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Boning Channels, Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

The Cassandra Stays Sew Along: Boning Channels

Previously on The Cassandra Stays Sew Along:

It’s time to sew your boning channels!

If, like me, you’re doing it by machine, that’s the work of a couple of hours.

If you’re amazing and doing it by hand, well, I hope you have a looooooong queue of podcasts, films, and TV shows to watch!

The Cassandra Boning Channels

There are a number of different ways to mark the boning channels for the Cassandra Stays.  I’m going to show you my two favourites.

With both of them you only need to transfer the black ‘guide’ boning channels from the pattern.  All the light grey boning channels just flow out from those:

Boning Channels, Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

Marking Boning Channels: Technique #1

My absolute favourite way to mark boning channels is to not really mark them all.  What do I mean?

Boning Channels, Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

I use a needle-point pattern marker/roll marker!

On crisp, tightly woven fabrics, and many buckrams, the holes are clear enough that I can see them to follow them as channels.  Ideally you’d do this technique on the right side of the fabric (it worked great on the cotton chintz I used for this pair of Augusta Stays) but the linen damask of my outer layer definitely won’t show holes.

You need to do this technique on each pattern piece just before you sew the boning channels, as the holes don’t last forever.

Boning Channels, Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

You can just see the line of holes below:

Boning Channels, Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

Unfortunately I didn’t think the holes were clear enough in this buckram, so I went with a different technique.

Marking Boning Channels: Technique #2

Transfer paper is my second favourite way to mark and sew boning channels.  It’s what I use if the hole technique doesn’t work.

Boning Channels, Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

If I’m using transfer paper I mark the ‘guide’ boning channels on the wrong side of the stays.

Boning Channels, Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

Then I sew along the marked lines:

Boning Channels, Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

Boning Channels, Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

Then I turn the piece over, and sew all the other boning channels from the right side, moving the needle position until the edge of the foot is a guide to the right boning channel width:

Boning Channels, Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

And I just keep sewing the next boning channel out from the one before:

Boning Channels, Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

Until I’ve sewn all the channels:

Boning Channels, Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

Then I do it for all the pattern pieces.  And that’s the boning channel marking and sewing done!

Boning Channels, Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

If you, like me, are combining View B and historical materials hold off on sewing the stomacher piece.  The next post will be Rate the Dress, but after that I’ll show a technique for ensuring a beautiful stomacher finish if you’re mashing up historical materials and View B.

And Slut!

(And look at me.  I managed to write a completely innocent post that included ‘slut’ and 19 incidences of the word ‘boning’ )

Testing, Scroop Patterns Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

The Cassandra Stays Sew Along: Testing, testing…

Previously on The Cassandra Stays Sew Along:

Testing, Scroop Patterns Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

You’re you’ve got all your Cassandra Stays pattern pieces cut out, basted together, and you’re ready to start sewing!

Or are you…

Testing

Before you begin sewing, I recommend testing.

Test:

  • Thread colour
  • Stitch length
  • Boning channel width

It’s far easier to check all of these on a small sample than to sew boning channels, realise they aren’t right, and have to unpick!

Test all of these things in scraps of ALL of your fabric layers assembled.  This will show you exactly what the final result will look like.  It will also let you get an accurate gage of what boning channel width is needed in your exact fabrics.

Testing with your assembled layers also gives you one final chance to make sure that your chosen fabrics are the right strength.  If they feel too weak at this point you can always add one more layer of buckram or interlining before sewing the boning channels.  It’s very hard to add an extra layer that provides any strength once the channels are sewn!

Testing thread colour:

I originally thought that a dark ochre yellow (far left line of stitching) would be a lovely colour on my stays.  It looked great laid on the thread fabric, but once sewn it was too dark in person.  Then I tried a golden yellow that perfectly matched the stays fabric (four lines of stitching on the right of the left-hand piece), but it was boring sewn up.  Then I tried white (first five lines of stitching on the left of the right hand piece), to match the damask roses, and rather liked that, but wasn’t sure.  So just to check I tried a pale yellow thread, but still liked the white much better.

Testing, Scroop Patterns Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

I’m so glad I tried all these colours, because it helped me to land on something I really love!

Testing stitch length:

If you look very, very, very closely there are actually four very slightly different stitch lengths in the samples above.  I was pretty happy with my first try, but refined it just a little bit as I tested.  I ended up going with the shortest length, shown on the left three channels (the first one is almost entirely hidden under the upper testing scrap in the channels below) of white stitching.

Testing, Scroop Patterns Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

Testing channel widths

The exact width your boning channels need can vary a few mm depending on how thick your fabrics are, how much give they have, and due to slight differences in the two different types of boning sold as synthetic whalebone.  You may also find that you need a very slightly wider boning channel for the very curved boning channels.

Test channel widths for straight channels, and for curved channels, to know exactly what width you need for a secure, but not too snug, fit.

Test channels for both widths of boning.  The Cassandra Stays have wider bones framing the lacing channels and on the Stomacher for View B, and narrower bones throughout the body

You can see my narrower boning channels vs my wider stomacher channels here:

Testing, Scroop Patterns Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

And the wider channels on either side of the eyelets:

Testing, Scroop Patterns Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

Other things you can test:

In addition to testing before I sew my channels, I sometimes test which fabrics I want to use before I even start cutting out.

Our original pick for Jenni’s goth-y Sleepy-Hollow striped stays was the black and blue striped linen on the right here:

Testing, Scroop Patterns Cassandra Stays thedreamstress.com

Unfortunately when I tested channels on it the way the channels would not line up with the width of the stripes really annoyed me.   I was fine with it on the black and white ticking, because the channels are much more subtle.

I also found that the linen was slightly too light, and warped and wrinkled a bit.  Not ideal!

So we went with Jenni’s second choice, the ticking, and we’re both very pleased with how the final stays turned out:

Cassandra Stays Scrooppatterns.com

When you get to it, I also recommend testing your binding, both to get the technique right and to make sure you like your choice.

Next up…sewing all those boning channels!

 

Orba Shoes thedreamstress.com

A love letter to my Orba shoes

This is not a sponsored post.  I have no affiliation with Orba shoes. They have no idea I’m writing this.  It’s just that sometimes when you like a product so much you could almost kiss it, you need to share!

Orba Shoes thedreamstress.com - 9

Mistletoe on the ground, Valašské Meziříčí, Czechia.  This was the first time I’ve ever seen real mistletoe!

(almost.  I’m from the Pacific.  We don’t kiss things that go on our feet, or put them on tables, or stage them with food.).

In planning my Europe trip I realised I really needed good walking shoes which I could wear with any outfit.  I scoured Wellington, but the shoe gods did not smile on me.

Then I saw an ad for Orba shoes on FB, and thought: “Oooh!  Totally eco-friendly, biodegradable, NZ based company, and cute?  I should try these!”

Orba Shoes thedreamstress.com

Going down the tower stairs of Pernštejn Castle, Nedvědice, Czechia

They arrived just before my trip and I (foolishly – although sometimes fools get lucky!) only wore them once before flying.

And then I was in Sweden, and scared to wear them because what if they weren’t comfortable after a few hours?  After a day ruining my feet and knees trotting round the Vasa Museet and Nordiska Museet in shoes with not enough support, I had to risk it.     The next day we were trotting round Gamla stan (Stockholm’s old town) and Livrustkammaren and I could not afford feet trouble right at the start of my trip.

Orba Shoes thedreamstress.com

Gamla Stan, Stockholm, Sweden

Y’all, these are the best shoes in the world for walking on cobblestone streets in.  The wavy channels in the soles just absorbs= all the impact and gives your feet the most delightful massage as you walk.

I was so enthralled by the little mini trampolines in my shoes that I started bouncing from stone to stone to feel the squish, much to the amusement of Elisa, who suddenly found herself accompanying a middle-aged tourist-turned-toddler through the city.

Orba Shoes thedreamstress.com

On the old stone paths of Skansen, Stockholm, Sweden

I loved them so much that I started photographing my shoes on all the cool road surfaces of Europe.

The shoes were just as good in Paris & Essen and Dusseldorf in Germany, where they kept my feet cool and comfortable as I racked up an average of 20,000 steps a day in 30c heat, trotting round the city and through museums.  I have circulation issues, and my feet swell badly at anything above 24c, but these coped with the whole range of feet sizes!

Orba Shoes thedreamstress.com

Clockwise from top left corner: on the way to the Musée Galliera, Paris; in the courtyard of the Hǒtel de Sully, Paris; in Villa Hügel, Essen, Germany; at the Abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Prés (the oldest church in Paris)

They got to walk through Roman baths in the Musée de Cluny:

Orba Shoes thedreamstress.com

The Roman thermae, Musée de Cluny

And pose with artificial waterfalls (and patisserie!) in the wonderland of Victorian follies that is the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont.

Orba Shoes thedreamstress.com

In the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, Paris

In Germany they got trotted round museums and parks and palaces and through reproduction coal mines:

Orba Shoes thedreamstress.com

In the reproduction mine of the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum (the German Mining Museum).

The only time I got blisters in them was my first day in Prague.  It was 34c.  We walked more than 20,000 steps.  I somehow thought it would be smart to wear little nylon socklets instead of cotton socks, because they were thinner, and thus, cooler?  I’m pretty sure the heat had already fried my brain when I made that decision…

My feet swelled terribly, the socklets rubbed, and I ended up with a truly spectacular blister on one big toe.

Orba Shoes thedreamstress.com

Beautiful drain covers in Prague, Czechia

But you know what?  A band aid on the blister, and the shoes were so good it never popped!  Not in a further 10 days of travelling all around Czechia and doing SO MUCH walking.

Orba Shoes thedreamstress.com

Clockwise from top left: two amazing floors in the Lysice Chateau, Lysice, Czechia; on a carpet made in the Moravská gobelínová manufaktura, Valašské Meziříčí, Czechia; in Prague

After a month of walking an average of 20,000 steps a day, in heat and rain and dust, my shoes were looking a little tired by the time I made it back to NZ, but I loved them so much I immediately bought a second pair, and turned my first pair into my daily walk pair.

And now I wear the second pair almost every single day at work, where they are exactly what I need for running up and down stairs all day.

As a textile nerd I love that they are made of linen, ramie, and kenaf, plus cork, coir, agave sisal, natural rubber, rice husks, and coconut oil.  I tell my textile students about kenaf, but I think this is the only wearable kenaf I’ve ever owned.

Orba’s shoes originally came in white only, but they just did a pre-order for a launch of black and black with white accents shoes, and I am so excited!  (did I order one of each?  Why yes I did!)

Anyway, I love them. I highly recommend them. If you click this link I’ve hopefully done everything correctly for you to get $35 off your first order from them:

Link to Orba