Stitching stays

Our first Reimagine Resident, Jordan Mitchell King, created a hand-stitched pair of reproduction Regency stays for her creative project, documenting the process as she went along. Find out how she got on!

Jordan: During my residency I constructed a pair of short stays appropriate for the the 1810s, when Jane Austen was living in the house. After researching different styles and sketching a few pictures of originals I committed to a design using bust gussets and front lacing.

Compared with two other pairs of stays already in my collection, these illustrate the changing silhouette over the late 18th and early 19th century. Making and wearing historical clothing provides a brilliant insight into how their designs worked and shifted over different periods.

Throughout the project, Jordan documented her work on film – watch to see how she created her repro stays!

I also spent a weekend at Jane Austenā€™s House stitching ā€˜in situā€™ where I was able to demonstrate the making process and answer a wonderful array of questions about clothing and life during Austenā€™s time.

The finished results are now on display in the Museum!

Our Reimagine Residents programme is generously sponsored by Art Fund. This exciting project will run throughout 2023, seeing us welcome a wide range of emerging artists and creatives in all sorts of disciplines, for on-site or virtual residencies. Applications are now open! Find out more…