October 16, 2011 
Hi all,
It’s taken me a while to get the time to show you these. I finished them a couple of nights ago and gave you a sneak peek of the toe in the entry before.
I know that a couple of you are interested in the techniques I use, but honestly, it’s trial and error and a learning curve that began when I carved the first set of heels for a pair of pony boots. :-)
Then I made the gladiator upper pony boots.
Then I took a hiatus and covered ballet heels for a while.
Then I began cutting up shoes to see how they are made.
It’s a sad state of affairs to find the same crappy cardboard pulp welts in REALLY expensive shoes as you do in the cheap shitty ones with the crappy plastic uppers.
Some of the cheapest shoes I own have expensive cardboard welts inside them.
It’s completely unpredictable as to what will be inside your shoes. Most people never take them apart to find out.
When I was a child I imagined that the cars engine was some sort of light force trapped inside the metal casing of the engine.
Until I began to take an interest in how the internal combustion engine was constructed I didn’t really care as long as it started when I wanted it to and ran when it was supposed to. Then I wanted to modify my motorbike engine, and my understanding of these things became fast. I built a few motorbike engines and two car engines. I also rewired a car because its harness had burned out. Life is for living and trying things. No use sitting on your thumb and wishing. It ain’t gonna happen that way. LOL.
So. Basically most people don’t care, as long as they can wear the shoes.
For me, not being able to find shoes that I want to wear has propelled me to make my own. It’s really as simple as that. :-)
ABOUT THESE BOOTS:
In the video I am wearing a leather shift dress and leather opera length gloves. ;-)
As usual, I pulled apart a pair of PU covered boots to make these. They were thigh high. I paid 19 Euro for them but I notice they sell for up to 200 Euro now. lol
I saved the shank and the heel. The welt was in decent enough condition for repair, so I recovered it with leather to ensure it stays together.
The pattern was cut from the upper I removed.
I redesigned the upper. I don’t do copies however there are only so many ways of sewing together a boot upper or strapping a shoe onto a foot.
I decided I liked the lace up back. Something about my love of corsets perhaps?
The fur is real. I do not apologise for this. Some is recycled from a mink stole that an old woman who my mother nursed gave to her, but she passed onto me. It was in semi-poor condition 20 years ago, but right now, even though it’s been stored carefully, it is perishing. The woman my mother nursed came to own it in about 1930-35.
The “collar” was from a 1930′s mink collar that would have been attached to a woollen coat to make it look more ritzy.
It too was perishing and I decided to give it another life, instead of just throwing it away. Minks sacrifice the most, due to them being tiny rat like things with little bodies. Many of them are needed to make a coat and as I’ve found, to make a small collar as well. I would never buy new fur, (save for the dreaded Red Fox VERMIN coats they sell here in Australia. Fox here take the food from native animals. They kill native animals. They wipe out native species. Because of the laws here, they have to be killed humanely. Shooters are good at what they do. One shot. No wasted bullets. Why not use something of these bastard animals that wipe out or native species?) however I feel it’s an honour to house it and care for it … possibly like the dog/cat/horse/bird rescues I’ve done in the past. Given these animals a new chance at life with me. 
For those who really want to know, send me an email and I will be very happy to discuss my methods with you.
Next post is a tutorial however, to show you how to make a last and some welts for a pair of ballet heels. :-)
Tutorials to follow will show you how to design and sew an upper and mount it to your welt.
Tutorial after that will show you how to attach a heel correctly.
Tutorial City. :-)
Have a great day
Suzanne x
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- Right boot back detail
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- The clip for the fur “collar”.
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- Toe Detail
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- Welt and shank on the last
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- Two sides of upper sewn together
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- “wrong” side of upper
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- so the boot doesn’t collapse
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- Another view of anti collapse strip
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- Like this concept, don’t I? Alleviates lining as well. lol
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- Applying the sole
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- With the sole and heel attached
Those are amazing. You have a real gift. Where to now, I wonder?
I have some larger sized shanks in my “shoe box of tricks” and I think I’m going to try to rope someone in to let me make them a pair of handmade shoes.
The cobblers I took them to for a look see told me to start making them for real, to get a stall together for the weekly arts market and start making shoes.
I want to try a few more things first, but having gotten around in these boots all day and they’re not showing signs of falling apart (and believe me, some of the most expensive shoes I’ve bought have fallen apart after taking a couple of steps – either the heel snaps in half or falls off the shoe) as any of the others I’ve made; soooo…. yeh. I’m looking for a volunteer.
Gorgeous shoes! I’d love to get me some of these ;D
You want to be my guinea pig?
Why not?
What would you need of me?
A pair of your shoes that you don’t mind being killed so I can make lasts to fit you and some idea of what sort of shoe you want?
Hmmm that would be very interesting! I have these pair of wedges that I have gotten bored of… Personally, I would want some sort of unique/crazy/kooky pair of shoes or boots. I dream of owning a pair of ballet boots or pony boots some days (Most days it’s corsets on my mind
). I don’t have many shoes to spare except for that pair of green strappy wedges and a pair of shoes which I can’t describe much except that it doesn’t have much height to it. Both are troublesome to wear and were interesting when I first began to own them, I just got bored over time I guess. Here’s some (sadly low-res) pictures of them:
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/2345/17102011256.jpg
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/4327/17102011257.jpg
If they could some way somehow match my pretty custom waist training corset (instructed to be done by your guide!) which is going to be in fushia with gold boning channels and bias tape, that would be nice! The corset is still a work-in-progress with the corset maker though.
oooh …. does the corsetier have any left over fabric? Will email you. x
This boots are gorgeous and very sexy… I like your shoes taste.
Thank you my love.