More super Gem corset (and hockey rink)

I spent some time this morning sewing up the tiny corset. Here I am about to press open the first seam, with some help from a wet, shaped washcloth. I stuff the tip of the washcloth into the corset so I can shape it a little while I iron it:

Then I will topstitch that seam. Because it's so tiny, I often use a pin or a seam ripper to push the fabric under the presser foot.

The "toy" Brother that I bought from Amazon for around 80.00 sews very slowly, and has a big foot pedal-- which is great for this kind of fiddly sewing. It also has excellent "feed dogs" that pull in even super thin fabric without eating it. However,with the Brother, You May Not Use Pins. The reviews warned that if you run over pins, the plastic bobbin plate will either dent or crack, and the rest of the machine isn't set up to eat pins, either. So I either do without pins or if it's a tricky spot, I will hand-baste it first.

I also found the first pattern mistake--I forgot to add back in the amount of fabric I folded up into that bust dart, so there is a gap at the bottom of that piece:

So I will go back and add that amount to the pattern piece.

Between the topstitching and the ironing, it has a Supergem girl shape (or half of one) :D

While I have been making tiny things, my neighbor made a hockey rink.

It's pretty cool except that he has discovered that a rink this size needs a Zamboni (he's had to use the kids instead). Plus it is supposed to be 38 and raining tomorrow. It's been up since December and I think except to scrape it, no one has been able to use it yet.