I also did a mock up of these stays, as they needed a bit of tweeking to fit me.  I made them longer overall, and I had to do some fiddling to get the tabs somewhat even especially using the front lacing option.  There are fewer pieces than the Larkin & Smith stays and none of them have curved 3D boning channels.  That said, I assembled them exactly the same as the previous post.

For these stays I will be using reed boning.  It is shown below on the right in comparison to a piece of synthetic whalebone:

Synthetic Whalebone vs Cane Boning

The boning is a little thicker than the synthetic whalebone and a little harder to slide into the boning channels.  It does look interesting as it is rounder and has more texture.  It will be interesting to see how it wears in comparison to the synthetic whalebone.

The difference in construction comes at the assembly stage.  Sewing all of the pieces together using a hand whip stitch is a PITA!  So for this pair, I decided to try it using the machine.  So I lined up the pieces, front sides together, but instead of whip stitching I used a 3.5mm machine zig zag stitch – I like how this turned out!  It is much more even than the hand whip stitch so it will be easier to cover with trim.

This is much easier with zig zag …

Binding is also somewhat simplified, at least for the top of the stays and stomacher – using the cane instead of the reed.  The reed can be sewn through, using a strong enough needle and going very slowly:

Binding the stomacher by machine – the inside will be sewn down by hand.  Don’t try this with synthetic whalebone!

Stomacher with binding, ready for hand finishing.

Let then hand sewing commence!  At this posting, the stomacher and top binding is done.  Binding the bottom, with all the tabs, takes forever but I will do my best to finish this while it is still 2016 and conclude the Battle of the Stays!