The Obvious Culprits

I hate starting a project with no way to finish it.  So, I tore through the studio last to hunt for this relic from the 1980's, a deep purple, reptile-print leather mini skirt.   (Doesn't everyone have one?)

This skirt was actually a Salvation Army find a few years ago, in brand new condition and has been in my stash ever since, since not every project calls for deep purple reptile-embossed leather.  It's ready to have a new life as a binding.  The question remains: will it suddenly become tasteful in small quantities, or will it completely overwhelm the soft, ivory, brocade draperies?

Most extant examples of period stays from the last quarter of the 18th c. had tabs that were covered in white kid leather of some sort.  I've never been a white leather sort of girl, but I do have this fencing glove ready to re-purpose.

Since there isn't quite enough leather here to cover all of the tabs, I'm also using the random leather strip.  I had a boyfriend once who told me to never waste any good, usable piece of leather, and I haven't!

The lining will be a remnant of linen.

It looks as though there is just enough for two layers, one to support my old drapes, one to act as the inner layer. I've read several times about there being a removable inner linen lining in period stays, but I've not yet seen one and have no idea how that would attach except for catch stitches all the way around.  Since there is already quite enough work to do, here, I think I'll leave a whole other linen lining for another time.