end.

You can absolutely do that, and it’s the best method if you are hand-sewing your boning channels.  However, I prefer a different method.

Lining the Stomacher: Option B

I like to line my stomachers before I sew in the boning channels, and sew the boning channels through all layers of the stomacher, including the lining.

If you are smart you will cut out your lining with all the other stomacher pieces:

And baste all your layers together as one:

If, like me, you had a little bit of brain fog and forgot to do that, don’t worry, you can just pin your lining on:

 

Mark a guide boning channel with chalk (the yellow line), and sew your first boning channel line from the wrong side, just as you did with the rest of the stays.

Then use that as a guide for all your other channels.  Don’t forget that the stomacher takes wider boning, so your channels will not be the same size as the stay body channels!

And there you go!  Pretty channels from front and back, all ready to insert the boning and then bind!

Perfect timing too, because I completely used up a spool of thread…