How to make your own shoes- Lesson Two.

[Dr. Shoe]

In this topic I will cover pattern making. Items you will need: The last 1" Masking Tape 2" Sellotape Talcum Powder (I use Johnson's Baby Powder) Felt tip pens (That will draw on masking tape and sellotape) A straight edge (steel ruler) A tape measure in mm.

[Dr. Shoe]

Start at the toe of the last put a strip of masking tapeacross making sure that you come down on the feather edge (the bottom edge of the last where it meets the sole). place another strip across so that it overlaps by half the width. Repaet this process until you have gone up the cone of the last (the part that corresponds to the instep of the foot). at this point you will notice that the tape goes back diagonally to the feather edge. It is important that the tapes overlap and at this point you will be overlapping two thirds at the top and a coupl of mills at the bottom. When you have come to the point where you can no longer overlap them or you come to the space between the cone and the comb (the ankle bit) then you put a strip of tape horizontally around the back of the last like a slingback. Repeat this so that the whole of the back of the last is covered well up the heel. Put a strip across the end of the "sling" strips to secure them to the rest of the pattern because it could fall apart when you eventually take the tape off the last. The last should look as if it is wearing a wacky yellow loafer.

[Dr. Shoe]

Trim the excess tape from the sole. Now the taped last needs to be marked. Put the straight edge against the outside of the last about half an inch up. Put a mark where the ruler touches the last at the forepart end. Next you need to mark in the centre lines. At the front, mark the last on the sole at the centre of the toe area. Look at the last from the front, mark the cone in the middle and carefully join the two marks together with a straight line. This is not as easy as it sounds and has to be done by eye. It does take practice and even experienced pattern cutters get a crooked line. Drawing a center line on the heel is easier! Next measure the last from feather edge to feather edge (do not include the sole) at the mark you made with the straight edge. The tape measure must cross the centre line at right angles, putting a small mark where it crosses. A typical measurement will be between 72 to 80mm. Next, calculate 20% of the measurement and measure down from the mark you have just put on the centre line this 20% figure and put a nice clear mark at right angles. typically 15.6 to 16mm. Next take size five (eur 38/ US 7)as a figure and measure up the heel 55mm, add 1.5 mm for each full size larger and measure up. If you are working with a size 9 say, you will measure 61mm (approx). If the size is smaller than a five measure down. i.e. 52mm for size 3. You should now have your vamp location and your back height measured. If you were to connect these points, the resulting shoe would be a court or a pump.

[Dr. Shoe]

Next you should cut (with a scalpel or craft knife)a little horizontal window where you marked the vamp location and the back height. These [windows] should measure 1mm high by 3mm long. Mark through with a mrker so that if the tape was taken off, you will have a little mark across the vamp and across the achilles tendon. Next you should carefully cut down the centre lines. You can always spot a last that's used for pattern cutting because it will have the centrelines cut into the cone and heel and black marks at rightangles across the lines. Now it is time to CAREFULLY remove the tape from the front of the last so that it doesn't fall apart. As you remove one half, you will find that the tape is perfectly molded to the same shape as the half of the last, it is as if you have skinned the last! Stick the two halves onto a large piece of paper (you can use sugar paper, brown paper or even good quality copier paper, anything that is tough yet reasonably easy to cut with a scalpel without tearing) As you stick them down you will notice that they won't lay perfectly flat. Holding the toe part between the finger and thumb of one hand and those of the other hand, stick them down so that there is no distortion along an invisible line between the two sets of fingers. You will notice that the bit that runs up the instep and the bit half way along the sole will stick up. Taking the bak of the knife, press these down halfway along the loop so that you have two smaller loops. Repeat for the smaller loops until you have a line of neat little pleats around half a millimetre high. Now you can cut around the tape so that you are left with two "half-formes". Take one and put it on another piece of pattern paper and draw around it. Next, take the other half-forme and reverse it then put it in the out line of the other so that the little slots of the vamp location and the back height match as far as possible and draw around that too. You may notice that there is a margin between the back height of one and the other; this is because it is virtually impossible to judge exactly where the centrelines come without about twenty years of experience. Moreover, you will see that the instep edges cross each other. there is supposed to be a difference in the sole area, the outlines will cross just behind the area that corresponds to the toe. Next you have to "equalise" the two outlines. Rule: if the two outlines are more than 5mm apart then draw a new outline halfway between the two, if less than about 5mm, then the outline will use the innermost line. DO NOT equalise the front part of the sole but the bit that comes under the heel should be equalised. Next you must add 15mm all along the sole, this is to give you enough leather to pull over the bottom of the last. Now you have a "mean-forme" and boy, do I cut mean formes! Next, take a piece of pattern paper and fold it in half and really smooth the fold flat with the blade of the knife. next, offer up the vamp of the mean-forme to the fold. Draw around the outside of the MF. Cut it out, not forgeting to cut out the vamp location and back height. When this is opened out, you should have a mirror image of the mean-forme. Offer the MF to the centerline again on the side that corresponds to the inside of the last and make short cuts along the outline that will correspond to the sole line of the inside half form (but 15mm out). Remove the MF and trim away the excess material. Do the same with the outline that corresponds to the outside sole line. Now you will no longer have a symmetrical forme, this is called the "Last standard forme" (LSF)

[Dr. Shoe]

Next you need to make a copy of the LSF and put it to one side. Make sure you remember to copy the fold as well. Now you can put some sellotape around where you want your design features and draw them on the sellotape. With a different colour felt tip mark the vamp location and back height (it is also a good idea to mark the sole too). Carefully peel the sellotape off the last and sprinkle the sticky side with talc or baby powder. Place the sellotape on the copy of the last forme matching the vamp locater and back height. You will notice that these don't exactly match up so starting from the vamp locater prick through with a scriber a few points then move the tape a bit toward either the sole or the back height. Remember of course that you have a lasting margin on the sole. Next join up the prick marks with a pencil and smooth them out. Draw over with a pen and put in dotted lines where the stitches would go. This will tell you which pieces go over which. The resulting forme is called a design standard and is actually a blueprint for the shoe you will make. A note occurs to me now. I forgot to say that the two half formes if put vamp to vamp will actually cross over on the cone (instep). When you cut out your Last Standard Forme, cut around the cone of outer side of the last so that you will have a the corresponding cavity in the inner side. Also, cut a little "v" shape nick in the lasting margin in the inner side so that you know which is which.

[Dr. Shoe]

Now you need to split the pattern up into the component bits. There is a rule of thumb here; "Keep the big bits as small as possible, and make the small bits as big as possible." Let me explain, the bits that go under others (a lap joint) need a margin of 12mm. So, what we do, a small bit will have this margin added and go under the larger bit unless your design calls for an overlay. If you have a back-seam (which you will almost certainly need, even a short one around thebottom of the heel), the margin should be 3mm for a closed seam. You may want to fold the topline over to make it nice and neat. The margin should be 6mm. There are two ways of doing the splits (!), you can either cut up the design standard and draw around the pieces adding the margins or you can prick though. Some people use tracing paper.

[Mike Hinch]

Been studying this in deep detail only it would really be nice if there were some illustrations for those of us that are not so familiar with all of these procedures. Anyway even if I plan to make mine a different way this is still quite interesting.

[MrsW]

Blimey this takes me back!! Just like being in a David Lyons class, sniffing baby powder!! Them were the days.

[Dr. Shoe]

Woooh! You had David too?

[MrsW]

Yeah! It was donkey's years ago, 94 - 96. Terry and Bob were ace.

[Dr. Shoe]

Yeah, and Pete and Sheila. I was there from 94 to 97... The Student Society President.

[MrsW]

Well it's all changed since our day! Still can't quite work out how I went from studying at a quirky old college to becoming part of The London Institute Alumni! I feel like a right fraud! I'm loving these tutorials of yours though. I'm getting back into shoe making and it's great to be reminded of certain steps of the process that had managed to slip into that black hole commonly known as " getting old ". Keep up the good work. Sarah. x

[Dr. Shoe]

You must have been there when I was, which course were you on?

[MrsW]

I did the HND in Footwear and Accessory Design, Angela Pattison was my course leader and I ended up specialising in accessory design, got awards and everything!

[Dr. Shoe]

Ah yes. You would have had the Blow sisters on your course then? They were my flatmates. I started on the National Diploma course but then Elaine said that she thought I was wasted on that course so Angela let me start the HND the following year...

[MrsW]

Yes that's right, I think they transfered over from the degree course. They were a very talented pair. I'd forgotten all about Elaine, I spent most of my second year in a room on my own or in a room with Ray. FUN!!! I was the only one in my year to pick just accessories so I was pretty much left to my own devices. I did get to go on some really good work experiences though. So what about you, did you stay within the industry after leaving?

[Dr. Shoe]

Yes they did. I actually quite liked Ray, I think he lightened up a bit once his divorce was finalised but Sam and Jackie told me that he was a right miserable git the previous year...

[Bubba136]

Quite an extra ordinary (and interesting) exchange. Would make a good TV show. Kinda like "step toe and son!"

[Dr. Shoe]

You should be banned for that one Bubba!

[MrsW]

Yes, we do seem to have somewhat hijacked this thread with our ramblings about life at Cordwainers College! But it was such a small college back in the day with so few students that when you stumble across one from the same year it seems rude not to have a bit of a chin-wag! I shall now cease my prying into the past and let Dr Shoe continue with his rather fabulous tutorials. Anyone considering making their own shoes should read these very carefully. The boy knows what he's talking about! x