I’ve made some new shoes!! This is the first pair of shoes made on my new, semi-high-heeled lasts; that I bought … maybe six months ago…? (blush) yes, it’s taken me quite a while to get onto it. Can I just say… Steep. Learning. Curve. That’s all. Making these was quite a different kettle of fish to the fun and relatively easy little flats that I’ve been making up until now. But anyway, they’re done. And I know I’ve said this before, but I may be prouder of these than I’ve ever been of ANY other thing I’ve made before!!
You know the old saying? something about 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration? YEP!! Although this might be more like 99% perspiration…
Several times I almost gave up on these because I thought they were not going to work, and several times I thought I’d almost ruined them. There are several bits that are definitely not perfect, a few scars from where I had, um, …issues… but I’m still pretty happy!
Confession time: I actually started recording YouTube videos to document the process of making these shoes, and basically gave up on that halfway because I truly lost heart a few times and felt like my shoes were never going to happen. Likewise, I didn’t take many actual photos during the making of them either! the ones in this post here are basically all of them… But I’m so glad I persisted in the end (minus the stress of filming myself) and have finally limped in to the finish line. I’ll make another YouTube video, some other time, on some other shoes.
my friend R was cleaning out her wardrobe and gave me some old shoeboxes last week… I’m so glad I could put one to good use almost straight away!
So! the deets…
Materials: the material is a beige-coloured, upholstery suede, from a piece given to me by my friend A after they’d had some benches in their boat re-covered… I’ve used this same fabric to make two pairs of shoes previously… my white oxfords and my laced-at-the-heels shoes. I spray-painted my pieces navy blue, using enamel spray paint (Bunnings) and also spray-painted two small, round-top, white plastic buttons from my stash… the shoes are fully lined with navy blue suedette fabric from Spotlight. For stitching both inside and outside the shoes I used Gutermann’s upholstery thread in navy blue (Spotlight). The layers are glued together with PVA glue, and the heel counters and toe puffs are formed with stretch denim and PVA glue. The soles are rubber sheeting (Bunnings); shanks are metal brackets from Bunnings, hammered to shape; foam insoles are just cut-to-size ones from the supermarket; heels are hand-carved pine (Bunnings) I bought my 5.5cm heeled lasts from etsy store Tatyz
The biggest, albeit hidden difference between these and all the previous shoes I’ve made is the presence of a shank … basically a shank is piece or strip of something hard and inflexible, mostly metal; that provides arch support and helps the shoe maintain its shape. I knew all along I’d have to put a shank in these, because of the defined sole curve… but racked my brains as to WHAT I could actually use. I’d investigated buying purpose-made shanks, but there were two issues… firstly, how could I be sure the ones I was buying would have the right curve to suit my lasts? and secondly and really the biggest one, was that all of the sources I found had minimum orders of, like, 5000. LOL!!!
I guess there’s probably a shoe-making supply store open to the public somewhere where you can actually buy them, but I couldn’t find it. Anyway, in my meanderings through Bunnings looking for likely suspects I found these metal brackets, and thought I’d give them a whirl. As it turned out, I think they’re going to do the job just perfectly!!
the yellow stuff is some thin foam which is just to pad out and level off the sole, offset the thickness of the shank
The brackets are very stiff and strong, and it took some crazy, Thor-like hammering to get them to curve just how I wanted them to, to fit snugly to the bottom of my lasts. So I’m pretty confident they will maintain their shape very nicely, even when I’m wearing the shoes, and subjecting them to the pressures and strain of everyday walking.
I decided upon a hand-carved, wooden heel. Ermahgerd, but these nearly killed me, not to mention my poor shoes… These ones gracing my shoes now are the second set of heels I made. I actually fully carved another set, but when I loosely attached them to the bottom of my shoes to trial them I could instantly see they were too small and looked visually ridiculous to my eyes… SO it was back to Bunnings to hunt for something else… it’s actually pretty hard to find good-sized blocks of wood for sale, that are not planks. The final heels were carved from a pair of furniture “feet”. These are big fat square blocks of wood that you can screw to the bottom of your sofas or whatever… anyway, they were a good size enough for me to carve some nice, blocky heels. I used our belt sander for all the carving.
rejected heels at right. They were carved from a table leg.
The heels are glued to the bottom of the soles (contact adhesive, Bunnings, same stuff I use to glue the sole to the bottom of the shoes) and then nailed through from inside the shoe. I drilled holes from inside the shoe, being very careful to avoid the shank! it would have destroyed the drill bit! Then, I swiped 2mm thick, 3cm long, shiny nails through a blob of PVA glue (in hope of giving them a bit of extra grip) and hammered them into the holes.
there are 9 nails per shoe… should be enough I think! I hope!
I’m making it sound all very straightforward… but this is the bit, yes, the very last step! where I seriously thought I’d destroyed my shoes. My first nail attempt was using a 3mm thick, 5cm long, galvanised nail, which in retrospect was a monstrous nail to choose. IT WOULD NOT HAMMER ALL THE WAY IN. Pulling that thing out did damage the back of that shoe quite a bit, which was pretty heartbreaking, but I certainly wasn’t tossing them in the bin after all I’d been through! Explanation on how I patched it up later…
normally I cover the insole in the same fabric as the lining… in this case I thought the periwinkle/ purple colour of the foam looked quite nice just as it is…
Anyway, once I’d got the monster nail out, I had success with the shorter, sleeker nails. The top edges of the back of one shoe were pretty stretched and dinged up from pulling out the nail, and I just judiciously applied new glue and a bit of new lining fabric to patch up what I could. And I gave both shoes a new coat of navy blue paint… truth was they really did need freshening up, after the months I’d spent working on them, constantly handling them, and tossing them in a drawer in-between times, the initial paint job was already looking a tad shabby. Also, in the process of making them I’d gone off my initial colour choice, thought it was a wee bit drab. So I bought two tubes of acrylic paint (Spotlight) in ultramarine blue and black, and mixed up a shade that was still a deep navy but was a little more vibrant and rich.
Final thing was to mask the heels and apply a quick spray of fixative.
Well, the final final thing of course was to varnish the heels (3 coats of clear satin polyurethane varnish from Bunnings) and to glue a protective layer of rubber to the underneath of the heels.
Ta da!! I’ve no doubt I will be wearing these with immense pride for years…. that is, until I make something better. I’ve learnt so much! On to the next pair!!
so cool! love it!
Well done for seeing it through to the end, they look amazing!
Wow, such a great project again! I admire your skill and perseverence.
Just wondering, shouldn’t you use another sole of rubber for the forefoot? Which can be replaced in case of wear? Or will this sole last as long as the shoe itself.
thanks Multivroon! yes good idea, I probably should add another layer of rubber to reinforce the sole. I’ve done that to previous shoes as they’ve worn down over time and it’s pretty easy 🙂
I can feel the ups and downs of the process in this post, and wow, worth the frustrations, they are so impressive and you must have learned so much
Well you deserve to be very proud of yourself. They look great.
I love seeing your creations, Carolyn. You are fearless!
I wonder if you have seen this: http://www.lunaboots.com/
I have a friend who attended a course and is going back for another workshop – she was already making some footwear, but the course has resulted in an enormous leap in her skill level and confidence.
Looking forward to seeing your blue maryjanes in your sewing creation photos? Beautiful colour choice.
Janine
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thank you so much Janine! I’ve heard of luna boots and would love to do a course. 2000 odd miles is a little far to travel, but maybe one day 🙂
Great work on your new shoes! Brava!!!
I just found this link to making pattens, medieval wooden sandals, on Katafalk’s blog,
Posted on September 21, 2013. I thought you might be interested.
thank you Barbara! If you could send me the link I would love to check that out! 🙂
You can be so proud of these cool mary janes!
Wow! I love your shoes! Do you have a friend with horses because a farrier with a forge could help you shape a shank in no time. Can’t wait to see what fabulous thing you make next.
thank you! and no, I do not know a farrier, more’s the pity. That would be pretty cool!
Oh, my lord…so impressive! They look fabulous Carolyn! I know they caused you grief along the way but the end result is lovely.
I’m so impressed. I like your other shoes, but these ones are stunning!
You simply are “Amazing” these are beautiful shoes, you are so talented and you should be so proud of yourself. This is the reason that I look forward to seeing your posts because you are so inspiring. You truly give me the confidence to try things that I would never try. You are definitely one of a kind. It totally makes my day when I check my emails and see that you’ve posted because I know I’m gonna see something beautiful. Thank you for your posts. Cheri
thank YOU so much Cheri! that;s so lovely of you to say! Needless to say your comment has made my day, nay, WEEK!!
Carolyn, I love all your creations! And your photos! And the dog(s) 🙂
I am always looking too for shoe supplies. Did you know http://www.shoedo.com ? I ordered there shank material (3 yards Fiberglass heat set shank for all heel heights) and it came fast and the shipping to Germany wasn’t very expensive.
These are my latest handmade shoes made of red nappa and lavender nubuck leather: https://anjaberliner.blogspot.de/2017/05/298-wip.html
thanks Anja! that fibreglass shank tape looks like it would be really good! I might have to get some. Thank you for letting me know about it! 🙂
You have to go to the end of each pair to learn all the things you need for the next pair. They are brilliant and a very elegant shape. Keep going because the next ones will be the ‘best ever’ you have made. Jo xxx
really good for the “learning pair” and it is so hard to find the perfect navy blue shoe – smart you to make your own 🙂
well, if you really just wanted a pair of navy blue shoes it would probably be “smarter” to buy a pair and just paint them! but of course for me it’s not the destination here but the journey 🙂
This is truly amazing! I love following along with your shoe adventures!
I still can’t believe you make shoes. You get even better with each pair. I love how these turned out. So beautiful!
WoW! So Nice and what a journey! (I am following you from the other side of the world- Belgium and i love your posts!)
thank you very much Karolien! I love your name! 🙂
Heels! I’m so impressed! (And still jealous that you can make wearable shoes.) So I guess now you need to design a second pair to use the original carved heels with, right?
These shoes are adorable and the process sounds very gruelling! I am so impressed with your process and perseverence, especially after they got damaged. Wow!
You are so resourceful in the wAy you find the bits in Bunnings! These shoes are truly perfect.
Love your shoes…I would wear them all the time. I am just really so amazed you can make your own shoes!
They are amazing
Just wow. You are amazing!
Wow, WOW! I ran across your blog today for the first time and see these shoes! I did not even know it was possible to make your own shoes, lol. You have amazing talent and certainly a deep creative ability to even conceptualize the making of these. They are fantastic! Now I am going to go back and check out the links to the other shoes you referenced! Thank you for sharing!
thank you so much Mary! 🙂
Whaou !!! I can’t believe it !!! They are so nice !!!!
Thank you so much for sharing this journey with us!
Beautiful shoes! So impressed that you bought the heeled lasts. I love the style that you chose – the Button with strap is a nice touch! So glad you didn’t give up after the stubborn nail incident.
Simply wow! I’ve joked that the next thing I learned to make would be shoes, saying I’d have to move to New York and become a member of the Jewish Senior Center, as I’d heard from a fellow upholstery student that was moving there, there is a class. I am not Jewish, nor am I a Senior, and I live in California… anyway, your shoes are fantastic, and the entire project as well as your blog is inspiring.
thank you so much Edie! I have to say if I knew of a real live shoemaking class that was less than say, 2000 miles away, which is the closest one to me; I would be onto that so fast!
Wonderful work! I think what’s the most dazzling (apart from EVERYTHING!) is that they’re identical – making pair cannot be at all simple – especially carving those heels.
thanks carol baby! and yes, getting the two heels the same and mirror image of each other is quite the challenge, you nailed it!! no pun intended