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.