Way back in March of 2010 I made my first pair of shoes. I was hooked like a trailer hitch! Every morning, of my four days with Tamera Lyndsay at the Shoe College in Jerome Arizona, I jumped out of bed "time to make the shoes"! I loved every messy, tiring, thumb hammering moment! This experience was to help me know if shoe design is my passion before going off to London to a very expensive school, after the first day I knew.
My first shoe design was inspired by a fabric sample from Paul Smith by Maharam interior fabrics. This was leftover from my interior design career. It's a fabric that I always loved but had never used it in any designs.
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| From drawing to shoe! |
Being the first shoe ever made we made a few adjustments from maryjane flats to a low heeled mule for easy of construction. I do hope to remake them again some day to my exact specs, but for now these are awesome.
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| Putting the sketch on the shoe last (form). |
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| Making patterns and cutting the leather. |
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| The fabric that inspired a shoe. |
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| Starting to look like the drawing! |
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| Stretching the leather onto the last and tacking it down. |
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| Adding more stripe detail to the heels. |
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| Removing the excess leather from the sole of the shoe. |
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| Leather is formed, glued and smoothed. |
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| Filling in the gaps with cork. Bottoms need to be flat before the finished sole is applied. |
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| Tracing the recycled car-mat rubber soles. |
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| Rubber cement is getting tacky for a good adhesion. |
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| Stick! I love the tread on the soles! |
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| Heels are secure. |
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| Sock liner in and last ink touch-ups. |
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| My very first shoes done! |
This experience was a pivotal moment for me. Thanks to my new shoe guru Tamera Lyndsey this all happened and I can't wait to do it for the rest of my life. I hope to be in my shoe workshop at 85 still whacking my thumb & cursing whilst tacking leather to my last.
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