Progress and Perspective

As you know I have not been in the studio much at all lately, my time there has been limited to occasionally walking in, inhaling the aroma of leather and saying 'hello studio, I miss you'.

This past week my Mum was visiting, and although I hardly tackled any of the things on my to-do list, I managed to grab an hour on Weds to get Leo's boots lasted. The poor boy is so committed to handmade that he has been wearing his robot sandals with socks during these colder days!

The first thing I noticed after my return to the studio was that my apron fits me again. No more giant belly to attempt to cover - yeehar! Also saw a friendly huntsman who has claimed the dry space for his/her own, don't blame them in this weather.

Anyways it was good to flex the ol' shoemaking muscles again, to get the muscle memory happening and watch my hands do this thing that they know so well.

I used leatherboard stiffeners in these boots, I have a huge box of them from the stash a la Giorgio, and they are the perfect size for Leo at the moment. As they are pre-formed, they were a dream to work with, although I did have to alter my method slightly. Instead of putting the stiffener in first and then getting everything underway, I put the upper on the last, got the lining lasted and then slid the stiffener in using PVA glue. Neat and tidy.



The blue leather is rather heavy, perfect for a busy 5 year old, but not so great for fine pleating on a narrow toe shape. I plan to cover any bumps with a high randing, which is the strip of leather that runs around the edge of the shoe, before the sole goes on. Technical speak ahoy.

The self esteem of this crafter has been boosted considerably with this wee session of shoemaking, I have been participating in a conversation about mothering and creativity over at Rachel Powers' blog, she of The Divided Heart fame. I've also been giving a bit of shoemaking advice to Olesya in the USA, so I'm not entirely going to waste!

Hope that you are warm and well, we have the heater on and are watching The Triplets of Belleville.