Tag: inspiration

Happy New Year!

I still can’t blog about the piece that I’m working on at the moment – it’s a wedding dress, and it needs to be kept secret for another couple of weeks!

In the meantime I will start as I men to go on, and talk to you about shoes.

Since I received the Handmade Shoes for Men book, I’ve been thinking of nothing but men’s shoes. I love men’s shoes, especially as I’m mostly restricted to wearing flats, but my feet are just too small to be able to wear men’s sizes. Also, men’s shoes tend to be boring. Men’s formal shoes are black, or brown. Sometimes patent, for really posh occasions, or occasionally you might see a daring two-tone number.

Such is the rarity of interesting formal shoes for men that when I saw Vic Reeves on Shooting Stars the other evening, I may have squealed out loud, and pointed at the television.

 

This was the best screen shot I was able to capture, but look at those lovely shoes!

The squealing was mostly because I thought they were pink, but on closer inspection I think they’re a tan/stone combination.

I’ve enjoyed the trend for women’s brogues over the past couple of years, but all the nicest ones seem to have towering heels that I just can’t wear.

My current favourites are from Top Shop – a pretty black and pink pair.

The pink’s a bit pale for my liking, but I’m sure a spot of bright pink shoe polish would soon sort that out!

Unfortunately, I already know that I won’t be buying a pair of these. The shape of my feet means that Oxford shoes don’t fit properly, and I really need to wear a Derby shoe instead.

A pair of black patent and fuschia pink suede wingtip brogue derby shoes would be my absolute ideal.

The chances of me ever being able to buy a pair of those is fairly slim, which is why I’m once again becoming obsessed with the idea of learning to make my own shoes!

Handmade Shoes for Men

Paul gave this book to me for Christmas. It is simultaneously both the best and the worst book that I have ever owned!

Handmade Shoes for Men tells you pretty much everything you need to know about making men’s shoes by hand. The only automated part of the process is the carving of individually-tailored lasts. Every other part of the construction of the shoe is done by hand.

The brilliant part is that I can do this! Secrets have been revealed! I can learn how to make shoes!

The terrible part is that all of the equipment is very specialised, and sometimes expensive, and I still can’t afford to go on any of the courses that teach shoemaking properly. 

But… I’ve learned everything I know about dressmaking and corsetry from a healthy combination of reading books and making things up as I go along. Perhaps it would be possible to learn at least the basics of shoemaking the same way?

I have plans for the lasts I bought from Ebay, and I’m still working on ideas for some developments to the soft slippers that can be made without lasts.

I only wish I’d been brave enough to study Fashion when I left school. I could have had more than ten years’ experience as a shoemaker by now, and be creating beautiful work like this:

Petrol blue wingtip ankle boots by Pakerson, at Forzieri.

(I’d make mine in fuchsia pink, of course…)

Is it Hallowe’en yet?

I sometimes describe myself as a “recovering Goth”, but I discovered yesterday that I am still rather prone to the occasional relapse! About eight years ago I started a business called “GothStuff”, specialising in, well, stuff, for goths. I made skirts in a variety of styles, and Paul and I invested in a t-shirt printing kit. The t-shirts were designed by Paul and Selina, and they seemed to be quite popular.

We closed that business for a number of reasons, one of which was that I wanted to concentrate on working with organic, sustainable, recycled and Fair Trade fabrics, which are mostly plain, and mostly cream. Not very Goth, really. However I still have a terrible weakness for skull prints, and working part-time in a fabric shop I have to exercise quite a lot of self-restraint to prevent me from snapping up these little beauties!

Skull Fabrics!

The four fabrics at the top left are a fine nylon mesh – two with skulls & crossbones, and two with little skeletons. So cute! They’d be perfect for 1950s-style dresses, as a pretty top layer over a very full skirt. We also stock cobweb mesh in a wide range of colours, which I used to make pretty mini skirts back in the GothStuff days.

The eight fabrics down the right hand side are all 100% cotton prints. You have no idea how much willpower it has taken not to come home with many metres of the mini skull print in black and pink! The larger skull print also comes in several other colourways, but not a pink one, sadly.

The four fabrics at the bottom left are polar fleece. As this is manufactured from recycled plastic bottles, I have given into temptation and bought ten metres of the pink and black! I have two orders for hooded tops already, so you’ll be seeing pictures of those towards the end of the month.

I only wish that I could find a pretty skull print on an organic cotton. That would be my Fabric Nirvana, I think!

Shoe Envy.

I really must get a move-on and work out how to make little canvas shoes.

The Nice Man Who Knows About Feet told me that I shouldn’t be wearing Converse any more, so I sold my yellow pair with daisies and ladybirds to . I still have a pinstripe pair that didn’t sell, and I keep looking at them, and wondering whether the next time I put them on they’ll magically be okay for my feet.

(Note to self: This didn’t work with the Doc Martens, so it seems unlikely that the Cons would be okay.)

Because I am a sucker for punishment where shoes are concerned, I’ve just been to look at the Converse section of the Schuh website.

Look! They have Converse with Little Red Riding Hood on them!

I immediately want to make a little red gingham dress to wear with these.

I’m not so keen on this year’s ladybird design, but I do rather like this blue and yellow floral pair. I’m sad that these Sailor Jerry low-tops are men’s, because that means they don’t come in my size. They’re so pretty that I’d happily have worn these with all my summer skirts.

Mind you, if I’m looking at Converse, I ought really to be looking instead at Ethletic Sneakers. It would be really easy to buy a cream pair and paint on them, and then I can have whatever design I like, as well as supporting Fair Trade and renewable resources.

Having said that, has just pointed out that the Little Red Riding Hood Converse are part of (PRODUCT) RED, which has a global fund to provide anti-retroviral drugs, to help fight the AIDS pandemic in Africa. I’ll be looking out for that one red eyelet if I do decide to buy a pair of Converse in future.

I’m still quite a few steps away from being able to transform the slippers I’ve been making into outdoor shoes. I just need to resist the urge to give in to temptation in the meantime!

Tired and Inspired.

Insomnia is not my friend. Half past six on a Sunday morning is a terrible thing to see, especially if you’ve already been up for two hours. I plan to snooze in the bath later this morning.

Thankfully the internet is a twenty-four hour operation, and instead of wasting half the night on Cute Overload or I Can Has Cheezburger, addictive as they both are, I’ve been reading lots of inspirational blogs.

This list is mostly for my benefit, so I’ll remember where I’ve been, but I thought it might be useful to other people as well.

Lauren and Emira have a book and a blog called “The Boss of You”. It’s about being a designer and an entrepreneur, and gives excellent advice on setting up and running your own business.

Jenny Hart talks about Crafting a Business – this article specifically talks about some of the copyright and licensing ideas I that I was discussing the other day.

At decor8, Marcia Zia-Priven talks about finding your niche as a designer.

Design For Mankind has several interesting posts about “Roadmaps”, and how they can help you as a creative businessperson. Follow the links to other blogs and websites, for even more inspirational designers and crafters!

I became quite a fan of Seth Godin after I bought one of his books, Small is the New Big. I read his blog regularly, and he always seems to have something relevant to say.

I also bought three interesting books this week:

DIY: Design It Yourself is full of inspirational design ideas, coupled with extremely useful practical advice – something which is missing in a great many craft books!

Fabric Jewellery contains twenty-five projects which I will almost certainly never make. But it’s already inspired me to think in different ways about the materials that I already have at home, which is exactly what I’d hoped it would do.

Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys is a series of essays by Kate Fletcher, about various aspects of the fashion industry and how they can be approached in a more ethical manner. I haven’t read this yet (6:30 on a Sunday morning is probably not the best time to start!), but I’m looking forward to learning some interesting things, and seeing what differences I can make myself.

As it happens, I didn’t exactly buy that last book – I bartered it for one of my duvet cover skirts. I’m more than happy to be paid in goods rather than money (sometimes – books don’t pay the bills!), so if I’ve made something that you like, please feel free to barter for it, if you’ve got something that I might like in exhange.

But I can’t even drive…

Know what?

I might possibly be persuaded to have more than two driving lessons, if I thought I’d ever be able to drive around in one of these:

It’s a Morgan LifeCar. It’s a prototype at the moment, but it’s designed to run on hydrogen fuel cells, which produce zero harmful emissions. Just water, I believe.

Ice Cream Light Fittings.

I need these light fittings.

Immediately.

They’re designed specifically to be used with energy-saving lightbulbs, particularly the curly compact fluorescents, which are often described as looking like an ice cream. Perfect!

Ice cream light fittings not your style?

How about a skull called Dave?

Awesome.

Painted Shoes.

For health reasons which are far too boring to go into, I am currently selling twenty-one pairs of shoes. I am saving up to buy a pair of custom-fitted orthotic insoles, which basically restricts me to flat, boring, sensible shoes for evermore.

Of course, I am now seeing nothing but fabulous shoes, everywhere I turn! This month’s Elle magazine arrived with a “shoes & handbags” supplement. The newest issue of Simply Knitting (where I thought I would be safe!) has a picture of some amazingly-decorated mosaic shoes. And now Hannah has been painting on her shoes.

Hannah also links to more painted shoes and clogs:

Åsa Westlund has a range of beautifully painted high-heeled Swedish clogs. Even if you’re not keen on the style, there’s no denying that the artwork is absolutely beautiful.

I used to have a little collection of swedish clogs (the flat kind), until an attack of mould in the hideous basement where I was living infiltrated the wooden soles, and rendered them all wet and irreparable. Now, of course, I wish I hadn’t looked for pictures of clogs. I miss my patent purple pair (which all my friends kindly referred to as “those sawn-off wellies”), and I didn’t know they were now available printed with dinosaurs, cartoons and skulls!

I’m not allowed to wear clogs any more, so clearly I need to be looking at painted shoes instead. Etsy has some beautiful work, from two sellers in particular.

Hippy of Doom has the most beautiful ballet pumps painted with a Hokusai wave design. She also has an adorable pair featuring the tree spirits from Princess Mononoke.

Miss Bunny‘s hand-painted shoes often have an Alice in Wonderland theme. My absolute favourites were these “Eat Me, Drink Me” shoes, which some lucky buyer must now be wearing with great joy.

Friends keep telling me that I should paint my own shoes, to make my disappointing orthopaedic future a little less dull. (Somebody in the USA has had this idea already!) I have painted Doc Martens, baseball boots and leather jackets in the past, but taking a paintbrush to a pair of extremely expensive shoes seems a bit scary. Mind you, it can’t be more intimidating than reproducing an album cover or a photograph on the back of someone else’s expensive leather jacket.

Maybe I should grab an old pair of shoes and a paintbrush, and give it a go.

Some links for you…

Made With Love By Hannah
I’d forgotten about this website, until reminded me of it earlier. Now I want a skirt with apples on it!

Recycle Your Jeans
Send off your old denim, pay £45, and receive a brand new pair of sandals made from your very own jeans! They also make off-the-rack sandals, from jeans which were too holey to be sold by charity shops and manufacturing rejects. They look really comfy, and I’m really tempted to send them a piece of the pinstriped denim that I used to make the pirate coat…

Burda Style
Open source sewing patterns! Yep – they’re free. You print them out, stick them together, cut out the patterns and make clothes! Simple as that. They also tell you the difficulty level of each pattern, and the estimated sewing time.

Hel Looks
I’m sure I’ve linked to this one before – I go back and look at it every month or so, to see what’s new. It’s a street style documentary, in the manner of “Fruits”, but photographed in Helsinki.

There will shortly be some pictures of me mucking about in dresses for you… I bet you can’t wait. 😉