It's been along time coming

I miss sewing I really do. I haven't been documenting most of what I've sewn in the last year because it really only amounts to a couple of t shirts and a pair of shoes.

I have been busy though with a body and career makeover which I've been blogging at over here.

nursetonutrition.wordpress.com

Hopefully as my weight continues to drop I'll sew some more.

Getting into the bra supply business

For about 10 years now I've been wanting to open a supply store for bra notions. This week I finally got round to it. I've had a mail order craft business on ebay and etsy for years now but I always focused on paper products. With my renewed interest in bra making I was shocked at how much some suppliers were charging for their notions and how most of them seemed to be based outside of the US.

So with that in mind I've started to use my resources and killer sourcing skills so I can offer bra making notions in my store. I've gotten a fair amount of them listed already but will be adding more in days to come.

I have already put together a bra making kit with stretch satin, cup lining and powernet and all the elastics, channeling and findings you'll need. Generous amounts too so larger ladies aren't left in the lurk. Also stretch lace. As an opening special I will be throwing in a few set of underwires. Sizes may vary as they are from a factory I bought surplus from but they will be 100% free to you when you order so if your size matches up you've save a little money :D. The kits will be $20 plus shipping. For now they will be all white but I plan to put together some colorful combinations later.

I'm working on getting quite a few things to fill out my inventory like those nice heal sealed bra closures just like the rtw bras use and matching sets of elastic so your finishing elastic and bra straps will match.

If you have a specific need let me know. I'm trying to fill a need in the market.



I also sell all kinds of tags and envelopes and chinese papers and twine and mexican cards

Go vintage or go home

I have to admit in the past few months I've come to love and adore vintage something I had been resistant to. Why? Well I'm always concerned about aging wiring and irreplaceable parts. Keeping that in mind I set out to convert an old black singer to a hand crank. I bought a Singer 99k in pristine condition for $50 on eBay. I got a better deal because the listing was for the cabinet and machine which scares most buyers off because of the shipping. This seller however was willing to ship just the head. The machines motor actually worked perfectly so I kept the motor after I removed it.

I then purchased a spoked hand wheel and a hand crank from this ebay seller . The conversion process was fairly painless. Unscrew the light and motor. Unscrew the stop motion knob and remove the solid hand wheel and replace it with the spoked wheel. Reattach the stop motion knob. Then you screw the crank mechanism to the motor boss. Swing the finger on the crank into place and your as good as gold.

The second machine I added to my sewing machine menagerie was a Kenmore 1320 from the early 70's I picked it up for the magic price of $20.92 at the Child Abuse and Neglect Charity Store in Ventura CA. Less you think that a very unPC name for a store a few years ago it was called the Retarded Childrens Thrift store. No joke! This is totally true!

I was intending to resell it and I may still do that if I can pick up another (I saw another one at another store so they are common enough) However this is a lean mean lingerie sewing machine. It only has a few stitches. Straight, Zig Zag, Triple straight and 3 step zig zag both which are amazing and blind stitch. Which to be honest it all you really need. It has a buttonhole attachment which I haven't tested yet.

I did some tweaking to the bobbin tension and replaced the bobbin winder which I had broken trying to lift the lid off. It winds a nicely packed bobbin. I might wind all my bobbins on it. 

Will these replace my Bernina? Heck no my Nina is amazing but it gives me something nice to sew on if she ends up in the shop or something

Leopard print shoes

Yes I have still been making shoes but have been documenting it more in depth on Kollabora

Here are the ones I just finished.

http://www.kollabora.com/projects/shoemaking-leopard-print-ballet-flats

Plus Sized Sewing

Ok I am a plus sized girl (size 22) and I sew but I really don't refer to it as such. For me it's weird to think that I am in a TOTALLY different category to other sewers just from a few measly (x4) inches here and there so I don't document it as such. But I'm wondering if maybe I should to show it can be done and we can sew and wear the same things as everybody else? IDK is that the kind of thing people want to read?

I'm bad at blogging

but I seem to be pretty good at this Kollabora thing.

Check me out

http://www.kollabora.com/users/338319/natasha-estrada

I think I prefer to be part of a community rather than banging my own drum. Also prefer to comment rather than lead the discussion.

Do you prefer to lead the discussion or do you like to follow the thread of someone elses ideas? I prefer the latter. I've heard all my own ideas before.

New equipment = new adventures

I bought two piece of equipment this week. A sewing machine and a sander. Now the first item sounds like a typical sewing blog fare but the second thing not so much. But for shoemaking it really is a must. I had been using a generic dremel type drill with a tiny 1/2" sanding drum. Does the job sort of but slowly and never perfectly. So I spent a lot of time researching how I could maximize my $ and space and finally settled on a spindle sander.

It's a pretty straight forward piece of equipment the spindle spins but it also moves up and down to make a smoother finish. You can pop the sleeves on and off and it has a dust collection port in the back to which you can attach a bag to collect dust. So far so good.

This is my progress on my square toed pumps. I really have improved since I made my first pair in January. ALOT.

Now for the sewing machine well it hasn't arrived yet. I was "inspired" to purchase it after reading about Maddie's new restored Singer Featherweight which as a result of some kind of sewing perverseness she had mailed to her parent's home for a xmas present. I do NOT have that level of restraint. 

I had remember that some Singer's can be converted to handcrank. Not a featherweight because those have an geared motor. No I needed one that was belt driven. I finally snagged a Singer 99k and ordered the crank parts. The machine is set to be delivered on friday so we'll see how that goes.