shoes Archives - Handmade by Carolyn

a Minä Perhonen dress and some new clogs

28/05/2025 1:51 pm \ 7 Comments \ Carolyn

hello! I’ve made a whole new outfit recently… it’s not so often that I can present a new, head-to-toe handmade outfit like this!

I bought this Minä Perhonen hessian on a previous trip to Tokyo, and after a suitable period of stash marination picked out Burda dress pattern, Burda 07/2018; 118. One I’ve used before, a true goodie based on its very tiny fabric requirements. btw, did you know that this very Finnish name actually belongs to a Japanese label? I didn’t; but I’d done some investigations prior to our trip and discovered this surprising fact. Of course then I had to visit the eponymous store and spent an agonising 30-60 minutes trying to choose just one of the beautiful fabrics. Difficult, indeed.

I settled on this cotton hessian with a multi coloured print of overlapping ovals. I loved this combination of colours; violet, duck-egg blue, teal blue, navy blue, lemon yellow and apricot. I thought it fitted in very nicely with my personal colour palette of true- to deep autumn.

Because of the wide weave and slightly rough texture I opted to line it, the first time I have done so for this pattern although the design is supposed to be lined. And now I have done so I can reliably report that the lining instructions are pretty sparse, bordering on unhelpful. They start out with one or two seams and then suddenly say something like “add lining”… ok maybe I’m exaggerating, but not by much! I ended up stitching the bulk of it in by hand. Of course this results in a very neat and tidy finish. I cut it it purposely to be a little generous, so I’m not concerned that those hand stitches are going to come under strain.

I cut the facings from a greige medium-weight linen from the stash. I used a different griege lightweight cotton from stash to bind the hem raw edge before stitching it by hand. The pale pink lining fabric was also in the stash, so my only required purchase was a new, “natural” 60cm invisible zip. I’m loving shopping the stash as much as I can! Gradually chipping away at it, honestly when I do get down to zero I’m going to throw a party!

I made a size larger than my usual for some reason. Not sure why I did this now because it’s a tad too boxy. Also, while the print is absolutely gorgeous, the hand of the fabric is both quite heavy and drape-y, a combination that I don’t really love all that much. Definitely not going to stop me from wearing it though!

Here I am wearing it for its maiden voyage, during me-made May.

Aaaand, I made a new pair of shoes! and fortuitously they go beautifully with my new dress. This style of shoe should look pretty familiar to anyone who regularly reads my blog, since I once again used a kit from leather needle thread. This particular woven, three-colour style is a new one though. I had lots of fun making these, as usual!

I have a kinda embarrassing confession though… it was in making these ones that I finally realised that I’d mistakenly been putting in the buckle upside down for some of my previous clogs, whoopsies. They are the correctly way up here, and for my most recent black ones too. My mustard clogs and teal clogs were upside down… fortunately it was actually pretty easy to unpick the pieces and reinsert the buckle in the right way around. I’m such a dolt, because I’d always felt they looked a little funny… well it all makes perfect sense now and the clogs look so much better!

at left, incorrect… at right, correct!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: burda 07/2018 118, daily outfit, dress, shoes

some new things…

09/05/2025 6:56 pm \ 2 Comments \ Carolyn

hello! I’ve made some new things recently… firstly, some new winter pyjamas. 🙂

I used my usual Closet Core patterns Carolyn pattern for the bottoms, and for the top I used a pattern adapted from a Burda pattern, just a basic loose top with cut-on sleeves. I went to Spotlight and bought 1.5m coral pink, 0.5m navy blue and 1.0m white cotton flannelette… and right now I have to make a stern warning to future me; THIS IS NOT ENOUGH FABRIC TO MAKE A PAIR OF WINTER PYJAMAS. Well, to be more specific, it CAN BE enough fabric, but only if one is prepared do lots of careful measuring, careful cutting and careful piecing to use as much of the fabric as is humanly possible. And there will be practically zero fabric by the end of it.

I mean, this is a good thing, right? Reducing waste? To answer myself, yes it is, and I enjoyed the technicalities of the process and pretty proud I managed to use practically all of it, however this normally very simple project turned into a bit of an epic journey. I think it’s ok to admit that it’s not necessary to virtuously use “all your fabric” when you make something.

I realised I had not bought enough fabric once I laid down my pattern pieces, and so had no choice but to cut and piece every single offcut in order to make the pyjama legs as long as I needed, as well as the pyjama top sleeves and body as long as I needed. It was kind of fun to have the different colours appear as stripes like this too.

All the seams are overlocked on the inside, and all the seams are faux fell-stitched down using white thread on the outside. I like that all those little bitsy-bits are highlighted like this!

This is the tiny pile of my total leftovers. Honestly, in the end, “using all the fabric” became such a quest that I slapped on a few superfluous pockets, which is kinda silly really. It was a fun experiment, but of course it’s a truth that superfluous pockets are not morally superior to throwing away small scraps. Just saying.

I also made some new clogs!

I used a kit that I bought from Leather Needle Thread, hmm, perhaps a few years ago. It’s taken me a while to get around to it, yes. 🙂

The colour is black, which of course will be extremely handy . As much as I love colourful things in my wardrobe, black shoes really are the most useful ones. As previously, I applied several layers of clear varnish to the clog bases with light sanding in between each coat before making the clogs. I know the supplier of the clog kits doesn’t recommend this, but I personally have found it an excellent idea with regards to keeping the clogs clean. Even if you scrupulously wash your feet each time prior to putting on your shoes, you still can’t help but get them a bit dirty, and varnishing the bases really makes the cleaning process a lot more effective.

Posted in: sewing, shoes \ Tagged: Closet Core patterns, leather needle thread, own design, pyjamas, shoes

a yellow Perth top and some teal clogs (shoes)

30/12/2021 12:50 pm \ 1 Comment \ Carolyn

Hello! I’ve made a couple more items for my #use12 mini capsule wardrobe that I proposed for myself at the beginning of the year, in fact the last two items! So I’m essentially finished! Apart from a big mix-y/match-y dress up session that I’m planning… quite excited about that, actually! I’ve purposely held off up until now!

So the second to last item is a mustard-yellow Perth blouse… this pattern was our first offering from our own little Carolyn & Cassie Pattern Co. My new blouse is actually kind of a blow-in, sort-of/not-really but yeah, sort of. Let me explain. See, I had a small piece of mustard yellow jersey in the original #use12 lineup, with which I thought I’d be able to make a simple little top. However I just didn’t have enough of that fabric, no matter which way I looked at it. So, if you remember I made a set of yellow underwear with the scrap instead. Yes, it was a scrap, originally leftover from my yellow Jade skirt, which I’ve worn a tonne, btw. Anyway, I used the scrap, yay! but I didn’t have my little top. Fast forward to when I made myself a dress for my niece’s yellow themed 21st, and I actually had enough scraps leftover from that, that I thought I might be able to do a little top after all. And I did! I managed to cut out a Perth top, with shortened sleeves. And I now have zero left of that yellow fabric too. So; I kinda used up both the scraps, and got my yellow top for the capsule in the end too. Clear as mud? I thought so. Never mind, Just me rambling.

Not much else to say really! I double topstitched all the seams throughout, which gives a sort of casual utilitarian look; and used a small, natural wooden button for closure. I already had the yellow thread in my stash too, from when I made the dress!

The last item for my #use12 is my new pair of clogs!

I’m so so happy with these! although I have to confess that these were quite a departure from my original intentions too… see I’d originally proposed to use a piece of the precious fish leather that I’d bought in Iceland to make a pair of oxfords. I still want to do that. However, just at this stage I don’t think I’m quite ready enough for that project…. I had this bottle green leather in my stash though, that I’d bought in the Fabric Store in Melbourne during one of our girly trips over there. I ordered a refill clog kit from leather needle thread, without leather, and bammo! bob’s your uncle.

Actually, I said I’m happy with these, and I am! but truth be told I think my leather was just a shade on the flimsy side? and the ankle strappy bit flops in when I’m not wearing them, whereas the ones I’ve made using leather supplied with the kit – obviously superior! – does not. So I’m thinking of going in retrospectively and applying a lining to the straps to stiffen them up. I think this will be quite easy actually, and I have some very thin pig leather that is supposed to be used to line shoes that I can use for the purpose. I bought this from Skindhuset in Copenhagen during one of our trips there.

I might not though, because I’m not sure if my worries are just me being nit-picky… which is quite probable. We’ll see ….

Anyway… next up! the capsule wardrobe in total!

Posted in: sewing, shoes \ Tagged: blouse, Carolyn & Cassie Pattern Co, leather needle thread, make12, Perth, shoes, top, use12

yellow clogs

16/10/2021 4:23 pm \ 6 Comments \ Carolyn

I made some new shoes!

So, we have my niece’s yellow themed birthday party coming up, and I’d made my dress so was all set to go, and well hmmm; I just kept dreaming of matching yellow shoes. Of course I could not resist such dreaming for long. Eventually bowed down to the inevitable and set to making a pair of yellow shoes to match.

You might think this is a ridiculous amount of effort to go for an outfit for a birthday party. Yes. Yes, it is. Actually the truth is that I just fancied some yellow shoes anyway of course, the party was just the excuse! I ordered one of the new high heeled clog kits from leather needle thread, and got onto it!

well hello, my little photo bomber…

This was just as much fun as the first time I made a pair of clogs from this company, and honestly, I don’t think these will be my last pair! I did make a few boo boos making this pair, just like I did before. The main thing with these was that I broke my awl making holes for the nail/stud thingies *sob* and had to prise off a bit of the glued-on leather and then tease out and pull the broken end of the awl from out of my almost finished shoe with a pair of pliers … yes, you can imagine my barely controlled panic at this point! I ended up using our drill with the skinniest drill bit on the end to make holes instead. Actually this was a far superior method to the awl in the end and I wished I’d thought of using it right from the start. We live and learn! And now I guess I need to buy a new awl too!

Anyway, these are awesome and I’m so excited to try wearing them with my entire summer wardrobe… I’ve found in the past that “unusual” solid coloured shoes actually go with far more colours in your wardrobe than you might think…. and by unusual I mean unusual for my own particular personal colour tastes. For example, my lilac sandals have gone with so much of my wardrobe, in spite of the fact that I have basically no lilac in my wardrobe at all. Strange, isn’t it? I have confidence the same phenomenon will result from having these gorgeous golden beauties in my arsenal too.

Posted in: shoes \ Tagged: leather needle thread, shoes

blue and pink clogs (shoes)

06/09/2021 8:52 pm \ 2 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made some new shoes! and of course I’m over the moon with how lovely (I think) they look… ! A few months ago, during one of our infrequent and thankfully very short lockdowns – and I’ll just say it again; I am SO GRATEFUL to live in Perth! – anyway, I decided to treat myself and bought a clog making kit from leather needle thread; this is the one that I bought here:

And this is the result! I was very happy with the quality of all the materials in this kit; the wooden soles are really nice, with a solid and very sturdy looking rubber undersold… the leather is a beautiful quality and of course those beautiful colours!

All the other bits and pieces are really beautiful quality… the little brass tacks are so pretty! I bought a tool kit too which was terrific and worked really well. I did think the brass buckles were just a tiny bit tarnished but not too bad and definitely not enough to detract from any other part of the clogs.

The only not-so-good thing was that the tiny little tins of glue supplied with the kit had both dried out, but fortunately I had my own glue that I’d purchased through Lisa of the Shoe Camaraderie from previous shoe-making adventures … I can appreciate that Esther of leather needle thread had gone to the effort though, even though the tins hadn’t worked.

Honestly I can understand it would be a pretty difficult thing to divvy up between kits and expect it NOT to dry up, I can even imagine how you could achieve it actually.

The other thing I did was to separately purchase some clear, water-based varnish, with which I varnished the soles before making my clogs… I’ve made several pairs of clogs already, for which I had carved the soles myself! and I believe they have lasted longer, stayed cleaner and been easier to wear too, thanks to varnishing the wooden soles.

Anyway I made another little “making-of” video, currently up on my YouTube channel… please enjoy!

https://youtu.be/xy2E9qpEkQ8

In other news, I’m now on TikTok too, since apparently it is The Thing to do now… I’m pretty new over there and am still learning, and it takes me forever to make a tiny little video, even on top of making the thing! but hopefully I’ll get better at this too. My Tik Tok video for this is here.

Posted in: shoes \ Tagged: leather needle thread, shoes

I made some cool blue sandals (shoes)

30/10/2020 5:49 pm \ 5 Comments \ Carolyn

Woo-eee! I really really wanted to add another pair of handmade shoes to my collection this year and after a whole bunch of postponing and procrastinating and a little bit of prevaricating too… ta da! I basically had to force myself to get started – I hadn’t made a pair of shoes in over a year and it suddenly seemed quite daunting, and hard! but of course in the end I really enjoyed myself making these. And I LOVE them!

I bought this quite thick blue suede from The Fabric Store in Auckland, during one of the massive stopovers that Air New Zealand gives you when you’re flying onto North America. Which I have done twice over the last three years. I think this might have been the Alaska trip. I’d originally thought I’d try to make closed toe, oxford style shoes or derbys but realised the suede was really too thick for that. You need for the leather/suede or whatever to be quite flexible and easily mouldable around your lasts without wrinkles or puckers, which is pretty much impossible in a thickish material. So I eventually went with this, quite simple style instead.

Cute, huh?! I’m pretty thrilled with them! Most of the other components are from one of the kits I bought from Lisa of the Shoe Camaraderie, and I followed all her instructions too. Although like I mentioned, I used my own leather and the design of the uppers is my own too.

I really wanted a matching blue thread for those visible stitches on my shoes, but didn’t have any, not even embroidery thread in the right colour! which is why I settled upon the beige waxed thread that Lisa supplied with my kit. Obviously this is the perfect stuff to use for the job anyway, and I think I’m fine with it being a contrasting colour, since it is the same colour as the bottom part of the sandal too.

Having a kit makes it all so much easier, plus I’ve done two workshops with Lisa now… so you’d think I would just barrel through, no problem; whip up a pair of sandals in no time.

Nope! I stuffed up on multiple occasions!

Firstly, I went to the effort of masking up my lasts and drawing out a fabulous and as it turned out, ridiculously complicated style for my sandals. And made a pattern and all. Let’s just say, it did NOT WORK. I did try pretty hard to make it work and then moved on to trying to force the pieces into a different design, which obviously was not going to work either.

Settled upon this, much simplified design, cut out a whole new set of pieces. Confidently whipped up a coupla buckle and strap sets and practically finished the sandals. Smooth sailing!

Noticed the buckle and strap were going the wrong way, ie buckling forwards rather than backwards. *cue silent scream*

I almost just let it go, but then realised I had plenty of leather actually, enough for new straps, and if I was going to do this thing, may as well do it properly. Cut new strips, made new buckle and straps sets. Completed the rigmarole a second time. Obviously not quite so smooth sailing this time. It never is.

Next, I’d applied glue to the soles with great thoroughness and excellent coverage… or so I thought. After leaving them overnight, I noticed in the morning a few millimetres of lifting on the side of one of the sandals. This is very very bad. You do NOT want gaps. I managed to pry open a slightly bigger gap, enough to dribble more glue down, spread it around with an opened-out paper clip, and propped it open with another paper clip to go tacky. I gave it masses of time, and fortunately this very very NOT-recommended trick seemed to work. A miracle!!!

On to the finishing touches… went around to Tim’s place to retrieve the sander, which he has for some time, I might add. Plugged the sander in, very happy I was basically on the home stretch now, and turned it on. Nothing. Dead as a doornail. Hunted out a different extension cord, tried different sockets. Brushed sawdust and cobwebs from out of likely looking spots. Nope. Finally rigged up the the orbital sander instead and got the job done, which did take longer but of course not nearly so long as if I had to sand by hand, so all’s good. Apart from the fact that maybe we now need a new belt sander, of course!

So, this is the tenth thing in my make twelve, the “making plan” I set up for myself at the beginning of the year. This particular project was arguably the most intimidating out of the entire twelve, maybe the most challenging too. I do love making shoes but it’s definitely next level stuff, catapulting me right out of my comfort zone … so I feel like the final two are going to be easy peasy, lemon squeezy! We shall see!

Posted in: shoes, Uncategorized \ Tagged: own design, shoes, the shoe camaraderie

lilac sandals

24/02/2019 1:36 pm \ 13 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made some new shoes!! the easy way… by doing a workshop! 😉

Lisa of the Shoe Camaraderie came back to Perth to host more shoemaking days, which of course is rather wonderful news for an avid shoe-lover/maker like me!! I went to her inaugural Perth workshop back in August of last year, and had an absolute blast making these ivory lovelies… so of course I had to sign up again… I managed to talk Mum and Cassie into joining me this time, we went along together and all had a fabulous time… BTW though, just want to pop it in right here; the workshop was across the road from the Wild Bakery and that place is DANGEROUS!! I walked out with a nutty brownie that I’m sure must have had about 10,000 calories. I nibbled at it over a couple of days though and it was indeed worth every naughty, delectable bite 😉

Anyway! This style of my new shoes is called the Cosette, and the leather is the absolutely prettiest, most divine shade of lilac/pale blue you can imagine. Quite heavenly. When Lisa told me she had sourced it from the Fabric Store, I was just like OH OF COURSE. Such a beautiful store…. honestly, if a branch ever opened up here I would be totally broke, and staggering home with an obscene quantity of fabric ever week.

Mum made a pair of caramel Astrids, and Cassie made a pair of caramel Freyas. They both look amazing!!

these are Mum’s shoes; from her instagram

I’m just going to say it; I really really appreciate, not just that Lisa comes over here with such a cool and very fun workshop idea and a chic and elegant product, but also that she offers such a huge range of styles from which to choose. It’s pretty impressive, actually… she’s so good at keeping everyone going, explaining the steps the whole class needs to do, as well as helping individuals when you need it too… and at making absolutely sure everyone in the class ends up with a finished pair of sandals by wine and cheese time. Yes, there is wine and cheese at the finish of the class. What more could one want?!!

Obligatory progress shots…

…cutting a bazillion teeny skinny strips….

… a pair of little lilac centipedes….

I love that my name is hidden in my sandals! even though no one will ever see it, I know it’s there 😉

just admiring them on the last… nearly finished!

And done!

So, you’re supposed to let them dry for 24 hours before wearing them, but I slipped them on ultra carefully for a quick photo for instagram…. ooo I know; how very naughty! but I seriously COULD NOT resist! That heavenly colour! And then immediately slipped them right off again, stowed them reverently in their little cloth bag and dutifully allowed them to languish for a week.

Will I do another workshop if Lisa ever comes back to Perth? I expect so!!

This how I wore them today in their very first ootd, the first of many I’m sure… and even Sophie thinks they”re pretty cool! look at her checking them out with envious admiration!

Details:

Dress; our Carolyn&Cassie Perth dress, in brown linen, details here
Shoes, made by ME also!

can I please have some lilac shoes toooooo?

Posted in: shoes, Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, shoes, the shoe camaraderie

ivory leather “camaraderie” sandals

06/08/2018 12:07 am \ 27 Comments \ Carolyn

This past weekend I had great fun doing a shoe-making workshop with the lovely Lisa, of The Shoe Camaraderie! This is a bucket list item I’ve obviously been wanting to do for aaaaaaaaages, so when I saw on instagram that Lisa was planning to come here and run some day-long workshops to make a pair of sandals, I jumped immediately! And here they are! I chose to make a simple slide, the strap around the back of my ankle was my own idea, partially because I just wanted it, and partially also I wanted to add my own little spin to the design, and Lisa graciously accommodated my request.

These are obviously the most professional looking and beautifully finished shoes I have ever made; benefitting from the help and supervision of a professional. Not to mention learning what are the right tools and supplies I need, and how to use them safely. I’m super keen now to get my hot little hands on the proper tools and glue I need to get, so I can make more of my own shoes in the future. I’m hooked!

Lisa was a wonderful teacher; generous with her time and expertise and super helpful to everyone in our small class. There were six of us; and we all managed to complete our different shoes. Lisa devoted time to everyone individually, as well as frequently teaching relevant information to the whole class; and stepped in to help anyone with bits they found too tricky or difficult, in order to ensure we all went home with a perfect pair of shoes. Funnily enough, everyone’s shoes were quite unique! Not one of us had an identical pair to anyone else. Which is exactly what you want, yeah?

I chose ivory leather… I was dithering whether to go for this or caramel, because you know, white shows the dirt. But in the end decided to just go for the one I wanted. After all, you can always buff and re-polish!

Below, applying glue to the soles and heels. I need to get me some of this glue!!! It’s a special shoe glue by Foss. At right, my straps are lined with thin pig hide.

These dash-holes were made with a special punch. I couldn’t get over how cute they are! I forgot to take picture, but I also learnt how to skive… a very useful skill if I’m going to do any more leatherwork!

I’m so pleased with how the black buckles look with my white leather! It picks up the black layer on the bottom of the heel so nicely. The little curved “V” on the end of the strap in the lower picture was made with another purpose-shaped punch.

Forgot to take pictures… again! But we spent some time fitting the tops specially to our feet, and then getting the second slide to look exactly the same!

Temporarily glued the skived straps in, then punched some holes and stitched them on. It’s funny, but this simple stitch on the sandal is so charming to my eyes! and adds the perfect amount of “handmade” look to them.

This stuff below is AMAAAAZING! It’s “rand”. You’d think there was hours and hours of hand-stitching the uppers to the sole, but this stuff is simply glued in and it all looks absolutely perfect. Cheating? Maybe just a little bit, but doesn’t it looks lovely when it’s in!

Lisa showed us how to apply the rand with little bit of a downward slope around the heel and toe curves, top and bottom, which keeps the shoe and sole nicely tight once they’re glued together.

And finished!!!

The thread you use for all stitching is heavily waxed, and all the knots on the inside are melted using a lighter, then stamped down flat, so a) they’ll never come undone and b) so they won’t poke into and irritate your foot while you’re wearing the shoes. Clever!

Lisa very kindly and generously did the final bit of sanding of everyone’s heels, which allowed us all time to relax and chat with wine, cheese and chocolate. I know, right?!!!

You’re not supposed to wear newly finished shoes for at least 24 hours after completing, to let the glue dry. You’ll be pleased to know that 24 hours had just passed when I gingerly donned the sandals for these pictures, and then immediately afterwards very carefully took them off again and put them back in their special bag. And I might even have (ahem) especially shaved ye olde legs and applied nail varnish for the occasion. Well… it’s winter!

I know I’m going to enjoy wearing my new sandals so much! And I’m looking forward to when Lisa next comes over for another round of workshops…. I’m totally planning to sign up again!