Last month I demoed how to make a ballet flat from a one-piece pattern at Maker Faire in San Mateo. You can see the video soon. (See other Craft videos here.)
For now, I wanted to write up a bit of what I discussed in the Maker Faire demo. As I’ve been writing it up, I realize that there are many places where some additional illustration would help. I’ll generate those in time. For now, I hope this helps and I’d love any questions about areas that don’t make sense.
1. Start with the Last.
2. Cover the last with painter’s tape. Alternate the direction of the tape and overlap the strips.
3. Draw in the centerline.
4. Then draw in the topline. (In a more detailed version, you would also draw in the draft lines, CP and V points. Not shown here)
5. Cut along the center line (on the back only) and the topline. Carefully peel off the tape.
6. Flatten the painter’s tape against a piece of paper.
7. Cut out the taped piece and paper.
8. Fold the pattern along the centerline. (in this case, the back top edges should come close to lining up)
9. Fold a piece of cardstock legnthwise. (it should be at lease 2 inches larger than your pattern.) Regular paper will do, but I prefer cardstock for it’s heft.
10. Place the pattern against the folded cardstock. You’ll align both folded edges. Then, place a tack just under a quarter of the way down the pattern. You will use this to rotate the pattern and allow for the spring in the last.
11. Draw in the bottom line. Stop at the vertical line. (the widest part of the foot, typically)
12. Pivot the pattern with the tack in place. The top of the heel line should be about 3/16″ from the fold. Then trace the remaining outline.
12. Add 3/4″ along the bottom line that you just drew. This is to account for the lasting allowance. (the extra material you’ll need to pull under the bottom of the shoe.
13. Add a note at the back heel to add 1/4″ seem allowance. Then cut out the forme. It should be symmetrical.
14. Unfold the forme and place it against your material. The material should be wrong side up. In this case, I’ve used felt so it doesn’t matter. Outline the pattern completely. Then add 1/4″ seam allowance at the back.
15. Cut out the material. And mark the centerline using the forme. (Not shown here).
16. Fold along the centerline. Wrong side out.
17. Line up the inner heel line. This line will be more accurate than the cut lines. Be careful with this step since it will greatly affect the fit of the shoe. Once aligned, clip the edges. (or, if using felt, you can pin them) Then sew along the heel line. (The dashed line in this illustration.
18. Cut out the midsole. Using the last, trace an outline of the bottom edge on vegetable tanned leather or a similar material. Copex 300 works, but so will cardboard for prototypes.
19. You will now have a midsole. Check to see that it is very close to the feather edge (bottom) of the last. Trim if necessary.
20. Nail the midsole against the bottom of the last. With leather, the smooth side should be touching the last. Brads work well as nails since they are smooth, small and bend easily. Flatten the nails to keep the midsole in place.
21. Turn over the last. Now place the sewn upper over the last. Line up the upper so that it matches the intended topline. Near the top of the back line, nail a shoe tack (brass if working in leather) into the back of the heel. This will keep it from slipping off during the lasting process.
22. Lasting the shoe. Now you’ll last the shoe. Start with the toe and heel. Pull the material taught, then tack. Then start to move to the sides of the shoe, checking continually to make sure you aren’t distorting the upper. A timelapse video of me lasting can be seen here. There are also many videos online which demonstrate this process with far more craft than I can offer.
23. Once the shoe has been lasted, trim away any excess material. Then trace the outline of the remaining material on the bottom of the midsole. This will help show you where to apply the glue and give you a reference for connecting the upper and midsole during the gluing process.
24. You’ll want to do the following step in stages. First pull out the tacks for zone one. Then glue both sections of zone 1. That way, the shoe will stay in place as you pull out some tacks for the gluing process.
25. Pull out the tacks for the first two sections of zone 1.
26. Glue the underside of the upper and the midsole. Let dry. Then attach in place. Once attached, hammer to fasten. Repeat this process for the remaining zones (2 and 3.) Take care not to get any glue on the last. Doing so will make it very difficult to remove the last without damaging the shoe.
27. Once all the tacks have been removed, take out the brads. You’ll also want to sand the bottom of the shoe smooth and add cork to any cavities that exist. For shoes with any kind of heel, you’ll want to add a shank for support.
28. Cut out the outsole using the same process as cutting the midsole. Apply glue to the bottom of the last and the inside of the outsole.
29. Carefully attach the outsole to the shoe. Hammer in place.
30. Break the last. (basically, utilize whatever hinge mechanism exists on the last.) Pull the last from the shoe.
You’re done! Assuming, of course that you’ve been doing all of the above steps for both feet.
I was playing with a simple pattern for this middle seam boot for my father. Once I was able to get most of the boots lasted I knew that I’d made a mistake with the geometry of the pattern. The angle of the upper part of the boot was skewed forward. (They’d be perfect for walking up a steep hill or leaning into a hurricane.)
I’ll have to adjust the pattern and recut. No biggie though, it didn’t take long. Thank God for working with cheap materials.
Oh, so busy. Both with work and fun stuff as well.
I don’t have time to write up all the details right now, but, go to my Flickr page if you want to get a preview of the steps I’ll be demonstrating at Maker Faire in a couple of weeks.
I’ll be there. I’m going to blast through a demo on how to make shoes from a one piece pattern. I should be speaking on Sunday, May 22. Time is still TBD. Hope to see any local folks there.
The last is one of the most essential tools in shoe making. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the hardest to find. If you don’t have a lot of money or luck or the patience and skill to make your own, getting a pair of lasts in the right size and style is highly unlikely.
So let’s change that. I have more lasts than I can possibly use. I hang on to them for both sentimental and practical reasons, so I’m not interested in selling them. However, I don’t want to see them go unused. There are so many budding shoemakers out there who could put them to loving good use. So, inspired by Oakland’s Tool Lending Library, I’m going to start my own little library. This one will lend lasts.
I’m still working out the details, but here are the basic rules.
Take care of the lasts.
Don’t do anything to the last that can’t be undone. You can add cork to it, but you can’t remove any of the original material. If it’d too big, get a smaller size. These are my babies after all. Look after them.
Return them on time.
I know shoemaking takes time, but I can’t let you hog the lasts. Make sure to return the last within 6 weeks. I’ll give you a due date when you check it out.
Share your work.
This is a community. Let others benefit from what you’ve created. Also, I’m curious. If I’m going to lend you my lasts I should at least be able to see what you created with them. Seems fair, right?
Pay for your own postage.
I’m not looking to make money (hence, a library) but I also don’t want to lose money doing this. So you’ve got to pay for the postage both ways. (probably about $10-15)
Expect things to change.
I’m just prototyping this idea. I’m sure there are plenty of complicating factors which I can’t anticipate at this moment, so expect things to change.
How do I sign up?
For now, email me. TOM [ at ] REDCOVERSTUDIOS [ dot ] COM. I’ll make sure you’re not a robot or sketchy and we’ll go from there.
How do I find what lasts you have?
Most of my lasts are up on my Flickr site. Currently, I don’t have a sophisticated system for searching, but I have tagged most of the lasts by size and gender. When you find a last you like, not the image title and send that to me. I’m also in the process of cataloging the rest of my lasts, so there’s more to come.
Happy shoe making!
Skiving is a way of gradually thinning out the leather in order to create a smooth seam when you fold it over. If you are used to sewing cloth, this may be a surprise to you (I know it was for me). The illustration below should give you a sense of why you need to skive. Unlike a clothing hem, the edges of shoes will cause problems (given the snug nature of the fit). Throw in the fact that leather is almost always thicker than cloth, and you’ve got a recipe for blisters. So, skiving comes to the rescue.
Skiving is one of those skills shoe making skills that takes a long time to master. I still screw up all the time.
The good news is that the practice can be therapeutic. Get a piece of scrap leather, a sharp knife and go for it.
I’ve used the traditional style skiving knife as well as well as the “safety knife” (both demonstrated below.)
The safety knife is easier to keep sharp because it has replaceable blades, but it’s easy to overcut, and you end up with a lot of useless blades.
Alas, these are not mine. They are from a wonderful Croatian designer named Daria. Check out her stuff on Etsy or go to her Flickr page. I’m continuously impressed with her ability to produce beautiful shoes on a consistent basis.
A couple of things I’ve learned from the her work.
1) Felt is smart. You can make lots of shoes quickly. (and it’s easier to sell custom shoes for $50 than for $1000)
2) Curate your photos. I often make the mistake of snapping some ill-lit process shot as a form of visual note-taking. This may be good for me, but it’s not necessarily going to have an emotional impact. Every one of her photos is just gorgeous. As a result the shoes feel quite magical.
3) Craft. Craft. Craft. As in Craftswoman, not arts and… The photos bring out the exquisite detail in all of the shoes. So even though she’s working with cheaper material, the end result can feel much more elegant than say, poorly sewn leather.
Do you want to be a pattern engineer at Nike? I’m sure it would be great experience and a ton of fun. I was recently contacted by a recruiter there who asked if I’d spread the word so I thought I’d oblige. A summary of the job description is below and you can see the full list of qualifications here. Good luck!
As our Pattern Engineer for our In-House Manufacturing team, you’ll have the opportunity to be an integral part and help develop innovative new techniques for footwear manufacturing. You’ll be looked upon to collaborate with design, manufacturing, and process engineering to help shape footwear designs in a method to minimize labor, maximize quality, and optimize yields. You’ll make pattern grading decisions based on alternatives/options generated during these collaborations, contribute to product designs as it relates to manufacturability, and team with the engineers to lead original and complex projects from conception to completion including initial pattern concepts through a fully graded pattern design. You’ll assist and lead cross-functional teams to troubleshoot, document, and improve existing production processes by applying a range of innovative pattern design alternatives or options applicable to manufacturing processes, including machinery, components, tooling and facilities. You’ll also participate on CAD project teams by prioritizing and completing individual responsibilities to develop, design, and document equipment (mechanical, electrical, pneumatic and hydraulic systems), as well as complex multi-process, matched tool sets for manufacturing processes. You’ll facilitate projects and interface with machine operators, machinists, vendors and any other disciplines as required to meet project deadlines. In addition, you’ll configure and translate CAD software and document packages to meet internal and external needs.
Just got back from Amsterdam where I was at Picnic 2010 along with fellow d.schoolers Scott Witthoft, Erica Estrada and Jeremy Utley. Special thanks to the folks at THNK for being such gracious hosts, creating provocative conversations and “typical” Dutch food. There’s a write up of the exercise here.
