Pattern Making – Derby II.

Here we go – let’s turn that meanform to a pattern pieces. I believe the photos tell the whole story, just to remind you  for the allowances you need to use:

folding: 5 mm
trimming: 3 mm
overlap (upper): 6-12 (thinner needs less)
reverse seam: 2-3 mm

And the photos (and this time we can say thanks to my wonderful student, Mary – thanks!)

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2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

London Olympic Stadium holds 80,000 people. This blog was viewed about 250,000 times in 2011. If it were competing at London Olympic Stadium, it would take about 3 sold-out events for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Heel Building – the Traditional Method

Let’s talk about this a little bit. Why we have to see all the layers? Maybe it is a mold shoe heel, so they just want to fake leather layers – in this case it isn’t our business. But sometimes our handmade end up like this. What we can do against it?

For those tiny little lines – well, the thick glue is responsible. If you used glue – well you can’t get rid of it so much. The glue is really soft and flexible in the same time leather layers are hard – guess which layer will be sanded off earlier? Yes – the leather and the cement stays, Thats why you see it. Is there a solution for this tiny detail? And anyway do tiny little details do matter? Let me answer the second question first: yes. Those make these handmade shoes so awesome.

But the other answer is way more interesting: and that is the old way technique – wooden pegs and paste. You can actually build up a heel without any synthetic cement, so you won’t incorporate any glue layers between the rather ones. Isn’t it easy? (no).

Check the this gallery and feel free to try – it isn’t that difficult as it seems.

ps. We will learn later how to finish that edge glass shiny I promise.

oh.. before I forget. The propotion between the awl and the peg is very important. it should look ilk this:

As we don’t have 3 different sizes from the pegging awls, we use a leather piece to adjust the lenght.

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Pattern Construction – Derby I.

Let’s start to make some more difficult patterns – a derby this time.

What we have to know about a derby shoe?

- Casual and not a dress shoe, so a real gentleman would’t wear it at evening.

- relatively easy to find the lines – as this is the school-example for the pattern guidelines – but not easy to find the right proportions.

- it can open wide, so the one most used construction for comfort shoes.

- still holds the foot well, and can fit a wide range of foot.

After this let’s jump to the middle. I enclosed a gallery – the photos made in the classroom by on of my student, Mary – so I believe you can pretty much learn the steps (if you have any idea, what happens there). This time let’s just get until the mean form, then we continue next time with the pieces.

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A Flip – Flop Tutorial

OK, I won’t post a lot of pictures this time, but I believe this will not going to be that difficult. Usually I teach a flip-flop making for to make students understand about the cemented construction, and how to get the product from scratch to finish.

Step 1. – pattern

Flip-flop is most probably the easiest pattern you will ever meet. A simple footprint to start – you need to make it slightly longer and a lot wider. Upper pattern – that is also not difficult. If you don’t know how to make it – just copy an old piece and tune it up a bit.

Step 2 – materials

Choose something heavier for upper – the same can be the insole lining as well. For midsole I would suggest a 2,5-3,5 mm thick veg tan leather, sole can be leather or rubber. Maybe rubber is better this time.

Step 3 – Asembly

Cut the materials to the right shape, which means insole lining should be a 3 mm bigger, midsole should exact. Glue them together and cut off the extra from the insole. Adjust the size of the upper on your own foot (do not make it tight, it is not an oxford), and mark the right place on the upper. Now you just need to glue the upper to the insole + midsole combo and put the sole on. You are done.

Step 4 – make it personal

Use your mind to be creative, paint, use crystals, metal stuff and don’t worry if it not perfect – the next one will be better.

Step 5 – Post the result to “shoemaker’s community” on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/groups/128266510546383/) (and feel free to join to it)

 

ps. no, your are not a shoemaker yet, but I am sure you are on the way.

 

Some old story

1945 WWII. A middle age bootmaker somewhere close to the front lines in a workshop. The workshop is tiny, but practical – a table for clicking, a small chair and a small table to work on the officer’s boots. The masters name Szabo Geza, he is a good and relatively famous bookmaker in his town neighborhood. Just a the highest peek of his carrier he has been called to pay his duty in the army – making and fixing boots for the officers. In that day a couple visits him, running away from a starting bomb attack, searching for a shelter. During these bombings the normal process is hiding under a strong table – as there is place only for two under the table, Geza offer this to the couple, trust in his luck. That wasn’t his lucky day. A bomb hit close, so the building collapsed. The couple survived he hasn’t.

Weeks later a package arrived home with his wooden luggage, with his tools inside. Some old stuff, needles, a hammer head, some threads and pegs, nails. That is how much left from a talented craftsman. I heard a story from my beloved grandmother. Geza was her brother.

Now that luggage is in my workshop, just aside my table, with all belonging it has arrived back, 67 years ago, reminding me, that I have to put something into my luggage, before my time will come. That should be the craft I learned – making shoes.

Translate the American Language

So sorry in advance. I have a point of view, which is obviously European, so this little list is gonna be very subjective. Only my opinion, you don’t need to agree. Actually it is enough for me, if you just think about it. And whatever you understand from this: I don’t hate Americans, moreover I like most of them. I wouldn’t live in America, if this wouldn’t be the case. There are good things with Americans and the first I would mention can be considered as an advantage, just like as a disadvantage – self confidence. Sometimes I admire my students for this, sometimes I just feel it perfectly inappropriate. Why? Because self confidence is important and you just can’t go anywhere without it, on the other hand self confidence can drive you away from the right track or prevent you to achieve your goals. Some stuff can be approached with the right modesty and to be honest: this is a problem here.

Let me translate a few words from the American vocabulary for illustrate it (no hard feeling, just handle it as a joke, right?)

“I speak a bit this and this language”

Translation: “Once a bought a language book/went to a course/bought Rosetta stone… etc, but only learned one sentence”

“I am a designer”

Translation:  “I made a few … object by hand, they look pretty awful, so I just stopped”

“I studied European art and history in the university”

Translation:  “Once I participated in a few classes from art and history, but frankly I don’t remember a lot”

“I am a craftsman”

Translation:  “I bought a few tools from e-bay last week”

“I can do it”

Translation:  “I can try”

“I can try”

Translation:  I will screw it up”

“I can’t do it”

Translation: “please be my cheerleader!”

“I didn’t have enough feedback to make a better progress”

Translation:  “Most probably I should have asked for more help”

“I am just learning!”

Translation:  “I screwed up”

“I am just thinking about my next project”

Translation:  “I haven’t done anything yet”

“I need better tools for this job”

Translation:  “I need more practice with these tools”

“It was very unclear, so I need more explanation”

Translation:  “I still don’t understand”

And some of the weirdest thing, I have experienced here – I can summarize it in three words: no negative comments! By the way with this section I tend to say, that the truth should be somewhere in the middle – like Americans over appreciate themselves and other people also (or at least fake it), we Europeans sometimes don’t have so much self confidence. Well, it counts where we came from, right?

“Great job!”

Translation:  “What the hell is this?”

“This is awesome! The best I have ever seen!”

Translation: Not that bad.

“The best I have ever seen”

Translation:  good job!

In the opposite way, if you get a compliment from a Hungarian master, like “not bad” – well, it is most probably the best you can achieve (and that stuff is really great), just because this is the maximum. I have to admit, that I became softer in this.

And finally some, which are really annoying:

“I learned the craft from several people, and master my skills in Europe”

Translation: “I have seen some Youtube videos, and wrote some mails to some craft guys, then last year we had a holiday in Europe with my husband/wife and visited a REAL workshop”

Job at SCAD

Do you want to work with me? Do.

https://scadjobs.com/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1325276489395

Button Shoes II.

Before you start to make button shoes, make sure you have these two pliers:

The first one makes the holes (I don’t think that you can’t make it by a knife and a hole punch, but perfectionism.. you know what I mean)

Yes, it is adjustable to be precise..

The other one is responsible for setting the buttons. Buttons has to be attached very securely, as the will get a lot of stress – the way we attach a normal button to a normal dress is not good, just not strong enough.

That was for today, or maybe a little teaser from the next tutorial..

Cordovan Age

After the boring stone, bronze and iron age, it is high time to give a more imaginative name for our age, isnt’t it? Just kidding, I believe condovan should be an exclusive thing. I needed to order a lot of hides for bespoke orders recently. Aren’t they beautiful?