Mary Wales Loomis

I bought Mary Wales Loomis book and it came yesterday. How to make shoes. It's a great book. Very step by step and lots of diagrams. I think it might be a winner. I went to a shoe cobbler looking for shoe cement. The cobbler was out but this really nice lady working behind the counter looked around the shop with me to find the glue. She was cute. I don't think she had a clue on the supplies they sold. Lots of mink oil and waxes. She might of just been a fill in when he went to lunch or something. I'll have to make another trip and actually talk to him. Maybe he has some leather scraps or can help me on sole application. I did find a small tube to test. I was going to buy the stuff on line but I thought I should test it first.

I have a pair of flats that I can tear apart. I'll reuse the parts but put on a new topper.

Shoes are consuming my thoughts lately. I need to make a last first and am going to the hardware store after work for some plaster of paris. Fun weekend planned. HA

Others think a great weekend is going out to a movie and dinner. I love to stay home and try and make things.

It's very windy today here in Chicagoland. The leaves are flying past my window and oh so pretty.

If your reading from Chicago, enjoy our fall while you can. It's been marvelous so far!

Embroidery Image

I think this might be a new embroidery image for a shoe. It looks like something to stitch onto silk or maybe linen. I like it.

Fall has been wonderful this year. The air is so clear. I love the falling leaves. I know the cold winter is coming in close but until then, this is just perfect.

Short post today.

Terry Slippers

These are made of pure linen on the out and cotton terry on the in. I need to punch in some eyelets, string them and then they are done. The eyelets are tuff. Measure twice, punch once. I loved how they turned out so far and keep putting off the finishing.

It's another beautiful fall weekend here in Chicagoland and I'm going to try and stay in and perfect some shoe patterns. I'm close.

Slippers

Three different versions. The pair with the green sole patches is the loafer - still testing that pattern. The red wool is lined in a cotton with padding in between. Found that pattern in a Japanese shoe book. It's a little too short in the toe. I need to tweek the pattern. The white pair is also still in the testing stages. White cotton on the out and cotton terry on the in. I like this pair the best out of the three.

So... shoe making takes a lot of patience. What I'm trying to do is create a unique pair from scratch. My goal is to create the pattern, grade it to the standard different sizes, then start selling on etsy. Soon. I'm almost there.