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.

Who copies who the most?

I tend to get into little tiffs with people online. Mainly to attempt to change people's minds to my correct way of thinking. This month's saga is with a european etsy seller who makes handmade shoes. They are nice and prior to the incident I might have respected her as a colleague.

The incident being her posting a photo of a shoe that was similar but no where near identical to a shoe she makes and sells. She posts it on FB with a caption saying xyz brand copied me what should I do? I of course had to point out both that the shoes had significant difference and also her design had been around before she started making it and it was a slight variation on a basic 100+ year old pattern/design. Other commenters saw my point but she didn't like hearing that so capped off the conversation that she was glad it was a brand she respected that copied her.

Grrr no one copied you.

I let it slide until I noticed her next 2 designs were similar to my last 2 pairs that I put up on FB. Now I am 100% sure she didn't copy both were a result of the current design zeitgeist.  So me being me I post images on her FB and was like omg look how similar these are and doesn't it suck when people accuse you of copying their crap. Ok I didn't say it like that. More adultlike.

This of course instantly changed her thinking to the more correct way which is just because two designs have similar design elements doesn't make them the same nor does it mean one copied the other. Funny what happens when the shoe is on the other foot.

But I notice this a lot with design authorship. People incorrectly assume that they invented something because they had never seen it before. Or they accuse others of copying but they themselves are inspired.

This lady claims to have been a designer for a large shoe company in Spain so you'd think she'd understand how the process works with predictives and runway reports and such like.

I'm a brat and I know it especially since I will be selling in the same category as her soon but hopefully I will have nipped her delusions in the butt.

Square Dance: I see round toe and I want to make it square

I haven't posted much in the way of shoe related or any related projects but I have been busy. Working on patterns and prototypes for future Etsy shoe line and following along with 2 seperate online shoemaking courses.

What I have done that I can show you is this.

A round toe last converted into a square toe using 2 part epoxy putty

Work in Progress Purple Golf Pumps

Thought I was doing a pretty good job at keeping the suede clean some of the paste seeped through. I'll assess when done.

Small progress

The last few weeks I haven't been doing so much in the making stuff department. Half a tshirt sewn and a skirt cut out and the uppers of these purple ballet golf flats. Primarily I've been buying supplies. So much leather = so many possibilities and adjusting to my early morning school schedule. Hopefully I'll get these lasted tonight. I will be trying 3 new things. Silastics/Celastic for the toe puff and counters, premade welting to give it that menswear look and premade nylon heel lifts.

Giveaway week at Kathleens

Ok you may have noticed that my link list only has one website on it. Thats because that's the only one I can recommend that won't fill your head with fluff. Well this week Kathleen at FI is having a mega giveaway. Good books too. So go git it.

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/day-2-giveaway-surprise-2-for-1-book-deal/comment-page-1/#comment-164060


*other bloggers don't be offended sometimes fluff is a good thing.

Online making shoe classes with Sveta

http://svetakletina.blogspot.co.il/2013/08/shoemaking-online-courses-registration.html

I'm excited about this for 2 reasons. 1) I would like to know that I have the basics perfect and 2) it will give me access to techniques I wouldn't find elsewhere.

And the price is reasonably 30 euros which is about 40 buck a month versus $1500 for a class where you don't even get to make the whole shoe.

Pink pointy toed loafers

Continuing on my mission to try all the classic designs (this time loafers) I decided to combine two of my wishes . First to make a pink pair of shoes out of the same fabric as my pink tailored jacket and secondly to copy a pair of pointy loafers.

My inspiration was this:

The result was this:

I made mine a little pointier that the original but I like it.

The pattern was fairly straightforward. A variation of the ballet flat. I probably could have just adjusted a prior flat pattern but decided to draw on the last. (This is like draping a block in shoe terms)

I think the sole on on this pair came out great probably the best so far. I used the teardrop heel I had seen in one of Sveta's tutorials

I experimented a little and tried to make counters of texon board. Texon board is a special resin infused cardboard that's used in shoemaking for the insoles. I could have skived the edges a little bit more before molding to thin the edges a little but I am satisfied with the results. Next time I might try leather board.

This was my first time really working with fabric instead of leather and it came out ok. It was the first time I tried using goatskin and that was okay but it was a little thin and wrinkly and the reinforcement I used shredded under the lasting pressure. But this shoe is my best work so far save for the lining finishing

Icecream social mint oxfords

I have been trying to follow Sveta's advice and make one of each of the basic shoe styles at least once so I thought I would take the opportunity to blend classic design with what's on trend right now. I am really loving these soft structured lace ups that look a little bit like the jazz ballet slippers I used to wear in the 90's.

Super soft. No stiffeners or toe puffs. Unfinished raw edges and colorful.

Something like this.

 

 

And I think I came pretty darn close.

A little in progress before I go. I used adhesive fiberglass to reinforce the eyelets, topline tape to prevent stretching and seam reinforcement tape.

Shoemaking Community

Want to learn how to make shoes in a welcoming environment. The head over to the shoemaking and creative page. Now granted we don't teach lessons but we do share information freely and without attitude. Also our host has published many tutorials and videos that I personally have learned from.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/115340750588721295219?cfem=1

Pinchless Pointy Toed Imperfection

Well technically this isn't a pointy pump but instead an almond toe which is more fashionable and slightly easier to last. I tried a few things different this time and a few things went wrong.

The leather is darker on one because its still wet.

New things:

Metal Shank wedged between the texon board and a vegetan shank cover
New last and pattern
First pointed toe lasting
Used a mix of pva and vegetable glue for gluing the upper to the lining after the toe puff had been lasted.
Used a premade stacked heel

What went wrong:

Didn't allow for turn of cloth allowance when placing the topline tape so in places I barely got a mm of turning allowance folded over.
Sewed the upper at night without supplemental lighting and also used my knee lift which I don't normally do the result and awesomely stitched curve in places and disgraceful swoops and corners in others.
Cut the stitching in several places when removing the lining allowance. Mainly due to the uneven top stitching.
Counter and toepuff edges showed through again. *sigh* I can't seem to get this part right. I love the way the thermoplastic stuff gives a nice shape but skiving it before molding it doesn't work and filing after doesn't either. The only thing I can think of is that the leather is still too thin or too soft. A stiffer or thicker leather wouldn't shown through I don't think.
The premade heel wasn't worth it because I had to spend so much time trimming and filing it too fit.
For some reason I thought it a great idea to try the soling method where you stick a big piece of leather on the bottom and trim it to fit. Disaster I sliced the upper to bits in places and it ended up being all sad and lumpy.

The good things:

The pattern fits great. I tried a new method of pattern drafting by making a mean forme then creating the pattern. The fit is really good.
No pinching. Seriously how often does that happen with pointy toes. Like never.
The last is my size. The seller put a whole run of sizes up on ebay. I was only able to grab the 9 since they were like $20 and everyone snapped them all up.
They look pretty sexy on like a pair of manolo boots I had once.
The shank worked out fine as did the glue.

Next time I'll use my usual method of precut and shaping the sole. I'll nix the premade sole and sew my upper before midnight in lots of light.

How to sew faster, better, stronger.

When I first started this blog my concept was that in some way I would try and reduce the amount of time wasting and trauma involved with many home sewers projects. It occurred to me that people who sewed for a hobby were set up to fail simply because they were just following instructions. I have failed at this because I have been lured offtrack by my shoemaking hobby and its likely most posts in the future will be about that but I am going to try as I think of them to posts ideas that will make you more successful in your sewing endeavors.

Hint #1: Learn all that is learnable.

Sewing and pattern making is a skill. It can be learned but you need to practice. Create a notebook and start picking techniques out of your favorite sewing books and sewing little samples. Try different variations on the same skill until you find one you like or start internalizing the skill. This will save you time because you will make less mistakes, you'll pick the right method the first time and you won't spend time looking things up because you'll already know what to do. This is what they have you do when you study fashion/apparel production.

Don't limit it to a sewing notebook though. This concept can be applied to pattern adjustments or pattern making. Print yourself a set of 1/4 blocks and work your way through your fitting and alterations reference or through a pattern making text. Really get those pattern manipulations into your fingers so when its time to work on something you can be confident and spend less time.

A good portion of sewing well is knowing how to choose the right fabric for the job and how to handle it. What am I going to suggest? Yes make a notebook. In design school you have to buy this very expensive notebook with 2-300 swatches in them and then study them all. I'm not suggesting that level of dedication but it certainly would behoove you to keep as many swatches in a little notebook for future reference.

Professional results often mean thinking like a professional. I know these don't really seem like they make things faster and if you thinking of time saving hints for a specific thing they are not. What they do is help you develop your own bank of shortcuts.

If you think sewing is fun it'll be even more fun after. The better you are the more enjoyable it is. Knowledge is freedom.

Sewing for men : The peacoat edition

Over the course of my 13+ years of marriage I've sewn only a handful of things for my husband. Some he wears some he doesn't which is why I stopped. The last thing I made for him was a technically perfect woven shirt. Except the buttons went on the girl way which was not acceptable to him so he never wore it.

There's very little wiggle room in menswear. The range of acceptable fit, fabrication and finishes is very small, minute even. So one little thing off and its game over. With sewing for women you can get away with creative fudges and flubs and overall the quality of RTW for women has gotten so poor you could hand sew a rag together and people would think you bought it at Forever 21. But menswear has remained pretty consistent in the styling and quality that its harder to successfully emulate.

So I haven't sewn anything for him in about 10 years I was waiting for him to ask and with my latest spree of tailored jackets he decided he would like one too. This I feel good about. One because I feel jackets are my speciality and two its more likely to get worn. Why? Because he doesn't have any alternatives. You see we live in L.A. and it seldoms gets cold so we don't really own coats but on the rare day that we wake up and its OMG 60 degrees out there we rummage though our closet and wear what we can find. So there is a good chance between a cold snap and a trip to Vegas (where I was cosy in my Anise) that this WILL get worn.

For the pattern I am using a japanese pattern book called "Men's Coat Making" (I think its in Japanese so who knows?) which I picked up in Little Tokyo but you can grab a copy here. It was about $35 and has 13 patterns to trace off but they all variations of 4 basic styles. Trenchcoat, Peacoat, Duffle coat and a classic Overcoat. I'm making a variation between styles 6 and 7 which is a peacoat.

The fabric I purchased from Mood online which was a much better experience than in store though they are slow to ship I feel but since I sat on the fabric for 4 months I don't think it matters though in theory if it had arrived earlier I would have started straight away.

I had done the test fit about 3 months ago but I just cut the front and backs out and started sewing. I interfaced the whole front and half of the back using some interfacing I got from Michael Levines which is a lightweight non-woven fusible in black but it also has lines of white chain stitching running parallel to the grain approx. 3/32" apart. I cut it so the lines of reinforcement ran horizontally. I also reinforced the lapel area with the lines being parallel to the roll line. I will do something similar when I cut the collar. I might also cut a shoulder shield on the bias. This is a really nice interfacing it's perfect for doing a fusible style of tailoring since it mimics the qualities of the hair canvas but its only $1.50 for 60" wide.

So far I have only cut out the fronts and back and sewn the shoulders and side seams. The thread I got is not a close enough match for doing the top stitching on the front pockets so the project is already on hiatus but thats ok because it's the first day of summe and its 80 degrees outside.

Portfolio completed what to do next?

OK  I have my final class for my portfolio class tonight and have completed my project ahead of time. Now I have been working harder on this than I probably should have for a one unit class and now it's finished I'm unsure what my next project should be

Suggestions? Pointy toed flats? Low heeled pumps. A Sorbetto (graded up with a FBA)? Finally make that coat for my husband? Something NEW?

Orange Tangerine Dream Shoes

These shoes I tried a slightly different technique with a back strap and a pigsuede toe puff and counter. Both the lambskin I used and the pigskin lining are quite thin so the thermoplastic stuff would have shown through something terrible. The toepuff blended the best on the shoe where I didn't completely glue the lining to the upper but I like the way the inside of the one I did completely glue feels. I've been making each one slightly different so I can compare the techniques but I think I'll start to trying to get things consistant.

The result is a very soft slipper feel much like the first green ones I made I still need to glue on the rubber gripper for the front of the sole since the soles are very slippery because I burnish them to a high shine.

Long time no shoe

This portfolio class has been taking up some of my time but one of the goals that I set myself was to make something for my portfolio that was from the mood board/fabric headers that I have put on there. It also will match one of the sketches on my mockup line sheet but I haven't begun to do those sketches yet. Yes I know I should have dont those first but my creative process tends to start at the pattern and as you can see this is just another pair of ballet flats from my goto pattern. I should finish them today but until then here's a sneak peek.

Mint Julep Slippers

I didn't do much of anything this week with Mr SewUnnecessary off on vacation and me having a little stomach bug but I did finish off these mint suede slippers while watching the Kentucky Derby

I used the suede for the upper and the lining and bagged the top edge. I could have skived the edges a little bit better. No counter stiffener or toe puff. Could have used something in the counter area but works ok without a toe puff. I've seen how other makers deal with this issue by using a back strap but they also don't last their shoe so I figured its because they don't know better. I think I need to get some celastic to try. Something a little simpler to apply. The thermoplastic stuff does go on easy but the filing takes awhile.

The downside about being a lazy overachiever

You always feel like your behind even when clearly your not.

I always come out with these brillant easily "in my mind"acheivable goals that really don't have any effect on any real outcome. Usually they involve trying to relearn something I already know or used to master. They never involve just brushing up or catching. No they usually involve starting at the beginning again.

For example: I thought it would be a great idea to work through my pattern making text from start to finish and do ALL of the exercises in 1/4 scale in a notebook. Broken down into a few a day to keep it "manageable" This was an expanded version of what I had to have down for one of my patternmaking classes that I took a decade ago. I didn't actually DO it so I got an C when I could have easily gotten an A. I think I felt guilty.

Same thing with my shoes even though I am chugging along making approximately a pair a week and I haven't been making them all that long. I had a work stoppage due to running out of Master cement and also starting the portfolio presentation class. No shoemaking for about a week or so. Boy did I beat myself up. A week! Surely I must have given up.

Does anyone ever feel this way. I also have a partially cut out wool peacoat for the husband on haitus because its back into the 70's in LA and I just don't feel motivated.

Design School Dropout No More

I've often joked about being a design school dropout a few credits away from graduating but I never thought that was 100% true. Turns out it actually truly is. I only need 2 one unit fashion classes and an art sketching class from graduating with an Associate of Science in Fashion Design and Production. I enrolled in the first class Portfolio Presentation Techniques which started last week. It's a half semester course then I'll take the final fashion course which is ironically FASHION 101 Career Opportunity in Fashion which most students take first semester. Then just take a sketching course again which I should have taken first semester but got waived out of

I find it weird that I'll be getting a science degree though Fashion is a technical skill more than anything. If I had graduated from FIDM I would have gotten an art degree. How did I get so close yet so far away? Well when I was actively studying fashion I did what many students do. They believe the hype and think they are stupid so don't take the GE requirements. Well when I switched years to Nursing many years later (I am a licensed vocational nurse on the fence about being a RN) I ended up filling in most of the gaps since they are prereqs for the RN-LVN bridge. I did all the smart courses like Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology and nailed them. So designers aren't dumb. Not by a long shot.

I am enjoying starting to put my portfolio together even though I don't plan to look for work with it.
Here's my cover page logo. I'm going to focus on shoe and bag design.

Shoecap

Just a quick post. I didn't realize how many shoes that I've actually made in the last 3 months or so until I put them on the bed to count. Technically there is one more the denim peeptoes but I pulled them off the last and never soled them because they were not ever going to be wearable. The green ones look very beat up for a reason. My cat expressed his displeasure one day at their expense and I had to literally soak them in water. I'm surprised they even stayed together. I've worn all but the suede ones on the left outside the house. The purple ones I've worn the most. 3x last week.

The turquoise ones are attempt #10 and are just awaiting a sole. I couldn't work on them for a few days because they were redoing the plumbing in my house and the workers were everywhere. I have them cut sanded and inked and will stick them on tomorrow. I found some rubber heels and grips at Daiso (kinda of like a japanese 99c store expect everything is $1.50) so I'm going to try them out.

Derby Redux

So I went to Sav-Mor Leather in Los Angeles and had a bit of a scrap binge from their scrap bins. Excellent deal. 6lbs @3.50lb = a big old bag of useable pieces for ~$20. When I saw this coral I couldn't say no even though there was only the mostly unusable parts there. They had a lot though obviously from the cutting room and this was the skirting area of the hide. So I cut it out with the smoothest stuff at the toe and the most textured at the quarter panels. Looks a little rustic. Add into the fact I got a few spots on it from trying to remove some excess cement and black ink stains here and there and well they look worn in already. I didn't do a superjob on the heel finishing because I lost the attatchment I need for my dremmel and well the shoes wanted to be on my feet asap. They fit ok. I get a lot of swelling my ankles lately so I need to recut the pattern to accomdate that a bit better but they are comfy.

I used the same pattern as my mint/teal suede derbies but I adjusted where the seamline for the quarter and backpart falls to get a better balance and by default a better fit. Over all the upper leather and lining leather is thicker so the shoe is a little sturdier. Still need to work on my skiving and in general just not being as messy.

I probably could have spit and polished these a little bit better with the sole finishing and even the top stitching but I have so many new ideas from all that leather I got and these shoes probably cost me about $5 to make though I DID use the more expensive coated sole leather. I added a crepe soling heel lift which makes them much less slippy. I just need to get proper shoelaces for them not bits of string or ones stolen from the husband for both pairs.

I think a 4 hole would work better for next time

Finished Derbies

The stitching gave me a lot of grief with this pair. Everything else went ok though. Very happy with the soles. I do need to adjust the lines on this pattern though. They feel a little "off"

Derby flat

I made that quarter line a bit curvier afterwards

Well now I've gotten my ballet flat pattern more or less the way I want it (with plans to make a couple more this week if I'm productive enough) I started working on the Derby Shoe tutorial I purchased from Sveta. Here I am so far. I plan to make them out of mint and teal suede. Hopefully I won't get them horridly dirty like the blue suede ones :/

Purple Caviar Snakeskin Print Pigskin Shoes

Wow that was a mouthful of a title. Well here they are the 5th pair of shoes that I have completed. They fit, look cute and match each other.

Upper closed and waiting for lasting

What went wrong this time? Well the purple leather while pretty is really thin/drapey so everything shows though the the right side so I wasn't able to to add counters and toe puffs. Thats why I did the back strap and toecap in the black lambskin. I made a midsole using 2 layers of texon board using Sveta's tutorial. I didn't use a metal shank and fiberboard. One because I don't have it and 2 its only a 3/8" heel.

Lining lasted and tacked down.

I used a vegtan leather for the sole and painted the edge black with heel and edge coat but I discovered its really for shoe shines not for shoemaking so it got a little messy. I added a rubber toplift to the heel which you can tell from the picture that I cut crooked a tad. For the insole I stuck a piece of Cloud 6 EVA foam (Cloud 9 is thicker) to the sockliner.

Uppers lasted and glued down

The stitching was a little easier this time because I sucked it up and bought the roller foot for my Bernina.

Cork filling added

The biggest mistake is one you might not noticed. I feel when I lasted the uppers I torqued them a little too much to the inside. You can't really tell because I did it same amount on both sides but I feel it twists the shoe a little when you have it on.

But onward and upward to better things. Tomorrow I think I'll try making a derby shoe on the same last.

DIY Lipstick Palette Tutorial

This tutorial is a left over relic from my previous blog where I blogged on coupons. Yeah cheezy I know but somewhere along the line I took all the step by step photos for a tutorial to create your own professional looking lipstick palette. Most of the tutorials I had seen were very messy looking very cheap and ad hoc so I wanted to post this anyways since I feel it fills a need for a foolproof way for creating something slick and smooth and polished. Also they usually have you melt the lipsticks in either the microwave and then pour it in the pans or worse melt it in a metal spoon with a lighter like a heroin addict. Ladies shouldn't do that ;). So here we go.

Ok before you start you need to gather your supplies. First you need a selection of lipsticks that you want to palletize. You can also use lip balms and thick lip glosses if your patient. You will need a palette or box in which to put the final pans. I used a MAC eyeshadow palette that I had pulled the dividers out of but really your choices are unlimited on this. There are some wonderful tutorials out there on how to make a palette out of a shallow hinged box and some craft foam. What you use doesn't affect this process though so be as basic or adventurous as you feel like. You will need some empty eyeshadow pans. I bought mine from this place on eBay and she has both the square or round ones. You will also need an oven (toaster or conventional), some rubbing alcohol and a knife and some plastic spatulas or something similar to spread the lipstick into the pans.

Cover your working surface with some paper towels and assemble your supplies so they are at hand. Pop your lipsticks in the fridge for a little bit because it will make it easier to slice off just the amount you want to use so you can save the rest of your lippies for later. It's also a little easier to spread cleanly if its not so soft to begin with. 

1) Roll up your lipstick so 1/3 -1/2 of the lipstick is showing.

2) Carefully slice off with a sharp knife and place in the pan

3) Use the spatula to carefully spread the lipstick as evenly as possible over the pan.

4) Use a paper towel to clean off the edges with rubbing alcohol to avoid messes when you melt it. You can usually get about two pans out of one lipstick by scooping the lipstick out of the tube. You'll notice how much product is saved this way and making a lipstick palette is a great way to stretch your lipstick dollar and get the most out of your favorite (and ALWAYS discontinued) shade

5) Turn on your oven to the lowest temperature. About 200 degrees is about right. Cover a baking 

sheet with waxed paper and place your pans on top.

6) Once you have made enough pans to cover a baking sheet place inside the oven for approx 5 minutes or until you can visually see the lipsticks have melted.

7) Carefully remove from the oven to avoid creating airbubbles or spilling and allow to cool. You should be able to see at this point the pans have a nice shiny smooth and even and PROFESSIONAL look to them.

8) While they are cooling look for airbubbles and gently pop them with a toothpick. Half the time they will smooth over. If they don't pop them back in the oven until they melt again. It will not damage the lipstick at all.

9) When they are completely cool and to your satisfaction pop them in your palette and enjoy. I'm not going to cover how best to mount them or arrange them since there are much better tutorials out there on that subject.

10) You can do much more than just plain lipsticks you can do plain or colored lipbalms and thick glosses. Experiment and see.

I hope this was helpful to someone I know its not really sewing related or even sewing adjacent but it's fun and fairly easy to get great results.