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pattern design curves problem ?

Dear Robb,

I make shoes and boots all the time. Mine are for my authentically dressed dolls, but the process is the same whatever the size.

The sole comes first. The sole determines the shape of the finished shoe. If you're making shoes or slippers for a toddler, you need the toddler. Trace around the foot. Take a paper towel, and drape it over the baby's foot, taping it to the sole (best done when the child is asleep). This accounts for the ease needed to fit smoothly over the child's instep.

For the first pair, you probably don't want to get much more complicated than this, in which case, continue the toweling around to the back of the child's foot, pin or mark a center back seam. This gives you the "upper."

Take off any seam allowances you might have, and tape the pieces together. Try them on to make sure you don't need to make any adjustments. Now trace the pieces onto new paper, and seam allowances. A 1/4-inch seam allowance is OK for the uppers, but add more to the part that attaches to the sole, to make it easier to sew. The uppers need to be interlined with cardboard or plastic (to keep them washable) called "foxing." The toe foxing is shaped like the toe upper, but has no seam allowances and is glued in place above the seam allowances. The heel foxing is shaped like a half moon, following the shape of the back sole, and coming up to the heel tendon. The heel foxing is glued on after the center back seam is sewn.

Starting at one side of the heel, hand gather the upper all the way around, using more gathering at the toe and heel areas. Insert the insole, and pull up the gathers to hold it in place, then sew back and forth over the sole to hold the upper to the lower. Then glue on or sew on the sole. I used to cover a piece of cardboard or plastic with black cloth for the sole, then sewed it to the upper. I now have a large stash of thin leather, and I just cut a piece and glue it on for soles.

This may be more complicated than you want to get, so go to a re- enactment site and find a moccasin diagram that shows how to make a moccasin with one piece of leather. It will have puckers and gather, because that's how they were made.

Teri

Reply to
gjones2938
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so... i was trying to design something simple like design a pair of pre-toddler shoes/moccasins ? much like the fabric shoes you can find on line where the pattern is essentially (oval, rectangle , rounded triangle, long strip)

**but**

i wanted to try to add some style by **shape** . so, i make the oval into a foot form shape and make the rounded triangle (top part) a different shape to fit with the new bottom shape ....

well, to my surprise :( it was not so easy as that with out creating puckers and tucks and folds and many other maladies that distracted from the **style part** that i was trying to achieve.

Can anyone offer any ideas, hints or tips on how one creates curvy pieces that go together neatly and has a assymetric void created to contain say a foot or any shapely object for that matter ?

thanks for any help, robb

Reply to
robb

Great Teri,

Thanks for all the helpful info, i will try it your way. I have tried something similar to some of your ideas and have some questions inline with your helpful advice. In case you have some time maybe you can point out how i am not achieving the results you do.

I do have the toddler so that part is covered ...

authentically

finished

need the

it

child

over

part of this idea is how i made my new sole piece shape. I traced the outline of the foot standing on paper to produce my new stylish foot shaped sole instead of the generic oval. i was thinking that line would be the seam plus a little extra length and add seam allowance .

in my case the lower and sole are the same piece as it will be some sort of heavy flexible artificial vinyl or leather material ???

around to

This

ok, creating the the upper patern is exactly where all my problems are. and also difficulties matching the upper with the sole for sewing

when i try to drap and wrap around the foot is when i get a variety of pulling and shape distortions especially when i try to push the cloth down to the seam of the sole piece ?? and pin it in place as for sewing ?

it seems like i need lots of fine pins to make the turns around the "gone to market" toe turn and the "wee wee wee all the way home" toe turn and of course the heel. but the heel is not as bad as the toe side because of the small range of acceptable toe and fore foot ease you mention. too much makes floppy mess shoe and of course too little is too tight

pieces

but add

to sew.

keep

the toe

the seam

following the

heel

way

Insert the

back and

on or

plastic with

have a

on for

i will need to try your method, are these actuall gathers (like shirring) or an expressiong describing the process f ataching the upper to lower ?

re-

make a

gather,

no this is great stuff ... exactly the kind of complication i am trying.

at some point i had too complicated and started trying to creat panel pieces for each section of the shoe example sections -- front toe upper, L/R side front upper, tongue, lower heel upper, achilles wrap upper. side panel upper etc. then it was becoing the patchwork shoe and just trying to position toether was ridiculous.

another component i did not mention was a toe guard or toe wear piece that serves to protect about a 1/2 inch of the upper in front of toes and slightlypast each side/end. I suppose this piece would not be that difficult when the proper shape of the upper is found as it is just an exact trace of he toe area shape plust the small bit to cover the toes.

thanks again Teri for all your help and time to help, robb

Reply to
robb

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