f u l f i l l m e

flip-flopping

2008-07-17T15:11:36Z

The trip to the fabric store was fruitful. Instead of going Thai Silks as I had originally planned, I went to Britex Fabrics instead. I eventually asked for some advice, and as it turned out, the store employs a corset maker! I learned some tricks (using basting spray to stick the coutil to the fashion fabric and treat it as one piece?), which I may or may not use, and she made some suggestions for fabric and construction. She said, as I already learned, that I can use pretty much anything for it.

Though I am happy with the colors and feel of the fabrics I bought yesterday, I am still skeptical because I was told by valleyviolet that shiny satin made of polyester would wrinkle around the waist. The corset maker at the store contradicted this by saying the fabric I chose would work and would be easy to work with. I'm not sure the satin I bought is the same kind of satin that valleyviolet was referring to, and I really have no idea what's going to happen.

What I'm flip-flopping on is whether or not to make a practice corset. The more I think about it, the more I think that I have enough time to make both the practice and the bridal corset, and the reasoning still stands that it would be worth it. At this point, though, I would want to make the practice corset out of the fabric I bought yesterday to see how it behaves. If I did that and it works, then I can wear it to the wedding and not bother with a second corset; if it doesn't work, I was planning to make a second one anyway, so it's not a huge issue. Mmmm....

thoughts on the corset project

2008-07-16T15:14:24Z

I didn't even finish the fitting for my corset before I left for Europe, let alone the practice corset. Sixty-four days are left until the wedding, and I don't think that's enough time to build both the practice corset and the bridal corset. I was this close to giving up altogether and either hiring someone to make it, or just buying another top. But after investing so much time and money into it already, I let myself get talked into going through with building the corset. I decided to skip the practice corset and jump directly to the bridal corset.

Unfortunately, I took another look at the fabric I bought and decided one of the reasons I wanted to give up was because I didn't like it that much. I went to the fabric store yesterday in search of some silks for my fashion fabric, but I couldn't find what I wanted. I'm hesitant to order online again and would rather look at and feel the fabric in person, so I'm going to a different store today right after work. I hope I find what I need there because I don't have 2 weeks to spare on a special order from Jo-Ann's.

Because of the time constraint and the fabric not working out, I am using a different design from the one I had originally decided on. Now I'm planning on making the design shown in the middle of the top row.

Yesterday I ordered coutil and spring steel boning for the back. I also ended up buying an upholstery fabric online that I would like to use for the middle and back pieces. I hope it works out this time because it's exactly what I had in mind -- but that's what I thought about the other fabric, so I'm still going to keep an eye out.

some food from Denmark

2008-07-14T14:34:59Z

Bacon cheese burger

Hot dog, vegetarian french bread pizza type thing and a chocolate muffin

Another burger

An italian sandwich

fabric arrival

2008-06-24T02:43:37Z

I ended up special ordering a ridiculous amount of fabric for my bridal corset from Fabric Direct, and hooray! it came today. With a couple surprises.

#1 I climbed up the stairs and saw a long roll sitting in front of my door rather than a box. No problem; she did say they had a roll, but I thought when they cut it, they'd fold it onto a bolt.

#2 When I managed to peel the plastic off, the fabric was dark silver, not white like it is on the website. At first I thought it was inside out, the way some bolts are at the fabric store. I folded over a piece, but my theory was incorrect.

Initially, I was disappointed. Today is the 20th day since I placed my order, and I've been waiting excitedly ever since. I took my skirt out to see if the flowers matched, and they actually do -- wonderfully. I moved the roll around, looked at it in different lights and at different angles. I understand why their picture online is so inaccurate: it's a difficult to catch the true color of the material because the true color isn't exactly clear. The room was dark when I opened the package, so of course it looked dark. But when I opened the door to see what it looked like in natural light, it looked closer to what the picture on the website showed.

A friend of mine warned me against buying fabric online, and I understood the risks. This isn't the first time a fabric I purchased online appeared different in person. But the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of having a fabric that changes color, depending on how you look at it.

mock-up #2

2008-06-17T04:20:54Z

I ended up buying a new pattern this weekend; this is the first mock-up with the new pattern, but the second for this project. I need to make quite a few alterations (sweetheart neckline, higher in the back?) to it and decided to stop for tonight to prevent frustration from trying to do these since I don't really know how. I shouldn't have too much trouble with these adjustments since I theoretically only need to lengthen the pieces appropriately to create the shape I want.

Also, according to this picture, a couple of my pieces are upside down, so that would explain why the top is so big and the bottom is so tight. Good thing I took this picture, otherwise I would have taken a while to notice this -- even though the book totally said to watch out for that.

I wanted to finish my practice corset before we leave for Europe next Friday, but that doesn't seem like it's going to happen.

The eyelets with extra long flanges came in today. I like ordering my supplies from Faire Lady Designs since I bought my grommet setter there, and they are located in my state, so shipping is quick. She just shipped on Friday. I'll be testing these with some swatches of my practice fabrics later this week.

eyelet tape

2008-06-14T17:02:42Z

Last night, I made the eyelet tape for my mock-ups to practice with the awl and eyelet setter. As expected, I had trouble getting them straight, but other than that, it went smoothly. I'm glad I ordered those eyelets with extra long flanges because I don't think these will go through 4 layers of fabric. I was a bit apprehensive about the grommet setter I bought since I found some posts on corsetmakers about how much it sucked. I can't attest to the security since I haven't used it yet, but I didn't have any problems with setting. I have small hands and don't know if I would have been able to use the plier-type setters, and I definitely can't use the hammer tools because of my neighbors. So far I'm pleased with my purchase, and I will be a very happy camper if I don't have any security issues with them.

This pic shows the rounded on the left and the grooved on the right. I had trouble figuring out which side of the washer was supposed to face up. The directions didn't say if the grooved side faced up or the rounded side, and I didn't see a difference in security when I set them one way or the other, so I just used the rounded side face up because it looked nicer.

for the practice corset

2008-06-14T01:36:48Z

Left to right: novelty cotton, calico cotton, suiting, trigger, muslin

At work today, I decided to make a practice corset instead of fumbling around on the bridal one, so I stopped by the fabric store on the way home from work and just got back from the trip that ended up lasting almost 2 hours. I bought a bunch of stuff on sale and bought the last of a few bolts and getting discounts on them. I don't think the guy charged me for the trigger, though, because the total seemed low; just now I looked at the receipt and don't see it on there.

I'm a bit worried about the trigger as my base fabric since it's not all cotton, but I guess I'll see what happens. I've seen people on several forums mention that they use it for their corsets, so I hope it'll be okay. I forgot to buy interfacing, but I haven't finished the fitting yet, so I probably won't start with these fabrics until tomorrow. We're going out for dinner after my fabric is done in the wash (this is my very first time pre-washing), so I'll pick up some interfacing on the way there.

The last of my corset supplies came in today -- boning tape, awl, and underwire from Corset Making Supplies. I'm not sure if I'm going to use the underwire or not, but it would be best to try it on the muslin and practice corset; it's easier to try it and decide not to use it than not try it and then decide to use it. I'll practice with the awl and grommet setter tonight. Wish me luck!

mock-up #1

2008-06-13T06:09:55Z

This is version 2 of the mock-up I made for my practice corset several months ago, but we're counting it as mock-up #1 for this round. I used this site as a reference for making the mock-up since I'd never made one before. The semi-finished product turned out to be too big, so I figured I needed to make more adjustments here. I was right; I had to take in almost all the seams, but I'm not really sure how to fit for a corset. I'm using the book I mentioned earlier as a reference this time, but since my pattern (Simplicity 4902) isn't meant to be an actual corset, I'm not sure how to adjust for this.

Today I've been thinking about making a practice corset so I can make all my mistakes and practice on my first one. I decided not to have a busk in the front for design reasons, so that reduces places for errors and frustration, but that still leaves the boning and grommets to worry about.

The theory is, I'd make the practice corset out of different fabric than what the wedding corset will be because it will probably turn out wearable, just not as nice as I would like. The problem with this is, part of why I want to make a practice corset is to see how my fabric behaves when used in a corset.

Even with all the great resources available to me (big thanks to valleyviolet for all the help so far!), I still feel a bit like I'm flailing about in the dark -- making a practice corset will help alleviate this feeling. On one hand, corset making is labor intensive, so I don't know if I'll have it in me to make another one if I make the practice corset first. On the other hand, I won't exactly have a choice if it's not made in the fabric I chose for my wedding garb.

Then again, I don't want to put myself in the position where I don't want to make one (if the first attempt isn't at least somewhat successful, I will be reluctant to try again so soon afterwards), but have to because it needs to be made or I won't have anything to wear -- the end result certainly wouldn't satisfy me if I trudged my way through it.

crafty crap cabinet

2008-06-11T23:07:03Z

Before:

After:

I've never had anything to organize my fabrics and yarns and other crafty stuff. I've always just stuffed it somewhere and never been able to find it later. I took forever just to organize my sewing tools. I did have a workspace back at my parents' house, but I still didn't have a designated area to keep my supplies, so my supplies were never organized. Now they are. It's awesome.

corset designs

2008-06-10T23:37:10Z

These are some of the corset designs I came up with. It took a long time for me to decide, but I'm going to make the third one down, with the opening front busk, lacing at the top and contrast trim at the top and bottom.

corsetry kit

2008-06-10T20:16:58Z

The corsetry kit that I ordered from Faire Lady Designs came in today! It was a bit pricey, but I think it was worth the cost. I guess we'll see if that's true when I finish my corset =P

HomePro LR Tool
Laughing Moon Pattern #100
24' spiral boning
48 boning tips
Boning cutter
12" nickel stud busk
Lacing stays
50 silver eyelets and washers
1/4" boning tip dies
3/16" grommet/eyelet dies
3/16" punch dies
1/8" punch dies

The busk might be too long, so that sucks, but it's too be expected for a short person like me. I have to make my mock-up to be sure, though. The good thing about the boning is that it's not precut, so I can cut it to whatever sizes I need. I don't know if I will use the lacing stays; we'll see how comfortable I get with the Homepro.

I'm still waiting on a few other tools and supplies that I ordered from Corset Making, but those won't be here till Friday. In the meantime, I've been working on my designs.

more craftiness to come

2008-06-06T01:35:44Z

I decided to build my own corset bodice for my wedding rather than hiring an expert to build it for me. For one thing, I'm going to be a pain in the ass -- changing my mind, wanting to try different styles, needing things to be just right. For another thing, it's expensive. By building my own, I'd save several hundred dollars, and with the wedding already costing more than I'd like, I'll save whatever I can, even if it ends up costing me in time.

Not only have I always wanted to build a corset for myself, but I've also always dreamed I'd make my own wedding attire. I bought the handmade skirt on Etsy, but only because I fell in love with it. And when it arrived in the mail, it didn't disappoint. Anyway, the point is, I can at least make the top, and a corset bodice will be plenty of constructing to satisfy my desire to create my wedding garb with my own two hands.

In any case, the whole point of this was to say that I'll be posting a lot of crafty wedding-related entries rather than food-related entries, mostly with pictures. This is the first of said entries, in which I will say that my highly recommended corset building book came in (no, I did not buy it for $129.95), and I'm very excitedly reading it. I'm not allowing myself to think that I'm in over my head, because I decided to finally rise to the crafty challenge. I have been doubting my crafty side, and that's just not right.

chicken and rice with broccoli

2008-05-28T02:17:31Z

I decided I hadn't made this in a while, so I winged it again, served with rice and broccoli that my future husband (FH) made. Really simple, but delicious.

california wraps

2008-05-26T22:33:04Z

Click here for the ranch recipe.

cheesecake with raspberry and chocolate sauce

2008-05-17T15:16:32Z

Homemade Cheesecake with Raspberry and Chocolate Sauce

Ingredients:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 pint sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (10-inch) Graham Cracker pie crust

Sauce
1 pint raspberries
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
Your favorite chocolate sauce

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Beat cream cheese, eggs, sugar, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth. Pour over piecrust and bake for 50 minutes (until center is set). To prevent cake from cracking, place shallow pan half full of hot water on lower rack of oven during baking.

3. Cool the cheesecake on a rack for 1 hour then refrigerate for at least 3 hours until cold.

Raspberry Sauce
To prepare Raspberry sauce: In a small saucepan, combine raspberries, sugar, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and reduce mixture by 1/2.

To Plate: Serve a wedge of cheesecake with pool of each sauce on the side.

Notes:
For the raspberry sauce, I used my hand blender to mush up the fruit, then I used a tea infuser to take out all the seeds. The process took a while since the infuser I used was fine and the raspberry juice is chunky, but it was totally worth it. The resulting raspberry sauce was smooth and delicious.

Cocoa Syrup

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups water
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups Dutch-processed cocoa
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Directions:
In a small pot, bring water and sugar to a boil and whisk in cocoa, vanilla, salt, and corn syrup. Whisk until all of the solids have dissolved. Reduce sauce until slightly thickened. Strain and cool to room temperature. Pour into squeeze bottles. Squeeze into cold milk and stir for delicious chocolate milk or serve on your favorite ice cream. And, hey, it's fat free!

Notes:
I couldn't find anything actually labeled Dutch-processed, so I just used what I had, which was unsweetened cocoa.

turkey, bacon, ranch & swiss wraps

2008-05-17T15:05:27Z

The weather has been ridiculously hot lately, but I felt like making cheesecake. Wait, that picture isn't of cheesecake! I didn't want to cook dinner AND cheesecake using the oven or stove because that would keep the apartment hot, so I made these wraps and only had to cook the bacon. I found the idea on Food Network, but I added swiss and left out arugula. I also made a different ranch dressing, which turned out to be vegan and delicious.

Non-dairy Ranch

Ingredients
1 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
7 1/2 tablespoons soymilk
1/2 teaspoon dried chives
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Mix lemon juice and soy milk and let sit for 10 minutes. (An easier way to think about the measurement is to pour 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice into a measuring cup and add soy milk until it reaches 1/2 cup.)

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon juice and soy milk mixture, chives, parsley, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.

3. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

Notes:
My ranch ended up being a bit thin, but our friend, who was over for dinner (mostly for cheesecake, though ~_^), said it was his favorite ranch dressing because it wasn't as thick as ranch usually is.

Pics of the cheesecake TBP.

mostly non-dairy herb cream sauce

2008-05-04T15:44:34Z

I don't remember when I made this so I'm posting to today. It was actually pretty good. I served it with with shrimp and linguine.

Cream Sauce With Herbs and No Dairy

INGREDIENTS:
1 8 ounce package silken tofu
1 1/2 cups soy milk
2 tablespoons soy margarine
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon salt-free herb and spice blend
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch

DIRECTIONS:
1. Crumble tofu into a blender or food processor. Puree briefly, then add the soy milk, margarine, garlic, nutritional yeast, paprika, dill and spice blend. Process the mixture until it is smooth.

2. Pour the mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Combine the cornstarch and water, pour into pan with the sauce. Continue cooking over medium heat until sauce has thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and allow sauce to cool slightly, adjust flavors to taste and serve over pasta or roasted vegetables.

Alterations:
- Used real butter
- Added cayenne pepper
- Used hand blender
- Used Spike's no salt herb & spice blend, though original recipe says to use the one with salt

mexican cod and mushroom fries

2008-04-28T02:45:16Z

This dish was just okay, and I don't think it will do too well for leftovers. I think it would be better with chicken, though I doubt I will make the recipe again. I wasn't in a measuring mood tonight, so I didn't measure anything on either of these recipes.

I don't think I posted the recipe last time I made these portobello mushroom fries, so I posted it below.

Mexican Baked Fish

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds cod
1 cup salsa
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup coarsely crushed corn chips
1 avocado - peeled, pitted and sliced
1/4 cup sour cream

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease one 8x12 inch baking dish.

2. Rinse fish fillets under cold water, and pat dry with paper towels. Lay fillets side by side in the prepared baking dish. Pour the salsa over the top, and sprinkle evenly with the shredded cheese. Top with the crushed corn chips.

3. Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until fish is opaque and flakes with a fork. Serve topped with sliced avocado and sour cream.

Portobello mushroom fries

4 large portobello mushroom caps
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling, plus 1/4 cup
Steak seasoning blend, such as Montreal Steak Seasoning, or coarse salt and black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded or grated Parmesan

Directions:
1. Preheat a grill pan over medium high to high heat.

2. Scrape the gills off the underside of portobello mushroom caps with a spoon. Brush caps gently with a damp cloth to clean them. Drizzle caps with oil to keep them from sticking to the grill pan and season the caps with steak seasoning or salt and black pepper.

3. Grill mushrooms 3 or 4 minutes on each side under a loose tin foil tent until just tender. Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes.

4. Slice grilled caps into 1/2-inch strips. Turn strips in egg, then coat in mixture of parsley, bread crumbs and cheese. Cook "fries" over medium high heat in enough extra-virgin olive oil to coat a nonstick skillet in a thin layer, about 1/4 cup. "Fries" will brown in 2 or 3 minutes on each side.

Notes:
I made things difficult for myself by buying precut mushrooms. Because they were cut, scraping the gills off the undersides of the caps was difficult without breaking them. I also didn't do the grilling step so I had to leave them on the fry pan for longer; that didn't really work out because they got too dark before they were done. I'm surprised I tried this recipe again since it gave me a hard time last time, but they are pretty tasty, even if I can't seem to get them just right.

grilled crab n cheese

2008-04-15T03:50:37Z

Winged it on this one. A bit of vegan mayo, a ton of cheddar, some cayenne on garlic bread fried in a bit of butter. With frozen TJ fries.

chicken meatballs in mini pita

2008-04-14T02:50:48Z

This recipe is actually for macaroni and cheese with chicken meatballs, but I didn't want to make the mac n cheese. The meatballs were really good, and I don't even like meatballs that much ~_^

The mini-pita pocket idea isn't mine. I saw it online somewhere, but I can't remember whose site it was. My apologies to the creator, and if you see this, let me know it was you so I can post credit to you.

Click here for the bento version.

Roast Chicken Sausage Meatballs
By Rachael Ray of the Food Network

Ingredients:
Salt
1 1/2 pounds ground chicken
Black pepper
2 to 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves stripped and finely chopped
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
3 cloves garlic, grated
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano, divided
1 egg
3/4 cup bread crumbs, plus more, if needed*
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine the chicken, salt and pepper, rosemary, fennel seeds, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, ricotta cheese, Parmigiano, egg and bread crumbs. *If the mixture seems too wet, add a handful of bread crumbs and mix together.

3. Form 8 large round balls, about 3 to 4-inches. Coat balls in a couple of tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and lightly grease a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil.

4. Arrange balls on the baking sheet and roast 17 to 18 minutes until juices run clear.

DIY dress form

2008-04-14T02:07:23Z

So my bf helped me make a dress form of myself. We'll probably do the stand next weekend. We don't have the right tools.

So far it has helped with the shirt I'm trying to make myself out of bamboo fabric. The form looks bigger than I am, but it's still better than a store bought dress form, and with the stand, it only cost me about $30 plus an old tshirt.

yeah, I really do ♥ sandwiches

2008-04-05T05:22:16Z

orange tree crochet hook case

2008-03-31T01:11:35Z

I sewed a new case for my crochet stuff this morning. The design was inspired by crochet hook and sewing organizers I saw in BlueBananaShop on Etsy.

I'm pleased with how the front turned out. My sister helped me design the front and choose the fabric for it, so a big thanks to her. I'm not pleased with my sewing, though. I'm not going to point out specifics, but I'm at least getting better.

This is the case open.

Notes:

I was planning to store the hooks left to right, smallest to largest, but I didn't realize the pocket was too tall for the smaller hooks until after I had sewn the section between the smaller and hook pockets to the backing. Adapt.
The larger hooks stick out from the top of the case; one of the reasons I wanted to make a new one was because my big hooks were too tall for my other case. Fortunately, when this case is closed, you can't really see that they stick out.
The smaller pocket for my stitch markers and yarn needles is too loose. The first case I made had a pocket that was somehow perfectly sized for the plastic stitch marker case, but this is less fitted for it, so the plastic case falls out willy-nilly.

You'd think this case would have been easier to make since I've already made one, but what's funny is, this case was more difficult because I had to make sure everything fit. The pockets of the first case were just estimated because I didn't have certain hook sizes or stitch markers. When I eventually bought those things, they just happened to fit.

crochet mesh bag

2008-03-31T00:55:15Z

I got this pattern from the label of some yarn I bought. It turned out considerably smaller than it was supposed to because I used a 4.25mm hook instead of a 4.5mm hook. I could not find a 4.5mm hook at Jo-Ann Fabrics and wanted to start right away, so I didn't bother looking elsewhere. In retrospect, I should have gone a size up, but all I had was 5.00mm and I was afraid that would be too big. Well, now I know.

I took it to the grocery store for the first time today and used it for produce. It did pretty well, though it was a bit small.

Click here for the pattern page at Bernat.

leftover easter soup

2008-03-31T00:50:02Z

Chicken tortilla soup. I made it Sunday night for my parents for the first time. They liked it =)

Click here for the recipe.