All we need is a little patience.

Unfortunately I have to tell you all that my posts will be down for a few more days. :(
Life's full of tasks right now, there's a lot to do, and two shoe projects are taking a quantity from my free time. So I'll be back, hopefully soon when I'll have some decent progress made with my projects.

I'm happy to say that the second mockup was done via a video chat with Niina, and she ok'd them. So now it's official: next up with those is the actual process of making them ready. Finally.
Ms. Melissa's black below-the-knee-high boots's patterns and mockups are currently on the works, too.

Here's some inspirational random shoe-related images alá google:

Septieme Largeur

Guess

Dior

Giuseppe Zanotti

Septieme Largeur

Christian Louboutin

But I bid you all adieu for now,
May you all have the most decent and delightful early winter :)

Love,
Otso

Shape that high heel last, baby! Shape!

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!

This is the beginning stage. an untouched high heel last.

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 This is a front view and one can see the skill of the guy who originally made these.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.

She wanted a higher heel, so I started to build it to this area.

And here's the finalized shape.

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.

We'll place the last over the print and start to estimate the new required width of the last.

The growth areas are marked and sanded and cork material is added.

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.

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.

*Bling!* After a few hours of making friends with Mr. Grinder, Ms. Last became ready to be patternized ;)

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.

When you're fixing, do it right!

Ladies and gentlemen, for starters let's hit off with the marvelous rag time band:

Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks!

And after my favourite band of the moment, we'll take a look at why I decided to do changes for Niina's lasts:

Here's the before and after shots. On the left you'll see a normal last, but it's meant for normal pumps and low shoes, rather than boots. With red I've marked the lines in which the shape should approximately go, and on your right you'll see the changes made. Why? Well let's see below:

In the circle you'll see a close up of the fitting I did for Niina, and you'll also notice the creases that for along the shaft of the boot. This is because the shape of the last is too steeply shaped from the upper part of the heel, as you can see on the picture to the left. This position is fixed properly on the boot to the right. This will lessen the creases and also make the front part alot more good looking and sturdy.

I'll hopefully get to try the left boot on Niina's feet before actually starting the manufacturing, this thursday?
The black boots are also due to begin their journey towards completion tomorrow, so we'll see what's up with them later this week. Have a good one!