a history of shoes.

from red wool at the top, to yellow zig zags on the left.

It all began with a pair of pink leather Ministars from Target. I'm sure you've seen them; the little leather shoes with animals on them or made to look like tennis shoes. They were a gift from my sister Liz and I think they were Adella's first pair of shoes. I kept trying to put them, and other baby clothes, on Adella WAY before they were close to fitting. (I think some days I changed her outfit four or five times, trying to see if the cute, girly clothes we received upon her arrival would fit.) When the pink Ministars finally fit and she got over a brief fear of shoes, she was wearing them all over the place. Every time I put them on her, I would look at them closely and think, "They are just three pieces, they would be so easy to make...." So, one day, I gave it a shot. I painstakingly created a pattern, measuring the toe and heel. I broke three needles and sewed the first shoe together backwards, but I ended up with a pair of red wool and grey leather shoes. The fit wasn't quite right, but they looked cute and served their purpose.

I adjusted my pattern for the second pair, and learned a valuable lesson. When adding embellishments on something like shoes or the finger-less gloves, a pair of anything, make sure to mirror the image. Notice the burgundy shoes versus the blue ones with buttons. Ah-HA!

lesson learned, but still cute!

Then I adjusted my pattern a bit more: bad idea. After the pink and grey pair (bottom of the top picture), things went downhill and I almost threw in the towel. The green circle shoes were made during this dark point of my cobbling. I just couldn't get the proportions of the toe right, and that threw the whole fit off. Finally, I swallowed my pride, looked on the internet, (actually my dad looked for me :)) and found a real pattern. Very similar to my original pattern, it had a couple small changes that I couldn't seem to figure out on my own. I made my own small changes to this final pattern and have it perfected. I still keep trying new things; I put bamboo batting in a pair a couple of days ago to make them thicker. I usually just use lightweight canvas by itself. 

my dad's machine. the adler.

I use my dad's industrial machine to sew the shoes together. No more broken needles for me! The soles are leather, and although I think my machine is fairly strong, it was difficult to sew the leather AND several layers of canvas. I usually get about 4-5 pairs prepared at my house and then take them over to finish them up. The hard part is remembering to check, and recheck the way I position the shoe pieces before I sew. They have to be sewn right sides together, toe first, then heel. This gets confusing; sometimes I over think it and confuse myself. Then they have to be trimmed, and turned right side out. I check the toe to make sure it is smooth; one haywire stitch can make a strange looking bubble. He has this machine set up in the basement and it's fun to hear him and Adella playing above me. She always dumps out the bin of blocks, making a huge noise and then I hear my dad exclaim, "OH!" like he does. I love it. 

And that is the history of my shoes. I have made them in all sizes, colors, patterns and materials. The best part is the moment of truth, when I finish stitching those 3 "simple" pieces together, and turn the whole thing right side out, and wow, it's a shoe! And I made it!

MAMA BEACH!!

A few pictures from yesterday, I was on a roll! Recycled wool sweater finger-less gloves for all. Wow. That's a mouthful. Or, should I say a 'hand'ful. 

i sure do love these!

it took me all morning to make a stamp for these tags.....

awwwww!

better late than never.

this post was written on thursday, but due to life in general, it hasn't been finalized until now.....oh life.

today was a great day! i have been determined to get back on track and today i finally set the pace by getting up early and making coffee for the first time in months. and i remembered to remind myself to eat; sometimes i get so wrapped up in what i'm working on that all of a sudden it's 3 o'clock and i haven't had a morsel.

i made 8 hats and i'm still at it.  these hats are so simple and cute, and i think they will go over well for spring. i'll take some to Bodhi Imports, and some will be for the Make Sale. i need to replenish my inventory at Bodhi; apparently i've sold quite a bit!

I’m also trying out some re-purposed wool finger-less gloves. months ago, george saw an ad on craigslist in the free stuff and brought home a HUGE garbage bag of old wool sweaters and sweater scraps. i never could figure out what to do with them, and now i know! 

the finger-less gloves are very easy to make. although, to be honest, the first pair i made were straight-up copied. those will be a gift. now that i know the shape they need to be, i have some ideas of my own.

the rip-offs......

......and my take on the recycled sweater gloves!

sometimes the best way to do something so that a project looks professional and finished is too time consuming for me so, i scratch the idea completely. then again, it's hard to make something that is entirely original, pulled from thin air. most of the time when i do come up with what i think is an original idea I’ll check etsy and, lo-and-behold, there it is already! the good thing about seeing another person’s work is that you can see what looks good, things other people did that you’d like to incorporate in your product. on the other hand, you can also see exactly what NOT to do, what others could’ve done to make their projects better. 

i also tried out a new recipe for tempe. (see? remembering to eat). we like our tempe around here. usually i make it with cumin, chili powder and the like, but today i tried a different recipe from the post punk kitchen website which is a super cool website with tons of vegan and gluten free recipes. tempe sausage crumbles. english muffin pizzas. enough said. 

ok. party's over.

i have been slacking. netflix has a hold on me. we rearranged our house. nothing is where it should be. slowly, slowly, i seem to be emerging from the leftover holiday laze. my mind and studio are getting organized. it's so hard to stay on track, but when i think about how much fun it was to be busy last month, and how happy it made me, i get small bursts of energy and i am getting things done. little by little. so watch out, this next week i will be back. watch your news feed, check your smart phones. 2012 is going to get it. thank you to everyone that supported baby beach and other small, local businesses for the holiday season! keep it going year round!

sometimes a girl just needs a frozen pizza.

things have been really hectic for me the last few days. getting all the special orders finalized and getting more things made for the open house has been draining me. i usually stop working around 6, lately it's been midnight. and i think that's going to have to continue on through next week if i am going to get all the presents made for my family. yikes.
on a less exhausting note, my friend katie is in town from bend, oregon and is participating in the open house with me!! she makes super cool fabric/leather jewelry and wool hooded cowls. she has TONS of great leather earrings made. i figured if the i had a poor turn out for the open house, at least i wouldn't be sitting here alone. it will be a little less sad. :) plus, we haven't seen each other in over 2 years. so she brought her stuff over today and we rearranged some furniture and discussed things for tomorrow.

adella and katie mulling over the definition of a "trunk show."

leather earrings by katie.
r a k

these are about shoulder length, she has a variety of lengths.
r a k

my friend shannon has been perfecting her nut-free/vegan baking and she will be contributing some great treats. she is also trying to start up a little business, baking and selling her treats. she is starting to get some business, this will be her first big order i think. :)

on a whim the other night i fashioned up some hair clips and barrettes. i have been having these whims lately, and they have been like little surprises. another whim: making a big batch of the sugar scrub i have been using this winter. in four essential oil scents. 

it's getting a little crazy around here with all these projects! so yes i have been staying up too late. and no, i haven't been eating properly, or even taking breaks to drink water. the only breaks i take are to feed adella, or the dogs, or the chickens. and switch out an occasional load of laundry. so,when george scoffed at me when i requested a frozen pizza from open harvest, i said, "sometimes i just want frozen pizza!" besides, it was le quartier.....and it was good.

crowntastic.

i am finally done with the crowns that were special ordered. to be honest, i didn't have that many, but when someone wants something special, i take my time on it. it has been paying off, because i am getting great feedback from those who have gotten their crowns. in between the crowns i also made a dress, something AWESOME for adella for christmas and have 4 pairs of shoes ready to sew together at my dad's. now i have to replenish most of what i took to bodhi for my open house saturday! i'm going to have some smaller items for sale, and not just kid stuff, but i am having a hard time deciding what to go for. i need to pick one thing and run with it. but it has to be the right thing......

crown work space.

princess heart crown.

on a whim, to get warmed up to make a cat crown that had me stumped, i decided to try an idea i had been mulling over, a hot air balloon themed crown. it turned out pretty cool, if i do say so myself. i figured that the balloons were probably flying over lincoln, and added the state capitol building. i love it!

retail therapy.

no, this post is not about christmas shopping. ok. in a way it is. but it's not going to be about me shopping for gifts and such. i'm not doing that this year. i have been having a sort of existential crisis lately. i guess that's what you would call it. i don't think it's right to go and spend gobs of money on items that are made carelessly, or on some lump of plastic that will just sit around taking up space. i have decided to make almost all of my presents this year. for everyone, not just the children. i'm taking christmas back. i'm going to make it what it's supposed to be. it's a day to share with family, and give gifts from the heart. if i do go and purchase something, i have vowed to only patronize small, independent, LOCAL businesses.
speaking of local businesses, i took some of my wares down to Bodhi Imports this morning. the owner, jen, is a friend from high school (and beyond) and we had talked this summer about me bringing some items down. i saw her at the co-op the other day, and now my goods are on display! Bodhi is a lincoln staple when it comes to local shopping. they have something for everyone and carry goods made here in lincoln and goods from all over the world. i am so excited to have a way for more people to see what i've been making.

jen gave me a great spot to showcase my wares!!
thanks jen!!