Sunday Morning: Tea and Corsets

This is a late post, for which I apologise, it's been a little hectic since, but all the better to remember a lovely, quiet Sunday morning spent nursing a cup of tea and fiddling with the corset pattern.

First though, back to the tea, a Christmas present from the lovely Mrs B.  It is "alcoholic", Blueberry Merlot on a Sunday morning, how decadent and just gorgeous.  I couldn't resist a photo or two.

Suitably fortified, I set about comparing the busts and discovered that although the pieces are all the same I had made two quite different shaped busts;  I did, for a few minutes, think that I'd sewn one side in back to front.  Muslin two is closer to the pattern, but muslin one suits me best.

I took the muslins apart where needed and retraced the fabric pieces onto the pattern.  I followed the same technique around the rest of the pattern, using whichever pieces (from either muslin) work best on me.  The paper pattern is looking busy and it's amazing what a difference a matter of millimetres can make.  

I've now retraced the new pieces and am going to make a third, full, muslin in a heavier weight fabric.  My final test piece.

And last but not least, an utterly gratuitous picture of Finn, proving that dogs will indeed sleep anywhere, even the 11yr old's foot! 



The Owl Prowl, Wordy Wednesday 30th January 2013

The dogs, D90 and I took a walk at dusk on Sunday, just hoping... and look who we saw.  I could still benefit from a longer range lens, but we did far better than my previous attempts and I couldn't resist the share.



I'd love to know what they were all looking at!

The 1873 Corset, second draft

This week, I have slowly been working my way through the second draft of the 1873 corset.  It shouldn't have taken so long, but it has been a case of snatched moments here and there.  After the first redraft, I have also edited pieces as I have sewn the muslin together and then annotated the paper copy with (dated) reminders.

I was even more pleased with my new system when I put the second muslin on Miss G and realised I'd not increased the width of the back piece, which was probably the most important adjustment from muslin number one; dopey does not even begin to describe it!

I have also pinned and marked points on the muslin at which the fit or line is not right as it is sat on Miss G.  I'll need to double check everything on myself before I transfer the markings to the paper pattern though.

The main issues is that the bust area needs looking at a little more.  The first muslin is pinned in reverse on the right hand side of Miss G for reference and it sits far better over the bust than the new muslin does.  The second is quite puckered and doesn't look anywhere near as smooth.  The measurements on those pieces have not changed, so I am wont to blame my sewing; but the bottom front panel, which is a good deal bigger than the original has also distinctly (and unexpectedly) raised the waist line.  I actually rather like it, but I fear that this line will be too short on my body and another reason why the main side panel will need looking at further. 

That said, barring these last few tweaks to the front pieces, I'm pretty happy with how it's progressing.  the changes to the bottom pieces have certainly given me the exaggeration to the hip that I was looking for.  Here's some photos, with the hip padded out to give a better idea of how it will look once boned.

You can see in this last photo the difference in waist lines.  It definitely needs to be revisited though the second muslin looks so much crisper with the shortened waist. 

I am also getting slightly nervous though about how the final piece will go together, the muslin goes together so well because the fabric is so flexible and I won't have that luxury on the final pieces.  Last, but most definitely not least, I now need to decide on some fabrics.  Never mind that I can keep tinkering with the pattern, I can't go any further past that point without some fabric!

The Owl and The Camera

One of the lovely boyf's stipulations, when presenting me with my Christmas present, was to use it to get a good photograph of the Barn owl that we are occasionally lucky enough to see in the back field as we walk the dogs.  Yesterday afternoon I was planning to take my camera on our walk but it was bitterly cold and sleeting and didn't really seem like the best plan.  The snow is (slowly) going and I couldn't imagine there would really be anything photo and bone-chilled fingers worthy.  Famous last thoughts and all that; not only do we have a Barn owl, we have two.  Two, very unfussed by the crazy lady and her dogs, owls who, for a delightful 20 minutes, showed me exactly why we are so keen on getting a good photo of them  They were positively showing off, swooping, hunting, posing and preening and all well within range of the D90's lens.

Unfortunately, not so the camera phone's, but I tried... so here you are hon, one owl pic.  I've given you a little hint, I'm sure you'll agree, it's obvious when you know where to look!

In a word, Snow! Wordless Wednesday, 23rd January 2013