the fun begins!

Today the sewing machine was delivered and tomorrow the grinder will be set up!

grinder

I have located the desired grinder. I hope to purchase it on Friday. The list of items needed to buy keeps on growing as I remember all the aspects of how a shoe is made!

yes and no

The desired sewing machine is in stock. No luck with the grinder shop. I need to go look elsewhere.

Hopefully the sewing machine can be purchased in the next fortnight!

Fullarton Market

I was planning on having a stall this weekend at the Fullarton Road Market. I won't be doing it this year, but hopefully I will be able to make the January market. There are lots of Summer markets I have never been to so I want to check them out over the next few months to see what they are like and if they would be good places to sell a RTW range of shoes along with bags.

sewing machine grinder

Today I am going to investigate a post bed sewing machine. Hopefully they have one in stock, otherwise one will need to be ordered.

After the sewing machine, Sammy and I will make our way to another shop to check out grinders!

welcome to the rest of my life

Today is the first day of no longer working full time for someone else, rather working full time for myself. I am now working Monday to Friday on my business.

I am going to be collecting a list of people who are interested in having shoes made. I currently do not have a date when I will start taking orders, I hope it to be early in 2014. I am more than happy to take names so I can contact you when I am ready. Feel free to email me on millie.botten@gmail.com.

For the moment my time is dedicated to my business plan, cousin's wedding shoes and the blog.

It is all very exciting!

First Shoe!

I am making another cousin her wedding shoes. I am really excited as they will be my first shoes post Tafe and they will get me going and I can see them worn for her big day!

bags and purses

As I have lost access to the facilities at Tafe, I will not be making shoes until I have the tools to do so. I am going to make bags and purses while I track down the items I need to get some shoes happening. I am planning to have a market stall at the Fullarton Market on Saturday November 23. I am really excited about giving myself a date as it means my new journey has started. So between now and then I will be busy making some items to sell there.

my first ribbon!

I entered a pair of shoes into the Royal Adelaide Show and I got second prize. I got a red ribbon! Very exciting stuff. It was rather exciting to go to the show and see my shoes in a cabinet with my name and the ribbon attached to them.

looking to the future

I have finished studying at the Adelaide Tafe. I am currently working at the shoe shop for the next few months to save some money. I am planning to reduce my hours in January of 2014 so I can concentrate on starting my business next year.

I am now in the process of saving money to purchase the items I no longer have access to. I need to make a few purchases before I can start making things again. I am looking forward to making items as standing on my feet all day selling other people's shoes is not as exciting as the satisfaction I get from creating something of my own.

I have entered a pair of sandals into the Royal Adelaide Show. If you visit, go check out the leatherwork in the craft section. It is my first time entering so I do not know if my name will be next to them!

the classroom workshop (at tafe)

This door will take you to the machine room (the noisy ones). It is full of the most excellent items.

leather splitter, sole press, heater, nail machine to attach heels, grinders

grinder, finishing, grinder, grinder, grinder.

grinder, grinder, glue station, drill

drill, rough rounder, eyelet setters

This door takes you to the working room where we sew and make patterns. It is also where the lasts are kept.

Nerea

Nerea is #2 of my range.

I have put on a backer to reinforce an area where there will be a cut out

upper with pouch clip

radoma insoles with blue foam to make extra comfy!

the real deal!

Rossi

I only have this one photo of my Rossi Boot. We were given a brief which required us to design a jogger style safety boot for a male courier type of person. However, I decided to use my mum who is studying to be a Paramedic for the basis of my design.

We were given materials from Rossi and were able to ask questions about the design and be told how to close our uppers so they made it out of the factory. We were only to close the uppers and they were then sent to Rossi to be factory lasted and have injected moulded soles attached.

Rossi supplied the last. The boot was also having a steel cap inserted. It was a challenging design for me as I included a bellow tounge which I had never done and it took me a while to work out how to create it.

 My final design was quite similar to this mock up.

Tom

Tom and I worked together to produce his wedding shoes. He wanted a Tuxedo shoe and for it to be shiny.

the shoe to be produced

He wanted this toe shape

 I have used a leather insole, so it is placed in water first in order to get it to fit onto the last and take shape.

using the sole press to remove excess water helps to speed up the drying process

When I do not have access to a sole press, drying of leather insoles will probably take a day extra

upper tacked in place

randing

soles and heel tops

heels

Tom in his Tom's!

the latest...

I am in week 3 of the final term of Tafe. I am going overseas for 3 of those weeks. When I come home, I will have 4 weeks left, which is 16 days of the tafe workshop.

I have completed 2 shoes so far. 1 was the Rossi project which I do not have nay photos of at the moment. I closed the uppers and they were being factory lasted. I will get them returned to me whilst I am overseas, so I will have to wait until I return to see the finished product!

I have finished my first pair for my rage, Tom. They are oxfords. I made them for my cousin Tom who is getting married in Spain.

I am currently working on Nerea, which I plan to wear to Tom's wedding, so I have 2 days left to finished them!

When I return I need to make 1 more pair to complete my studies, but I hope to be able to make at least 2 more.

I will update this week. I promise

I have finished 2 pairs of shoes. One was the Rossi project, another was #1 of my range. I will upload photos this week.

updates

I have misplaced the charger for my camera, so I have been unable to take any photos lately. Hence the lack of updates. What I have been doing is not visually exciting anyway, well for me atleast!

I have just been mocking up my patterns and styles for the 4 shoes I need to produce for my range. I have decided on 2 and am still finishing up the patterns for the final 2.

I aim to have them finalised next week so I can begin work on the final product, which is much more exciting!

Samantha mock up

I am having trouble working out how to do this shoe. I am unsure if I will change the design to make it easier for me to make. I planned to include an ankle strap, but I won't add it to the mock up until I have my pattern worked out.

on the last (outside)

inside

looking down

on my foot (outside)

The Pub (out of tafe workspace)

This is the room my father has kindly offered Sammy and I to use for our shoe making. We are both very excited to have a space to use. We have started collecting many bits and pieces so it is going to be fun setting it up over the next few weeks. It is situated above the Rob Roy pub on Halifax Street.

the balcony is where the room's are

our room (soon to be filled with lovely things)

middle of the day tafe desk

Nerea

I have drawn onto the last the design I would like.

I have made a mock up to decide how to approach the pattern pieces, and to test if my design will work.

 I did another mock up to try to work out the positioning and the length of the ankle strap. I am also needing to work out the size of the insole board, so I keep altering that with each mock up.

From this mock up I decided how to secure the shoe around my ankle. I had originally thought of a buckle, but was not too keen on using a buckle.

I chose to use pouch clips so I needed to decide where to punch my holes and the distances needed. I would really love to have only 2 holes, one for each clip.

 

My third mock up to test the insole board (I have it correct) and to try and eliminate the gap where the strap threads into the side pieces (I still haven't go it right)

pieces before they are put together

the gap I would like to eliminate

third, but not final mock up!

This is the leather and thread I will be using

upper

tool to make cuts for the leather to go between