In the name of shoes
A few drops of blood, lots of sweat, and some minor tears. All in the name of shoes.
Hello again! I've had a bit of time on my hands recently so I decided to experiment with the idea of making some shoes entirely by hand.
Currently living in Belize, I have no access to retail stores so I decided that I would try to make my own pair of heels instead of paying heavily for international shipping (which is also bad for the environment due to excessive CO2 emissions, just saying).
So I tried to do some preliminary research on the process of making heels at home but couldn't really find any sources online. So thus began my experiments! Here's how it went: First, my dad (very kindly) made me a wooden heel-shaped form for me to work on. Thank you father Xx!
I debated on how to make the main support for these shoes for a long time. Most high heels today are made with a plastic or metal support. I considered a few different options. Wood was too rigid and inflexible and would crack under the pressure of a foot. I didn't have any plastics or polymers on hand to recycle and make a form either. And leather was flexible but too soft to support any weight at an angle.
After completely failing at my first attempt of making a solid sole that could support walking, I figured out that if I steamed leather, the molecules would shrink and tighten, becoming harder as it was exposed to more heat and vapor. Eventually, with a combination of shaping and steaming, I was able to make the soles rock hard. I don't really understand all the science behind it but nonetheless it worked! (I ended up deciding to also use a piece of shaped copper to add extra support.)
I spent 18 hours working and experimenting with this first pair but after reaching the final stages, I wasn't very happy with my work and decided to start on a new pair with more *refined* techniques. Here is the final product of my second attempt.
For this pair, I decided to use scrap wood for the heels instead. I just cut them down to the proper length and sanded and stained them.
After some deliberation, I realized that I couldn't allow the 18 hours that I spent on the first pair to go to complete waste, so I went back and finished that pair. Here are the two finished products.
I spent around 5 days making a total of 3 pairs of shoes (one pair of sandals not pictured) and had fun while doing it. I lost 4 fingernails and pulled a tendon in my hand BUT just look at the shoes!
I still think it was worth it. In the meantime, while my hand heals, I'll be thinking about what I'm going to experiment with next.
Au revoir mon ami!
x Joy
