Prototypes and mishaps

It's time to gaze on what happened years ago: I have two pairs of shoes in boxes, that haven't been used nor accepted any feet as their own. This is due to the nature of my whim, as not only were they technically unfitting but also lacked some basic elements to make them wearable. At the time, I was so consumed by the sheer vision of specific techniques that I forgot to follow the fundamentals of making shoes. Also, the other pair was made while I was still studying to become a shoemaker and the other one was my first bespoke tryout at the very beginning of my career. So, you learn from your mistakes. But there's still some ideas I'd like to still try with more experience.

There's a finnish translation that follows / Suomenkielinen käännös lopussa :)

The first pair I made while still studying. This was part of training how to draw patterns for shoes, and so I did! They're quite simple, with only a back seam and some loafer-like rubber bands to keep the shoes on. The main vision for these shoes was to try and make some decorations on it's characteristic vegetable tanned leather. A style which is traditionally more common to see on wallets, belts, bags and especially in western saddles. This technique of decorating leather is know as tooled leather.

You can maybe tell from this picture, that the breasts of the lasts were way too outward for this kind of a cut. So it's virtually impossible to get them to stay on your feet. 

A close up on the tooled leather. A design I drew myself.

For some crazy reason I wanted the back to be pointy. Quite impractical, and besides the back height was way too low.

Here they look quite ok, though the colour is another "what was I thinking?" moment.

Yeah, they're not hand sewn welt. They're glued shoes! So what? : D

The second pair was my first bespoke tryout for my wife. Pretty much everything was new to me, but I had to give the tooling another try. The faults with these are numerous, and I was again more driven by another burning vision: completely seamless shoes! Whooot? Is it possible? Well, here they are. I just managed to first last the lining over the whole last, let it dry, lasted the uppers and voila! Well... I did make some mistakes; I used the crappiest vegetable tanned leather we had for the uppers, didn't sew anything and didn't even add laces. Great going!

I used an art nouveau pattern, which I then modified to have a flower and a dragonfly. The dragonfly is only on the right shoe.

Moving more to the back, you'll see more of the art noveau design.

...And around to the inner side of the shoe, where you see the rest.

Usually there has to be some kind of seam here somewhere.

Esittelyssä pari kenkäparia vuosien takaa, jolloin olin vielä täysi noviisi kenkien tekemisessä. Itse asiassa toisen parin aikoihin vasta opiskelin koko taiteenlajia ja toisen aikaan olin vasta urani alussa. Joten niihin tuli paljon perusvirheitä, eikä omistajia sitten löytynyt ja kengät siirtyivät laatikoihin arkistoon. Kengissä oli aikanaan enemmänkin kyse erilaisten kummallisten tekniikoiden kokeiluista, joita luomispäissäni sitten toteutin. Kenkänteon perusteet saivat jäädä taakse :)
Ensimmäisessä parissa halusin kokeilla nahan kaivertamista. Tekniikkaa joka tunnetaan paremmin lompakoista, laukuista, vöistä ja etenkin lännen satuloista. Virheinä olivat kuitenkin lestin rinnakkuus, joka olisi pitänyt huomioida mallissa: venykkeillä varustettuna rinnan tulisi olla matala, mutta kyseisissä lesteissä se oli vielä ekstrasti rinnakas. Lisäksi takakorkeus oli liian matala, sekä omituinen terävä muoto takana ei olisi tuntunut kovin hyvältä akillesjänteelle.
Toisessa parissa visiona oli koristelun lisäksi täysi saumattomuus! Sekä vuori että päällinen pakotettiin ja pinnattiin koko lestin päälle. Harmi vain että käytin varmasti huonointa nahkaa koko talosta, ja tulos oli aikas huono. Virheistä oppii.