Oct. 11, 2016 | Posted in Reports, Shoemaking , Student Reporter | Tags:Lara Blevi, ShoemakingReporter: Lara Blevi | Course: Shoemaking

Shoe Making 5-One Year Course 2016

This week was really exciting as we finally finished our first shoe, the Décolleté, on Monday. It was such a great experience to finally see your first completed shoe even though this was only the one shoe as it was only a practice round.

On Wednesday we were so excited to start with the Oxford shoe. We started by making the pattern, which is a lot more complicated that the Décolleté, as there are a lot of different panels in the shoe. We also went to the leather shop on Thursday afternoon and I was so pleased when I found the perfect leather. Next week we will receive our shoe lasts and finally start making our own pair of shoes.

Jo and Joe both working on the last process of the décolleté shoe by gluing the outsole to the shoe and then adding the heel afterwards.

Angelo showing us how to use the machine to shape our outsoles for our shoes. This is quite a tricky process and needs some concentration, as you do not want to damage your shoe in the process.

Our completed shoes all in a row on the windowsill of our class. We thought they all looked rather well together!

Bernardo is explaining to us the whole pattern making process for the Oxford shoe. The process is a lot more complicated than the décolleté and has a lot more panels and aspects to take in consideration when designing the shoe.

My first draft of the pattern making process. After you have taped the shoe last and drew your design, you stick the tape on paper from where the rest of the pattern follows. Here you can see all the different panels of the shoe and how I designed my shoe with decorations as well.

On Wednesday Jo brought cupcakes to class that she had baked herself. She claimed that she had to test out her oven and we couldn’t be happier that she did. They were really delicious and definitely put a smile on everyone’s faces!

On Friday we went to Arezzo, a stunning little town in Tuscany known for its jewelry antique shops and about 1,5hours out of Florence by train. We took the train early the morning and spent the whole day there sightseeing. We visited the beautiful Duomo and also had an amazing lunch in the historic square.

Over the first weekend of the month I finally went to visit the Accademia Gallery and saw the magnificent David of Michelangelo. It really is something that you have to experience in person! On every first Sunday of the month, all national museums are open for free.

During the week I also went to a very well know restaurant called Koto Ramen and had the best ramen noodles of my life. This restaurant is always busy and also rated very well on Tripadvisor.

My first finished shoe and it was even better when it actually fitted me! I ended up having to try on almost everyone shoes for pictures as my foot was the only sized that could fit in them.