House slippers for my son made from cotton twill cat fabric that I designed a few months ago.  I might remake these (for myself) with some interfacing, lining and stiff heel support. I upcycled his underwear elastic for the green band around the ankle :)

Red Sandals - Worm's eye view

Looks so cartoonish! Reminds me of Olive Oyl from Popeye...

Went to the supermarket for a test walk. Finally got my paws on some tube-free toilet paper. That's right, I'm living LARGE (yo)!

I look forward to NOT having my recycling pail filled with cardboard tubes! YAY!

Red Sandals ~ finished!

Lots more mistakes made and lessons learned!

Major shoe-gery.

Right when I was nearing the finish line to this pair of sandals (working on these a little at a time since the last week of January) I realized that if I continued with this design I ran the risk of TOE CLEAVAGE exposure! I can sense you are horrified as well. Who could prance around town carefree with the looming fear that people might think that their feet are slutty? I definitely do not want my toes to send the wrong message. I am a good catholic girl. [insert halo shine effect]

Here is the original sketch:

I'm extra sad because it was starting to develop just as I had envisioned. In the top photo you can see I have already unstitched the toe cap and piping and added a piece of leather to the vamp. The sandals are currently in rehab receiving a modesty overlay and hopefully will get soled next week so I can move forward to a new project, start prancin' (hopefully), and do better next time.

No such thing as a design mistake, just a design opportunity. Right?

So sweet and inspiring! A shoemaker from my area.

I recycled my shrunken wool J. Crew sweater :(  into some new slippers for Sal :). I took apart his raggedy old slippers to try to salvage what I could and to trace the existing material to make a new pattern.  I took out the foam insert, washed it and used it as a guide for the shape of the sole pattern. I added a seam allowance to the traced pattern and then cut it out of the sweater. I cut open the sleeves for the top parts and used the front of the sweater for the foot beds. I stitched on a piece of nubuck leather left over from my peasant booties onto the sole to avoid any super slippage and used tan wool left over from making Timmie cocoons for the lining. I added some more padding to the foam inserts with these:

Easily available at pharmacies, and saw them here for 99 cents.

I left an opening by the toes to slip in the foam insert and then flipped it inside out and hand stitched it closed.

First Knee-High Boots Results

Here's how the boots turned out with the chartreuse lining. I originally wanted to keep the zipper exposed, but it looked cheap so my teacher suggested I add a covering with snap closures. I learned a lot from making these (lots o' mistakes) that I can apply to my next boot.

A few of the bigger mistakes:
1. Not using a boot shaper /support caused the leather to wrinkle.  I bought the one I'm using now from Manhattan Wardrobe Supply.
2. Not creating a zipper cover for the inside. Metal teeth + foot heel = ouchy!
3. Not testing the wax finish on piece of scrap leather first ~ uneven dye job on the sole. :(

I feel like a highway patrol officer when I wear these. I might be tempted to make a few citizen arrests or give out a few fines for when dog owners leave poopage by my place... grrrr... or junior high litterers arrghhh...or disturbances of the peace by guido car horns...double argh.  Ok now I sound like a pirate, so I will stop.

peasant booties completed!

Knee-High Boot WIP

 

Here is where I am at in the knee-high boot making process. Currently they still look like dark brown garbage bags in a boot-ish shape. I still have to add the toe puff and counter for structure and then I can finish lasting (attaching the upper part) and attach the sole. Hopefully they won't look so garbage baggy when I am done.  Oh, and I still have to make a strap and attach the spur! Yikes! I think these boots will be ready in 2013 at this pace.

Next month I hope to finish up with the website projects I've been working on and get back to making new items for my shop, get my painting muscles back in shape and start doing Illustration Friday again. 

The years of dancing school really paid off.

mini leather booties & tights

first attempt at making leather booties for my Blythe.

I originally bought this polka-dot fabric to attempt to make myself a cardigan, but it is perfect for tights!

balmoral boots finished (finally!)

I finally finished the Balmoral style boots that I started in April! While awaiting feedback for the project I'm currently working on, I decided to try to finish up these boots. This is my first attempt at cutting, dyeing, and attaching the leather sole and heel myself. If I wasn't worried about getting brain and nerve damage from the toxic glue it would have been a tad more fun. I might leave the soling up to the pros the next time around. Maybe. Or set up a shoemaking station outside of my apartment :). I still need to make the insole lining (polka dot lining temporarily borrowed from my other shoe) and find some navy blue shoelaces. Yay!

Video from guardian.co.uk - A day at a bespoke shoemaker

On the work table

I started working on my next shoe project - Balmoral ankle boots. I thought I was clever mixing eyelet colors until after I finished up and realized I already owned a pair of sneakers that used the same idea (Converse RED). I didn't plan it out beforehand, I just happened to have a 6 red eyelets that were the same size as the antique bronze ones. I wanted to put 4 red on each boot but didn't have enough. Whenever I have a *super genius* idea (usually in the shower) I'm always paranoid that I picked it up from somewhere else. Does that ever happen to you?

Vintage inspired t-straps completed!

I made the uppers and then had the heels professionally put on. Now I just need to learn how to walk in high heels and then I'll be good to go :D

T- strap high heel shoes under construction

I still need to sand down the back (counter) and the front piece (toe box) and then it is ready to be soled, finally, hooray!

Taking a once weekly shoemaking classes is like Chinese water torture...tiny drips of information at a time. It has been 3 months and I still didn't finish this pair of high heels! Unfinished projects give me bad dreams.