Outlander Ensemble: Stomacher Design

Today I began work on what I image will be the most time consuming part of my planned Outlander inspired 18th century ensemble, the hand embroidered stomacher. I have never made a costume from the earlier half of the 18th century, but I have made a few embroidered stomachers before. I have a half finished evening bodice knocking about with a zone front I embroidered in silver beads and sequins that one day I will finally add eyelets down the back of so I can wear it! This will be my first more traditional style embroidered stomacher, and I am already thoroughly enjoying the embroidering process!

The first step was to settle on a design for the embroidery, and as Outlander's costumes are a mix of historical and more modern/fantasy elements, I decided I didn't need to be too exact in replicating a historical stomacher. Still, I looked at some extant pieces for reference as luckily many embroidered stomachers from the 18th century have survived. I want to use similar stitches and style for my own embroidery even if the motif will be a bit more modern.

England, 1730-1750, V&A

England, 1730-1750, V&A

British, 1720, MET

British, first quarter of the 18th century, MET

A close up of the last stomacher

 In this close up view you can see how the leaves are filled in with lines of very small chain stitch embroidery. I plan on using this same stitch style for most of my design and the same gradation of colors from a dark green outline to a more yellow-green center.

Of course when it came to the actual motif of my stomacher, there really only was one option, thistles of course! I mean this is a Scottish inspired ensemble after all, and what could be more Scottish than thistles? Though I would rather be using wool thread for this embroidery, I already have plenty of cotton thread and my budget for this costume is rather thin, so cotton it is!

Above is my design, a swirling thistle branch or two with large leaves.

After I sketched out the design, I traced it onto some thick linen-look cotton fabric and got to work! I worked for a few hours and only finished one of the large leaves, and only half way! It's slow work, but work I really enjoy. I have missed embroidery as I haven't done a project in a long while. One of the best parts about a historical embroidery project like this one is just how connected you feel to the craftswomen of the past. No machine, just your hands, and a needle and thread, just like they did it in the 18th century. It was a very peaceful way to spend the afternoon! I may have had the 1st episode of the show on re-watch in the background too...