Court Shoe Process

So a couple of weeks ago I embarked upon my first pair of court shoes WITHOUT help! Going through the process from pattern making to lasting and completing the whole shoe with heels all by myself. If I hadn't been faffing around and brought the right tools in with me to the studio, I think the whole process would have taken me around a day and a half. I came to sections that I was super nervous about especially the stitching since its one of the most noticeable features on a shoe - I took my time and managed to thankfully  achieve a pretty smart finish which I was happy with. I have been assisting the classes for around 6 months now and while I've been able to aid people in the classes at different stages of the process I haven't felt confident enough to be able to go through the whole process without needing help from Toni or Amanda who are the lead teachers in the classes. Within the last month or so it just suddenly clicked into place; I knew what I had to do at every stage - and as the age old saying goes; practice makes perfect. I'm still quite far from my idea of a perfectly made pair of shoes but I'm sure on my way. There is tonnes to improve on, and in retrospect I would have picked a completely different leather as what I had chosen was pretty thick, making seams and folding allowances super bulky, adding to that an even more difficult task of lasting the leather which is never easy. BUT with all this said, I'm glad to have learnt this lesson early - sort of chucking my self in the deep end to start off with which, in turn has taught me more about working with leather. Since I've finished that pair for my mum, I've made sure that I always have a pair of shoes on the go so that I'm constantly brushing up on my skills and making each new pair better than the last! I will not give up until they are perfect!

If you'd like to stay up to date with what I'm up to at the studio you can follow me on snap chat where I take most of my process pictures : kirennmodi 

The Internship Diary 

(Weeks 1-4)

As soon as I decided that I wanted to embark upon a career in footwear I inevitably hit the ground running and began designing seriously (the doodling I used to do as a teen and in my spare time became more technically refined and less sketchy) - I had to make up for all the lost time trying to decide on what I wanted to do as a full time job. I started taking some courses and researching into footwear in a way I had never done before. Understanding manufacture, the elements of a shoe, designers, themes, qualities of leather and quite frankly things I had never even thought about when I put on a pair of shoes for example, heel heights, patterns, contact adhesives, machinery - and the list goes on. 

In comes footwear school 'I Can Make Shoes'. In a nutshell this place is a dream to work in! I have been interning there for just shy of a month and have already picked up so much. I never thought I'd find a career that incorporated everything I loved about fashion and design, I knew I always loved making things with my hands, (I was always fully immersed in the art & design scene as well as the fashion from modeling)  and this internship did just that. I've been learning the process of  hand making shoes, essentially understanding the anatomy of a shoe and how all the parts work together to make a functioning shoe. 

I have met some really interesting people along the way and I have to say one of the most exciting parts of this whole experience was searching for leather. This for me is where the designs come to life. On Wednesday I was taken to 2 leather merchants in Northampton, I was totally in my element. I had no idea leathers existed in the abundance we saw them in and in so many different shades and colours. I was informed that fashion heavy weights like Victoria Beckham, Vivienne Westood and amazingly Kanye West all sourced their leathers from one of the merchants we visited, it was then that I had realised I was in the presence of leather royalty. I was able to buy leathers for my own range/practice and explore to see what's available. I was in Leather Heaven! So that you get an idea of the sheer expanse of these factory units I have uploaded a small video on the high heels high hopes youtube channel. Below are some of the pics I took while I was at one of the leather merchants from my phone (sorry completley forgot to take my professional camera)

Stay tuned for more updates on how my internship is going!