To tab or not to tab, that is the question

[frualeydis]

I've just made a basic pattern for 16th century stays for Valeria. I think I will take apart my first stays for the boning - if I can manage with narrow german boning so can she. But I haven't decided if I'm going to make them with tabs or not. I want tabs, but then I have plenty of body fat to move around which Valeria hasn't. My first stays didn't have tabs and still were very comfortable, but since I've worked with the effigy pattern since then I of course have tabs now. But I don't really know if you need them, what they're good for when you make the stays for a slender person.

Any opinions?

Comments

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

My own body being somewhat plump, I can tell you from personal experience that the tabs made my stays MUCH more comfortable than without. Distribution of pressure points, I think.

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

For me I think they make a difference too, but for someone who's 163 cm tall and weighs less than 50 kilos?

/Eva

[helwig.livejournal.com]

I don´t put tabs on my corsets and it has been working very well for me.

I suspect she doesn´t need them considering her build, the question is if she wants them?
If she is not pining for a tabbed corset I would save myself the hazzle of making them.

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I think you're about the same size and shape as she is. I'll have to ask her then.

/Eva

[jauncourt.livejournal.com]

When i was very thin, I found that tabs reduced my discomfort level. With less padding, the bottom of the stay can dig into the bones! Also, I found that applied as opposed to integral tabs worked fine. Go ahead and make them without tabs, but keep enough fabric to add applied tabs later if she expresses discomfort.

Also, straps aren't necessary for slender girls with small breasts, and in fact I found they tended to pull my stays upwards on my narrow ribcage. I also added a small padded roll to keep the stay from sliding up too much over my bustline (which was an A cup, or comparable to a teen girl's).

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

Thanks. She said she liked the look without tabs so I guess we'll have to try them out, she's a 32 B/C and not really skinny, just thin.
The important thing for comfort, I've noticed, is to make them so that they end at the natural waist, not below.

/Eva

[jauncourt.livejournal.com]

Mine ended at my natural waist, but I still got wear-discomfort until I added tabs (I think from the weight of the skirts I wore over the top). I added them by making up a set of unboned, stiffened (I think I interlined them with denim) tabs and sewing them to a ribbon that I then attached to the stay.

However, I was sewing for me, and it is ALWAYS easier to sew for others than oneself!

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

Aha, you like the non-integral tabs. I made those for my silk stays and they don't do anything for me, possibly making it more unconfortable. But I have a very sahrp angle from waist to hips so I like the integral tabs since they stop me from lacing too tight in the waist.
She's not going to do any kind of tight lacing, it's for keeping the front flat, nothing else.

The weight of the skirts has never been a problem for me at the waist, since they're attached to the bodice of the gown. I also do not believe in the "10 yds for a skirt" way of doing things, not when period sources show much less fabric used, so my skirts don't really weigh thatmuch. Especially not since I mostly use light woollens. I htink that's what she'll be wearing too, since it can be very warm in Vsiby and I don't want her to wear any synthetics and probably not even cotton velvet.

/Eva

[love3angle.livejournal.com]

No matter what size I was (anywhere from a 0 to a 6 through the years) tabs were always more comfortable for me. Even when I was at my thinnest my tabless corsets dug into my waist, but I also think it has a lot to do with how tight you wear it. If she's not going to compress too much it will be fine.

I agree with jauncourt that straps are not necessary at all for smaller women. :-)

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

She's not going to do any kind of tight lacing, it's for keeping the front flat, nothing else.

/Eva