A Shoe Is Born #otisshoeworkshop

I MADE MY OWN SHOES!!!!!!! (In case you hadn't heard).

The right shoe is still on the last. The left one is more or less finished. 

I took an amazing week-long shoemaking workshop with Chris Francis at Otis, through the auspices of the Continuing Ed department. [Thank you CE, for underwriting my participation].
Seven of us worked 9-5, Mon-Fri, and 8-11 Sat and all made at least one shoe.
I'll post more about some of the amazing women that participated in subsequent posts --
this one is all about the process!

I'll show you some highlights -- get comfortable, kick your feet up, shoemaking has a lot of steps (harhar).
[I'll keep the images small, for easier scrolling. You can click on an image to see it bigger].

Day One: measuring

the last is first

foot tracing and measuring

comparing the tracing to the last, marking areas to extend

Day 2: Midsole

creating midsoles from scratch
leather is sandwiched between layers of a paper product called redboard

phase 1 of midsole nailed to last

adding steel shanks

adding more redboard to bottom of midsole

 Day Three: uppers - designing, patterns, painting

last covered with masking tape, design worked out

masking tape carefully peeled off last

truing up paper pattern

cutting the uppers from raw vegetan cowhide

folding the topline

stitched dart shapes back of heel

paint it RED!

adding leopard pattern

cutting pigskin liner

Day Four: sewing upper, lasting

attaching upper to liner at topline

covering the edges of midsole with vintage Thai silk

ready to begin lasting

first nails

oops, heel dart not in center. oh well.

prep for gluing in toe box

the pair is lasted

Day Five: heels, soles

prep for gluing upper to midsole and adding cork

next the nails will be replaced with tacks, which stay in the shoe

bottom is smoothed with sander and dremmel

we used plastic heels

plastic covered with pigskin, then dyed black

heel glued, it stands!

[Chris didn't want us sharing his method of making the soles.]

here, I'm waiting for glue to dry to stick the sole to the heel

I wrote a secret message inside the right sole

Day Six: delasting, insole, done

lining trimmed from topline
ready to delast!

tada!

after sinking screws into the heel and nailing in tap, the insole pattern is refined
I didn't catch what kind of leather we cut the insole from
I painted mine purple

it's a shoe!

Did you have any idea that all this went into the making of a shoe?

Linking up with
Patti's Visible Monday
Shelbee's On the Edge of the Week
Catherine's #SaturdayShareLinkup
Rena's Fine-Whatever
Cherie's Shoe and Tell

TrendListr, a New Online Vintage Marketplace

Originating from the UK, since we don't have "car boot" sales in the US -- is our term "flea market"?

Trendlistr contacted me about helping promote their new online marketplace for Vintage, launching on 2/9/17. It sounds like an interesting concept: sellers held to high standards for items and photography posted, and no upfront listing fee.

Their Instagram @TrendListr will give you the best sense of what's to come:

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Along with IG, other social media portals are their
Blog: www.trendlistrblog.com

Twitter: @Trendlistr

Facebook: /Trendlistr

They might feature SpyGirl in a blog post and asked me these burning questions:

How would you best describe your stye? 

What do you all think, "Crazy Cat Lady"?

What is current dream item you want to purchase?

Dansko red/black shoes as seen on Poshmark, in not my size:

Who is you're favourite designer/high street store and why?

I always hate this kind of question. I'm a Gemini, THERE CAN'T BE JUST ONE!

Still ruminating on my answer.

Off the top of my head, Chris Francis, (though is he a "designer" or an "artist"?) and Fluevog.

Guess I'm a tad shoe obsessed these days.

Let's reconvene after TrendListr launches and see what we think!

#tbt Summer Sandals

Here I am, in my typical 1980's hiking attire:

Yes, focus on my feet! I am wearing Chinese plastic sandals.
You know, they're really great for hiking. Ha!

32 years later, I still wear the same style.

School may have started, but summer weather isn't over!
Add your summer-themed pictures and posts here:

Striped Rejuvination

This piece of green-striped rayon has been through several sartorial permutations.
I'm too hot and grumpy to search for a photo of it's first incarnation today. 
Maybe I'll add it later -- it was a strappy empire waist undergarment for an olive green poufy skirt that I wore with a red Chinese dragon print corset-style top. Or maybe I'll sketch it for you. Later. 

Next, I turned it into a tunic and wore it. A lot.

Oh look, that's when I had pansies next to the metal tub!
And the old favorite clog-style mules!
(I just grabbed the first photo that popped up).

It was starting to irritate me this summer. I want to wear as few garments as possible and the narrowness of where it hit on my arms was NOT GOOD.
Layering was not going well, it was too long:

So in one of my trying to get an outfit for the day frenzies, I ripped 7" off the hem:

Aaaaah. Better proportions. AND NOW I had fabric to use for sleeves!
Yay me!

You remember my new mission to put sleeves on everything, right? 
This is the third revamp in three months. Slow going -- at this rate, Repair Mountain will recede in maybe five years. Ha.

In addition, new shoes:

Mexican huraches purchased on Olvera St, downtown LA. $22, new! Super comfy!

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday.
Because hidden biceps and visible knees.