First pair of shoes - finished!

Just finished up my first pair of post-class, all-by-myself shoes!

 

 

Once the black suede was glued down, I took the shoes up to the belt sander and ground down the wrinkles, and cut away the excess material.  Filled in the gap(s) with cork (the kind you get in sheets from the craft store), and filed away the excess.

 

 

 

Cut the soles and two sets of heel lifts from some black scrap leather.  For pumps, in general, I'll be using a rubber soling material (which I have lots of now), but for this pair, I wanted to use leather.

 

I took the soles to work, and used a press there, and my new custom leather stamp, to stamp in my logo, which I filled with a little silver rub & buff.  Which may have been a bit of a mistake, as it didn't wipe off the surface as well as I had hoped:

Glued the soles and the lifts on to the shoes...

 

And removed them from the lasts.  Took out the foam sheets that were the placeholders for the comfort insole, and trimmed the elastic.

 

Popped in the insoles, and tried them on:

The longer straps were really loose, so I re-attached the elastic a little bit lower down.

 

 

Unfortunately, they're a bit loose.  And the heel point is a little low. They fit pretty well with a pair of socks on, however, so it's not a failed experiment. :)  Lessons learned.

 

I received in the mail today another pair of lasts - purchased for $20 off ebay (if only there was more selection available that way!).  They're a half size too big - 6 1/2 EE, and again with the square-ish toe (like these ones).  I think I might grind them down a little to an almond shaped toe.  They've got a nice 2 1/2" heel pitch, so I'm looking forward to finding out if I'll be able to use them for shoes for me. On to the next pair!