Works in Progress

A great day in the studio today, well, the afternoon, the morning was spent running along the Merri Creek, and then attending a seminar on toilet training. (Any tips for the mother of a nearly 5 year-old High Functioning Autistic chap who is rather fond of nappies?)

Anyway, the above photos are the fruits of my labours today, in preparation for the handmade footwear showcase coming up in October at Craft Victoria. Yeehar, I think that's the first time I've mentioned the exhibition, maybe I can finally admit to it as I have a few projects nearing completion.

What else is happening, oh well of course there is a launch at CV tomorrow night for the 'I Make Stuff' book by Handmadelife, an embarrassment of riches this week to be featured in 2 books! I was a bit disappointed not to be able to get some of my new projects completed and in the aforementioned book, but there are some old faves instead.

Hmmmm, painted the back fence, oiled the garden bed tops, harvested some broccoli rabe, did some pilates (oh man that is a foreign concept to my gung-ho sweaty approach to exercise - what's with the gentle slow going-ness? When do I go for the burn? My muscles aren't even sore, I mustn't be doing it right!) danced around the house to Sharon Jones, made chicken stock, wore high heels and a smart blazer to kinder pick up to fool the other parents into thinking that I'm a go-getter, ate a lot of chocolate, recovered some sleep post Tour de France, about to lose some due to 3rd Test match in Edgebaston.......

It's all happening. More detailed photos to come, unfortunately my perfectionist nature will not allow full in-progress shots till the dreaded finishing process is complete, and I may even save some surprises for the exhibition. Don't worry Dudecraft, I'll be keeping you in the loop!

Listening to: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - Tell Me


PS. I'm about to go on a well-earned spending spree on etsy, I have a few favourites, what are your recommendations?

Handmade in Melbourne Vol 2

Wow, I was at Readings the other day and saw not only the Meet me at Mike's book all lovely on the shelf, but underneath was a huge stack of these newbies. I was actually planning on getting the new Melbourne Design Guide (so many books about this fine city and it's creative residents!), but the Handmade book ended up coming home with me instead.

Of course it's a wee bit narcissistic, as there's a page in there for me, but this Volume is jam-packed with 200-ish artisans, expanded from the 80 featured in Volume 1. Knitwear, jewellery, musical instrument makers (luthiers), boat builders, shoemakers, clocks (horologists), basketry: the list is loooong.

I'm also relieved to see that I'm sharing the open page spread with my friend Emma Shirgwin, who is also a shoemaker: maybe now people will realise that we are not the same Emma! Double trouble also exists towards the end of the book, it's alphabetical by first name or business name, and so there's a spread which has Vicky Mason, jeweller, next to Victoria Mason, jeweller!!!!



'Scuse the crappy scan, my scanner is not co-operating at the moment.

Listening to: Organised Konfusion - Walk into the Sun

Aunty Jenny

Finally finished them for her, robust purple leather with a covered wedge, long and broad for her fabulous feet.

I enjoyed making the covered wedge, usually with my trainers I leave it uncovered, as I'm finishing it directly onto the shoe. This above way of covering it gives a more polished look, but is a bit trickier, as the wedge is finished while separate from the shoe, so sometimes there can be little issues with the exact fit, pitch etc. It can feel a bit rigid when you first wear them, but they flex after a while.

Now I can cross them off my list!!

Listening to: Kids TV theme tunes, Leo is sick on the couch, poor little munchkin.

On my bedside table

The Mighty Boosh how I love thee! Surrealist comedy heroes of ABC TV, Howard Moon and Vince Noir are such a crazy creative pair that I couldn't help but fall for them. How fabulous that they have released this, The Mighty Book of Boosh, and what a corker it is.


You either get their humour or you don't, there can be no middle ground. Sam and I are hopeless fools, quoting dialogue (it's an outrage!), downloading radio versions, and doing many of Bob Fossil's ludicrous dances, such as 'The Confused Slappy Dance: Slap your face as hard as you can and look confused. Then fight the air as hard as you can with vicious punches and kicks. All of this should be done with the grace of an elk and the violence of an elk.'


Every page of this book has been lovingly rendered in immense detail; photos, cartoons, correspendence, collage, paintings, scrapbook doodlings, prose, crimps, poetry, nonsense, more nonsense, instructions and endless enthusiasm.


Every character ever featured in the show gets a look-in; Hamilton Cork, the Crack Fox, Bruno Mindhorn, Neon and Ultra, Sir Dixon Bainbridge, and all the regular favourites, I especially love Naboo's genie inspired New Balance kicks!!



These guys seem to do it all, write, perform, design and make sets, costumes, characters, music and now books. There's even a mini comic inside this hefty hardback, it's so good! 300 pages, glorious colour, texture and detail, and nominated for a best book award in the UK.


Listening to: Prince - The Everlasting Now
I would link this to youtube, but as we all know, Prince removes the audio from all videos of which he does not authorise - a pedantic man but I love him nonetheless!

Residing at Craft Vic

Snow theme


Queens spectrum


Czech brown/orange theme

So far 6 of these babies are living at Craft Vic, with 3 more to come this week. They are in S, M and L, and have been a joy to make, they are seriously my favourite thing to put together. Hopefully the punters love 'em too!

Listening to: Jungle Brothers - I'll House You

Note by Note

I watched this documentary on ABC2 recently, and was so transfixed that I couldn't even take a bathroom break. It is the story of piano L1037, which was made in Astoria, Queens, New York, in the Steinway factory.

I remember the first time I visited New York, the friends I stayed with lived in Astoria. On a walk around the neighbourhood I discovered Steinway Avenue, and through further research I found that in the 1870s William Steinway built Steinway Village for workers at Steinway & Sons Piano Factory.

This documentary is a labour of love, following the one year creation of a concert grand piano, from timber selection, rim bending, case making, stringing, and all the many stages of voicing and tuning. Each Steinway piano is handcrafted, giving them unique personality and sound, all the tuning is done by hand and ear. In the age of mass production, these folks are sticking with tradition, using tools and techniques which are over 150 years old. Their employees are true artisans, who hope to continue to pass all this knowledge and skill down through the generations.

This film honours the 450 craftspeople involved, the materials and processes used, and the final purpose of this instrument, featuring interviews and performances by many acclaimed pianists. I could watch it repeatedly, to see 60 year old Ante Glavan using his super-sharp chisels to 'notch the bridge', and to hear those classic Queens accents, among others from Haiti, former Yugoslavia, and Croatia.

Note By Note: The Making of Steinway L1037

On my bedside table

You must know by now that Dumbo Feather is a fine publication, and I treasure each and every issue. This latest one, Issue 20, well done Kate, is the best so far, with many of my favourite folk included.

Here's a brief rundown:

Actor turned painter/childrens' book author Aaron Blabey,

Founder of the Institute For Figuring, Margaret Wertheim, who is responsible for the internationally acclaimed crocheted coral reef project,


Former ballet dancer Nicolas Rowe, who has used dance in many of the world's most traumatised communities to help children to cope with their suffering,

Saskia Havekes of Grandiflora fame, a woman who uses natural beauty every day to inspire and delight,

and finally,

David Trubridge, furniture and lighting designer whose work graces many a Melbourne showroom.

Compulsory reading for one's comfy chair, bedside table or public transport vehicle.

Have to get this out of my system!!

I can't stop singing this song, and dancing around the house in an inappropriate manner.....

'put them in a trance when I wear track pants'

!!!!!!!

Girl on film

Here's some footage of me lasting a pair of shoes during the week.
So here's a peek into my studio, sharing with the motorcycles and pushbikes.



It's weird for me to see what I look like while I'm lasting, so let me explain some bits.

I use an old-school technique favoured by European shoemakers who are generally senior in years, where you keep all the shoemaking tacks in your mouth. It sounds completely gross, but there is a great reason why. The tacks we use to fix the uppers in place have to be grabbed by the head, then pushed and hammered into the leather. If you keep your tacks on the bench, like most young folk do, you have to fish around to get the head of any particular tack, and for me it feels like wasting time.

Remember that I have lining, stiffener and upper all sandwiched together, the stiffener is wet and is covered on either side with a slippery adhesive. This is so that while I'm lasting the shoe, the layers can slide over each other as I get them into place, but finally once the shoe is done, the adhesive will dry, cementing the layers together in a permanent bond. So to spend time fiddling around on the bench for the head of a tack is just too time consuming for me.

No, I'd rather risk tetanus by putting sharp 14ml metal tacks into my mouth, keeping them between my lower gum and lip, like I'm a Major League Baseball player with some chewing tobacco. All that ruminating you can see me doing in this footage, is me feeling with my tongue for the head of a tack, pushing it out and grabbing it with the pincers. Once or twice I may have pinched my lip, but it rarely happens now.

I totally understand why many shoemakers prefer not to do it this way, and I have tried going back to fishing around on the bench, but this tacks in the mouth system really does work for me. It's a bit of a relic, and I don't want to let it go!

Listening to: Mos Def, Talib Kweli & Common - Respiration

PS. Thanks to my anonymous stamp sender from SA!