After an embarrasingly quiet week for blog posts, it's been a less embarrasing week of actual shoemaking. Niina's second mockup is sent by mail and she's going to try them on and we'll propably take a look at them via a video chat. And if they're a fit, it means a step closer to their completion :)
Meanwhile my main concern has been Ms. Melissa's black knee-high boots, to which I started to shape the lasts. Her concern is a wider-than-usual ball of the foot, and a higher heel hight (9,5cm). Her lasts came ready today, so ladies & gents, let's take a look!
Shape, rattle & roll!
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| This is the beginning stage. an untouched high heel last. |
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| I just dig that asymmetry! This is a front view and one can see the skill of the guy who originally made these. This asymmetry makes the shoes more elegant and even functional. Qualities that come rare on everyday common shoes. The art of last making is for some reason losing it's glorious heritage, and nowadays it's more common to see ugly and bulky lasts. Even for women. |
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| She wanted a higher heel, so I started to build it to this area. |
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| And here's the finalized shape. |
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| After the heel hight, it's time to make the lasts more fitting to the clients foot. Here's a traditional ink print of the foot with measurements and the ball of the foot marked. |
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| We'll place the last over the print and start to estimate the new required width of the last. |
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| The growth areas are marked and sanded and cork material is added. |
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| And after some time we'll have something like this. The lasts are shortened and the girth of the ball of the foot has already been modeled. |
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| Whaaaat?! :D Yes, I'm serious! You're propably wondering why did I ruin them? Well, they're going to be boots so I thought of extending the shaft for a better fit. But it does look more like a terrifying sculpture than a last. |
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| *Bling!* After a few hours of making friends with Mr. Grinder, Ms. Last became ready to be patternized ;) |
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| Put a sock on it!!! Literally! This is a great way to see how they're really going to look like. |
Next up with these boots is making some patterns and a mockup.
