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
- Making the View B Stomacher using historical materials
- Marking & Sewing Eyelets
- Assembling the Panels & Boning
Your Cassandra stays are assembled, the bones have been inserted, only one pair of scissors has died for the cause…
Now it’s time for…
The Final Fitting*
This is how not to do a fitting:
Over a T-shirt, still wearing a bra, with the tabs not cut!
No, no, no!
You should always fit stays over the type of undergarment you intend to wear the stays with. A T-shirt and bra, or even a t-shirt alone, will support your bust in a very different way than a shift. You can see how my Cassandra stays are collapsing slightly at the side, because my bra is lifting my bust inward, leaving a hollow at the sides.
You also need to cut your tabs to properly assess the fit. You can see how much the tap spacing near the back is struggling, because it needs the tabs on either side of it to be released as well.
Once I cut the tabs open I may actually be able to lace the stays a little tighter, which means they are slightly too big for me as they are now, and need to be taken in.
However, even with a ‘bad’ fitting, the fit on these is SO comfortable!
I can’t wait to see how they look properly done!
*OK, if you are like me and really cautious, you can do one more fitting once the stay panels are properly sewn together, but before binding.