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.
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