Sunshine, corset patterns, and garden pests

Today I spent much of the free weekend day putting together my corset mock-up from some old non-stretch woven upholstery fabric I had laying around. Unfortunately, despite my alterations to the original pattern that was in excess of 10 inches too large at the bust, I was still a good inch and a half too large across the whole garment once the mock-up was put together. I don't know how I missed so much. Anyhow, it seemed the pattern actually fit best when I took the majority of the extra out of the join between panels 3+4, which has left that particular panel rather thin, but I like how it looks on my body, as panels 1,2 & 3 are now all rather thin at the bottom edge, so the pattern converges and looks somewhat more flattering. I also bought the fabric for my dress - a royal blue 100% linen for the main fabric, and some white viscose for the contrast collar linings, and possibly to line the rest of the dress with, as linen isn't always the most opaque of woven fabrics. I also picked up a few samples to possibly use as the fashion fabric for the corset, but think I may just splash out on some brocade coutil and make a single-layer one, since I need to buy more spiral steel boning and a new grommet setter, and I can pick them all up at the same time. Last time I purchased all my supplies from www.sewcurvy.com , and I was very happy with them, so will probably purchase from there again, as they are one of the few suppliers which are uk-based.

It was beautiful and sunny on the easter weekend, though I couldn't enjoy it much as I was working for most of it. However, my peas in the garden are coming up beautifully. I don't think it should be too long before I can start to guide them up the bamboo trellis, and I'm thoroughly looking forward to fresh peas in summer. My spinach is also starting to come above the surface of the earth, as are two little chilli seedlings. However, unfortunately, my tomatoes seedlings died. I think it got too hot for them in the window of the porch, as my thermometer was reading some rather high temperatures in it's soil, so I have planted some more seeds and moved the pot to the floor, out of the direct sunlight, at least until the seedling is established enough to shade it's own soil somewhat. The sweet pepper seeds also seem to have come to nothing.

In addition to these unfortunate issues, my spruce tree and my thyme were thoroughly attacked my an absolute hoard of aphids, just as my thyme was threatening to come out into bloom. This is not the first issue I've had with aphids - I think there must be something nearby which is harbouring them, as last year it killed the miniature rose, the lemon balm, and heavily attacked the mint. I got rid of them, then they came back earlier this year after a sunny spell and attacked the chives and parsley. This time, I gave both plants a thorough wash-down, and headed online to buy some ladybirds. The ones I bought were from green gardener, and I decided to go for them because they were the british two-spotted ladybirds, and specifically stated that they were not the harlequin ladybirds that are causing such a problem for our local species now. Sure enough, when I got them, they were distinctly the two-spotted kind. I put them out on my plants, and between that and the spray down earlier in the week, I currently see only one or two aphids, and a few eggs remaining. There's still at least four ladybirds hanging out my thyme that I can see, and I spotted one on my mint. They are harder to spot on my spruce, but I think I spotted a couple, so they seem to be hanging around for the food despite the heavy rainfall the other day. I'm hoping that when they are finished gobbling up aphids in my garden that they will breed more and munch on whatever nearby source is harbouring them. Got to love natural predators, as it seems to be thus far more effective than any other method I have tried for removing aphids, and it means my produce is still safe. Here's hoping it lasts.

Yoga and pattern mock-ups

So, I managed to get a mock-up put together for the dress bodice last weekend. Turns out it fits quite well, and only needs a minor adjustment to the arm-hole. I plan on getting a few metres of blue 100% linen after payday, so that I have fabric to make a good dent in the project during my holiday in May. I still haven’t decided whether or not to put a lining in it - I don’t want it to be too warm for summer.

In other news, I’ve been trying something new.As part of my routines, I need to do things out of the house in the evenings, or else I’d never leave at all and that is not good for either my physical or mental health. On wednesdays, I go dancing - ballroom/Latin with my partner, then run down the road to adult ballet (without my partner as that’s not his style). It’s not all that obvious with ballroom/Latin, but even in the beginners ballet class, it was obvious my flexibility needed work. I don’t recall ever being able to touch my toes. However, it’s become much more obvious since I moved up to the next ballet class, despite being well warmed up from my previous dance class and the run to the studio. I feel like my strength is developing well, but my lack of flexibility most notably in my hips is holding me back.

So I’m trying yoga. I don’t have a class yet, but I’m needing something to fill in my Friday evening, so am hoping I can find a class I can fit in then. However, for now, I’ve been trying this week to fit in a daily practice at home, following an app. It’s just called Yoga for Beginners, and has a purple logo. I set a reminder for 9pm, before bed, as that was the easiest way for me to add to my routine and it sets me up nicely for sleep. I think I’m making a little progress but would like more stretches for hips, hamstrings etc. I am just on the beginner routines though so maybe more suitable stretches will come up in more advanced routines.

Pattern altering

I have had a couple of patterns in the works, including a reprint of a vintage simplicity pattern, and an over bust corset. Unfortunately, I, like many people are not a regular hourglass shape with perfectly proportioned legs and torso. I’m a pear, with very narrow shoulders, a relatively small, high bust, and bigger hips. So I have spent much of the past week altering these patterns and tracing them into tracing paper.

The dress is the simplicity 8050 pattern. Found here: https://www.simplicity.com/simplicity-storefront-catalog/patterns/brands/simplicity/simplicity-pattern-8050-vintage-1940s-dress-pattern/ . According to the pack, my bust is a 10, but my hips and waist are a 14. Not only that but my neck to waist measurement that I took is only 14.5 inches. The smallest size on the pack (6) is still a full inch longer than that. A size 14 is two inches longer.

So, I followed the size 6 lines across the shoulders, but took them out to the size 10 lines below the arm-pits, and graduated from there to the size 14 lines at the waist. Dress patterns sometimes have a line to shorten or lengthen the torso, but I usually find it’s between the bust and waist, which puts the bust too low. This is a problem I also have in buying dresses from commercial stores. So, I took half an inch out between the top of the bust dart and the bottom of the armscye, and half an inch out from between the bust and waist, on all the bust panel pieces.

The corset was a different issue. I like corsets, and would probably wear one consistently if my job allowed it, but alas the nature of it does not. I got through my exams at uni with one on, because the constant hugging helped when my stress was through the roof, and made things easier to handle. I have made an underbust corset before, but lost the pattern when I moved. I enjoyed making it, and have some design ideas, but I need to get some good solid patterns sorted first. The pattern I got was based on the corset pattern compendium that came with the corset making course I first bought three or four years ago. I was directed to the course by a video by Lucy of Lucy’s Corsetry on YouTube. Unfortunately, I cannot longer seem to find the site I got it off, and wonder if it is no longer in operation. It is sad as it was a wonderful course. The pattern I picked was the sweetheart overbust. However, I had to resize it tremendously (I found the overbust to be around 40”. I am barely 34”.), shorten the torso and I wanted to alter a few things about the shape of the panels and the bottom edge.

My job for next week is to make a start of some mock-ups, and pick out fabric. I really want the dress to be linen, but linen can be slightly see-through at times, which lining can fix, but could make it too warm for summer (I’m rather heat intolerant). I thought about a cotton voile lining, but no fabric shop here stocks pure cotton voile, which is a shame as I like to support local shops - they struggle so much these days, and I like to feel the fabric before I buy it. I may try the next city over, but if not, I may need to resort to online. I’m considering a single-layer corset of a patterned coutil, and save the expensive silks until further on in my corset-making journey.

Trying elderflower marshmallows

Last week was pretty rainy. I had to take the saucers out from under some of my outdoor pot plants for fear of root rot, because they have seemed pretty drenched all week.

So, in pottering around the house, doing indoor things like tracing commercial sewing patterns onto tracing paper to re-size them in more ways than the "multi-size" lines can cope with, drafting a corset pattern, and I also spent some time cooking. Unfortunately, due to having a day job that requires working 12 days in a row every few weeks, I didn't cook much interesting for dinner. Mostly basic pasta dishes and risotto (plus arancini with the leftovers).

However, a recipe for elderflower marshmallows popped up on my Pinterest feed while I was scrolling on my lunch break. Although it is not remotely close to elderflower season, this recipe used cordial, which I did have some of, and I had recently bought a sugar thermometer for jam-making as I'd never had one and always had to somewhat guess when making jam.

The original recipe was a recipe by Country Living. Here's the original recipe: https://www.countryliving.com/uk/create/food-and-drink/recipes/a384/fluffy-homemade-elderflower-marshmallows/
I did not colour them pastel green, as I didn't really see the purpose. I had never made marshmallow before, so had no baseline for how it would turn out. However, I think if I was to make it again, I would make a couple of changes.

The quantities were very small, but did create quite a lot of marshmallow. I had to use a tiny pan (and I mean tiny), or the sugar mixture did not cover enough of the jam thermometer to be accurate. My stand-mixer also couldn't really whip the single medium egg white, so I had to start with the hand-mixer to get it started, and swap back to the stand-mixer when I went to pour the sugar mix in because I couldn't hold a mixer and pour evenly at the same time. The tin needs to be greased *really* well, or it will get stuck. I did not wait overnight for it to set, as it had set itself within a couple of hours while I made dinner, so turned it out and cut it when we had finished eating.

Lastly, the elderflower taste was overpowering initially. I suspect it depends on the strength of the cordial you use (the bottle of mine suggests 1 part cordial to 12 parts water, but I use even less as that is a little strong for me), but in the 24 hours or so after making it, it was extremely strong. However, after two or three days in an airtight container, the taste mellowed, and became rather enjoyable. I think if I was making these for use within a day or two or making I'd probably cut down on the quantity or cordial, but leave it the same if I was preparing them in advance for something.

That said, they are gorgeous. I may have to take them into work to prevent me eating them all myself.