AupairToes had always preferred making things to drawing sth. pretty. However working on the pattern of her first bespoke, AupairToes realized how closely those two things work together rather than separately.
From the shape to materials, a bespoke shoemaker helps his or her customers to realized their dream shoes whether due to the design or the making of it and most often both. Who doesn’t love a pair that is both beautiful and practical?
AupairToes started with a simple design pattern below. Once all the tapes came off from the last and be laid on the paper as smoothly as possible, AupairToes traced the shape while considering tightening up some upper part of the design by leveraging angles to get the correct pattern for leather cutting later. After that, she came back to the studio to see if it’s good enough for different layers of leathers to be cut along.
It turned out to be a wonderful first pattern AupairToes created so she could cut leathers accordingly on the same day. The ankle while cutting the leather is important. It’s better to have the scissors rest on a solid flat surface and cut along the leather without changing the angle attached to the surface so it will make the cutting more accurate. It can also help save materials. AupairToes cut the leather piece according to the traced pattern and put backseam tape around the force holding lines to make sure the pattern stays in shape more like the real foot walking.
Sewing is a new experience for AupairToes as well. She only tried when she was in elementary school when she visited her aunt’s house where her aunt made all kinds of goodies from an old-fashioned iron sewing machine. Well, that type of equipment turned out to be bespoke shoemakers’ favorite. AupairToes wish her aunt still kept the sewing machine.
New tools/materials used in the 3rd class:
- Steel shanks (put at the bottom of the insole to hold the natural foot arch)
- Foam materials (to cover the shanks. Lighter than leather that many other shoemakers use for the same purpose)
- Sewing machine (including thread, needles)
The most important tip from class 3 is alway triple-checking your pattern before moving on. AupairToes couldn’t wait for the next episode!