Where to buy plus sized corsets, the sewing machine, etc.

Hi!  Recently, I had the sewing machine into the shop to be repaired.  As it turns out I made a mistake.  I thought I had been using machine embroidery needles when I had been using regular machine needles.  How could I make such a mistake you might ask?  The problem arose when I wanted to buy machine embroidery needles in bulk from people on eBay.  They had put in their titles that the needles in question were for embroidery machines, but really what I think they meant, English was not these people's first language, was that the needles would fit home sewing and embroidery machines as opposed to sewing machines or universal needles or other needles specific to the task of machine embroidery.  I learned my lesson the hard way!  We're out over $200.00 which is a tremendous amount of money for us!

So from now on I will buy the Schmetz brand or perhaps the Klassé brand of machine embroidery needles that say embroidery right on the package.  You're probably saying "well duh".  I know it was a big and costly mistake! 

I was able to line up the embroidery design correctly and do the outline of the design for the customer.  Whew!  That was very nerve wracking for me!  I had to keep starting and stopping the machine because my sewing and embroidery machine will only slow down to 400 stitches per minute in the embroidery mode and that's pretty fast for such intricate work.  I was so afraid the same problem would happen all over again and we simply can't afford to bring the machine back for repair yet again!  Luckily, all went well and the sewing machine is off, unplugged and has its cover on again.

Lucy of Lucy's Corsetry has been blogging and sharing many articles about where to buy this type of corset and that type of corset.  Then she did this post which may be helpful to many people out there looking to find a plus size corset:  "Where to buy plus size corsets".  Have a look.  I'm sure the information might prove helpful.  I find her corsetry videos on Youtube quite helpful as well as Youtube videos by Ralph Pink of Great Britain.  You can learn more about Ralph Pink here:  http://www.ralphpink.com.  I do hope that these resources are helpful to you.  Ralph Pink's designs are quite small in size, but perhaps he can help you if you email him or contact him.

I have tried a number of times to draft patterns using the Lutterloh system and they usually turn out too small.  This time I am trying the plus size or the fuller figure system of patterns and I've drafted the front of a basic blouse.  There are some changes I still need to make to it, but I'm hoping that this time it will actually work as it has come closer to fitting me, at least when I hold it up to the mirror on me.  The model number of this basic blouse in the XL/XXL set is 53.  If you click on the XL/XXL set on the Lutterloh page you can scroll through and see the patterns offered. 

In the past I recommended a company where you could buy other additional items to be used with the Lutterloh system as well as the supplements, rulers, special measuring tapes and so on.  Now I can no longer recommend that company.  To find out the details please contact me!  Instead find your supplies from the Lutterloh company and also on other venues such as eBay and Etsy, etc.

I will let you know of my progress.  Thank you for reading to the end!

The Sewing Machine is Fixed and Now For Something Else...

Hi there!

The sewing machine needle punching holes in the bobbin case was a symptom of unseen problems!  The sewing machine is repaired now and it was kind of expensive.  I sewed with it the other day and it produces a nice stitch now and it is much quieter.  I haven't taken up the machine embroidery yet as they told me the needles I was using were not embroidery needles.  I was under the impression that they were embroidery needles, but it was a mislabeled eBay ad that has been my downfall this time.

Also I discovered some Sulky Sticky +.  Two packages of it in fact!  Yay!  Now I don't have to spray that awful smelling TESA (Temporary Spray Adhesive).  No more gummed up needles!  I am embroidering some very complicated designs on some aprons for my customer and since the fabric is a very heavy twill, it has proven in the past to be too difficult and thick for me to hoop so I have been using the Temporary Spray Adhesive.  It works well, but the cost is that in this cold weather we have to open the windows, turn on all the fans and air the house out!  The smell of the product is a horrible chemical smell!

My Doctor's appointment went well so I am on a good path there.

Today I visited Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing on Gertie's November 21, 2013 post or thereabouts and discovered this little gem of a book, which is also a novelty fabric, "Sewing is Easy by Sally Stitch."  How cool is that?  That book is offered on the website:  Center for Pattern Design.

The fabric is for sale from the Fabric Depo Store on Etsy :   Home Sewing is Easy...
It may also be available from other places.

Don't forget to pick up your copy of Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing!  I believe, and someone correct me if I am wrong, that Gretchen Hirsch is working on book #2. 

Recently, I have also been reading Modern Home Sewing by Drucella Lowrie and Sylvia Mager.

You can see this book here and also purchase it from this person.  It may be available in other places as well.

Modern Home Sewing Book 

This book is really great!  It shows many red and white color and black and white sketches for various vintage sewing techniques, ideas for embellishment, sewing for the home, sewing for children, sewing for women and girls and sewing for men and boys as well as a primer on the Necchi sewing machine - see below.  It's easy to read and really well thought out and researched.  My copy had one error-- an illustration was numbered incorrectly as fig. 41 when it should have been fig. 24 - the two illustrations were mismatched, but other than that I haven't found any glaring errors so far.  My copy of this book is in very bad condition with pages literally disintegrating, pages falling out of the binding and generally falling victim to acidosis as the paper they used in those days was not acid free as paper is made today.

Here's that Necchi BU Mira sewing machine spoken about in the book in an olive or sage green color.

Here is the search for the Necchi BU sewing machine on eBay if you would like to own this machine.  You may also find it available in other places.  I believe the other color for this machine would be a taupe or tan color.  This is NOT the Supernova machine -that's a different model.  The 1957 model is a later version of a different model as well.

I was unable to find the Sewing is Easy by Sally Stitch fabric; however, there are many great vintage and retro look fabrics available online and in other places.  Have a look on Google!  When I search on Google I find I get better results, sometimes, if I search by images rather than by the web.

Also Deepika Prakash has a wonderful book entitled:  1,000 Clever Sewing Shortcuts and tips from www.sewing.patternreview.com

You can purchase Deepika's book here: 


Until next time...

New Bra Pattern Pieces and the Sewing Machine Broke

Hi there!  I hope that all have had a good Thanksgiving and that you all will have a Merry Christmas, or that you have had a Happy Hanukkah or Qwanza or whatever holidays you may celebrate!  Cheers!
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I have taken some more pictures of the bra pieces and thought I would post them here.  Now this is a different pattern than what I had before.  This pattern I made from several different patterns.

This bra is going to be made of mainly non-stretch fabrics like cotton and/or satin.  There will be a small piece of elastic for the very back where the hooks and eyes go.

I have cut out two of each part except for the center piece.  There is a top cup piece, a bottom cup piece, an inner "sling" for uplift and support, a center "spacer" piece (most people would not need the center piece - I happen to be one of the people who does need it), an under the cup band and the regular band.

My problem now is my sewing machine is broken again!  Ack!  I'm hoping it won't be too difficult to fix.  I am using the sewing machine mostly for the embroidery functions and I am guilty of "stacking thread" - that is embroidering one design on top of another.

Suppose you had this design, like I have, and that the colored squares are satin stitches going in a vertical direction...  Well I wanted to put this gold border around the whole square as well as each individual square and have the "lines" be in the satin stitch too.  I think it may have been asking too much?  So I got the thread nest below the embroidery as it was sewing - which I stopped and cut off and removed the thread pieces I could see caught.  Then I tried to start again and it did it again - only this time the stopper did not stop the bobbin case and the bobbin case came out of its track in the hook race and spun around and the needle came down and sliced into the edge of the bobbin case and then punched some holes clean through the bobbin case.  Boo hoo!

I have since changed the design to be a normal fill stitch in the hopes that the gold lines would "work" better, but I just get so frustrated.  In order to complete the design I was working on for my customer, I will have to try continuing the design in the satin stitch for the lines once the sewing machine is repaired.

So there it is, my post for December 3, 2013.  Hope you like this.