The duck pack is now huge! It's hard to tell which one is mom! Discovered the neighbours all feed the duck pack and none knew about the others. At least they seem to be getting all the food groups covered, from the reports I hear.
Momma deer and tiny fawn have not been seen in a while. However her last year's child is still stomping through my garden and chewing on everything in sight! S/he will not leave until physically threatened (seems I'm not enough, DH must be called). You should hear the haughty snorts of derision as it finally leaps off, flagging its white fluffy tail!
But I am avoiding the topic at hand. I am building myself a swimsuit. The annual girls week in Montreal approaches, and I need a suit. Closet Case Files just released Sophie and I liked the look. It has a very fitted bra style top. It could be great for me, or not - but well worth a try.
I've also got her jeans pattern, but haven't tried it yet. She seems to get good reviews though. First to impress me was the cheat lines so nicely in place for me! You print off your size according to your bust and she has nested the lower part of the pattern with 3 sizes up and down in light grey lines. You have your size and all the alterations right there! This alone is worth the price of admission! Practical genius at work!
Things would have been just swimmy if I had bothered to read the Big Bold Red Print. I printed out the size based on my upper bust, as I usually do. She bases the size on your under bust measurements and then a cup size factor. Yah! I got to go down a few sizes! And I got to practice my gluing. Always need more practice with that.
She includes 5 cup sizes and I was most hopeful for cup size 5, even though the measurements she gives are not in my range. My cup spillith well over that, methinks. Me right. She helpfully suggested making a foam muslin from the foam inner cup pattern. I did and well, brilliant idea. Saved me a lot of tears later. She may need to expand beyond 5 cup sizes. This Sophie was not going to fit left to its own devices!
However, this foam muslin idea led to plan B. I made up a foam cup from my fav bra pattern and them cut it apart in the same lines as the Sophie pattern indicated. This gave me new pattern pieces for the cups, but not the suit that they needed to connect to.
This is why a girl needs toys. I have a flexible ruler (it's wiggly and can be used in interesting ways) so I measured the new cups along the bottom edge from centre seam to side and centre, curved the ruler along the original seam lines of the cup cradles built into the suit and just dipped the line until it would contain the beasts. I was surprised at how little fabric need to be removed to add the seam length I needed.
And that is where I am now. The suit body is together and needs leg elastic next. Then the cups go in. Then I hope I can find an underwire in my collection to fit. Swimsuits are huge investments of time. However, this one is princess seamed, 1 or 2 pieces, colour block friendly - and suitable for the slightly squishy body I seem to have. Well, I'll let you be the judge of that in a few days. Or not. I need to see it first before I decide if it suitable for the public eye.
