Absolute apologies for my lack of posting recently. I have been enduring those dreaded finals (only one more project left and it's this shoe!). I've also been spending a lot of my spare time in the Labs at FIT finishing my shoe because it would be nice if not everything I made ended up looking like a Home Ec project, you know? Anywho, last Saturday night, after work, I went to the labs to do more work on my shoe. I ended up staying till 2:30am! but got plenty accomplished...
I finished sewing the upper:
As you can see my sewing still needs plenty of work, but you know what? I'm pleased with it. This first shoe has been very complicated and I've really pushed myself. Besides skills can be learned as my dear friend Tommy has told me and "taste is inherent". Luckily I have a pretty weird taste level :-/ .
I started cutting out the insole with the pattern I had already made from the prototype:
And then realized the pattern was totally different to my last? How that happened I don't know, but stranger things have happened (Sarah Palin anyone?)
So I made a new pattern (the one on the right)
Cut out some more Bontex (the insole material)
Cut out the sock liner (The lining for the insole)
By this point I needed food so went off to my new favourite addiction: Five Guys... Oh who am I kidding? I've been restraining on the Five Guys front for years!
Look at how many fries they give you!
Afterward, I contemplated why most of America is obese and cut out a shank concealer (More on the shank later). It's the little half piece of bontext underneath that weird bent piece of steel (aka the shank).
Bent the Shank to fit the very low last:
And made myself a delicious shank sandwich (In this picture I hadn't trimmed the edges yet)
The Shank is basically a piece of metal used for arch support but more importantly for reinforcing the otherwise delicate little arch of the shoe.
And now for the fun and annoying stuff... To get you in the mood:
Hammertime! Yes that's right it's time to start lasting! Now the sign of a hand-lasted shoe (or in my case a craft project shoe) is a nice nail hole in the back of the shoe. Make sure you don't nail the freaking seam though because that'll get you into all kinds of trouble...
Now obviously you cannot just last the whole thing in one go. Nope you have to take it nice and slow (I think that video got to me :-S) and last the lining first. Starting by nailing the back, front and sides to the last:
Clearly I'm not builder material...
Now things get a little trickier at the toe where you have to keep it as smooth as possible by doing this weird, hammer, pleat, hammer combo business.
Once this is done you can start properly lasting the sides by taking a nail or two out and using one's lasting pincers pulling the lining as tight as possible and Petronios cementing the lining in place.
Done with the sides? Go to the toe:
Once this is all done you need to hammer and sand down the lining gently so it is as flat as possible.
Now that this is done your lining is fully lasted!
So you have to put a toebox in by melting a flat toe box shape and molding it to the toe (much more difficult then it sounds, especially as the plastic is damn hot!).
But once done you can sand this down as well and smooth it out and you end up with something like this:
And there we go folks! This shoe has to be complete by Monday morning, with a spec sheet and a nice inspiration presentation. Did I mention that I have to re-make a heel again? Baby steps, baby steps.
Right Now I feel like the girl in this pod. I don't think that's a good thing, even if it is Hussein Chalayan...
As you can see my sewing still needs plenty of work, but you know what? I'm pleased with it. This first shoe has been very complicated and I've really pushed myself. Besides skills can be learned as my dear friend Tommy has told me and "taste is inherent". Luckily I have a pretty weird taste level :-/ .
I started cutting out the insole with the pattern I had already made from the prototype:
And then realized the pattern was totally different to my last? How that happened I don't know, but stranger things have happened (Sarah Palin anyone?)
So I made a new pattern (the one on the right)
Cut out some more Bontex (the insole material)
Cut out the sock liner (The lining for the insole)
By this point I needed food so went off to my new favourite addiction: Five Guys... Oh who am I kidding? I've been restraining on the Five Guys front for years!
Look at how many fries they give you!
Afterward, I contemplated why most of America is obese and cut out a shank concealer (More on the shank later). It's the little half piece of bontext underneath that weird bent piece of steel (aka the shank).
Bent the Shank to fit the very low last:
And made myself a delicious shank sandwich (In this picture I hadn't trimmed the edges yet)
The Shank is basically a piece of metal used for arch support but more importantly for reinforcing the otherwise delicate little arch of the shoe.
And now for the fun and annoying stuff... To get you in the mood:
Hammertime! Yes that's right it's time to start lasting! Now the sign of a hand-lasted shoe (or in my case a craft project shoe) is a nice nail hole in the back of the shoe. Make sure you don't nail the freaking seam though because that'll get you into all kinds of trouble...
Now obviously you cannot just last the whole thing in one go. Nope you have to take it nice and slow (I think that video got to me :-S) and last the lining first. Starting by nailing the back, front and sides to the last:
Clearly I'm not builder material...
Now things get a little trickier at the toe where you have to keep it as smooth as possible by doing this weird, hammer, pleat, hammer combo business.
Once this is done you can start properly lasting the sides by taking a nail or two out and using one's lasting pincers pulling the lining as tight as possible and Petronios cementing the lining in place.
Done with the sides? Go to the toe:
Once this is all done you need to hammer and sand down the lining gently so it is as flat as possible.
Now that this is done your lining is fully lasted!
So you have to put a toebox in by melting a flat toe box shape and molding it to the toe (much more difficult then it sounds, especially as the plastic is damn hot!).
But once done you can sand this down as well and smooth it out and you end up with something like this:
And there we go folks! This shoe has to be complete by Monday morning, with a spec sheet and a nice inspiration presentation. Did I mention that I have to re-make a heel again? Baby steps, baby steps.
Right Now I feel like the girl in this pod. I don't think that's a good thing, even if it is Hussein Chalayan...
3 comments:
HOly shit, this is such a pain in the ass! I don't understand how any shoe ever gets made if they have to go through all of these steps. I would fail at this in a big way. Anyway, good job Brandon, I can't wait to see the finished results!
xx
Tiffany
The shoe making posts are great because you have craftsmanship and the random food photos. It is cool to watch the project grow.
Well I had my shoe class yesterday and the teacher rushed me the whole time so now its gone a little bit messy and I'm not pleased. I don't even know if I can make the heel now because the guy that was supposed to help me make it in the wood working studio never showed up! So it may have to be a flat now ;(. I tell you this school is driving me insane!
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