25 Tools & materials you need to get started in shoemaking

I have been asked a lot about tools and materials to get started making shoes. So I posted list of  25 must have tools and materials , with which you can start making shoes without necessity of having absolutely all shoemaking staff. That's how I started to make my shoes and till now those tools and materials are still in my first priority of work. I could forgot few items and I'll be happy to know what you use in your work. It will be very helpful to all our shoemaking community, so  leave your comment below.  Follow the link in the bottom to see the full list of shoemaking tools and materials I published it at Shoemaking Courses Online.

THE LIST

1. Cutting board- this is yours work area, and it comes in 3 sizes :
450x300x3;

620x450x3;

900x620x3
I personally use the 45cm (the first one) as this one is for personal use.

2. Adhesive tape - to make it easy on yourself, please pick up good and quality tape, that holds on the last. There are different widths, 2 cm, 5 cm, 14 cm. I don't like to mess up my workspace with unnecessary things so I use the 5 cm wide tape. Because it is good for attaching it on the last and I cut them when I need more narrow stripes. Check my tutorials I do that a lot, very useful trick.

3. Cardboard- I use it for pattern making, there are many types and most of them are good, but I use Duplex, it's 180-200 gram. It must be flexible but not too flexible.

4. Metal ruler - not less than 30 cm.

5. Flexible Measurement tape - There is a specific type for shoemaking, it doesn't have the iron peace at the end, like the one that tailor uses. If you can't find the shoemaker tape, you can cut off the metal peace but remember to always add 1 cm to your measurements.

6. Compasses - This one will save you a lot of time in pattern making and to be accurate in your work and to avoid mistakes, use it!

 7. Utility knife - He can be your friend for awhile so pick a good one. First of all you will use it to cut your pattern, cardboard, tape and even leather. Beginners also can use it to skive the leather for absence of good skiving knife or skills.  

8. Blades for utility knife- They are not less important than the knife itself. As there are many different knives, there are many types of blades as well, what you need to look for is blades with 30 degrees angle.

9. Shoe last- find the right last for the model that you wish to make. Although, there is last for each model, for beginners I

Footwear Design course- Registration Is Now Open!

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN

As promised at the beginning of this week I just opened registration for my intensive online design course.

Footwear Design Course: "Knowledge -Technique – Freedom"
It is a practical intensive design course, it is an workshop to gain you the knowledge and advantages you need to create shoes that you want to create, if it's for you or for your client.
As I mentioned in a previous post , this course will be more about doing then talking. Without any expectation for your inspiration, ideas or any other excuses. Here you will come up with your own shoe designs working through your knowledge in footwear construction that you will gain during this course.
I simplified the process and understanding of shoe construction, so it will suit for beginners in footwear design as well as for more experienced designers and shoemakers.

This course consists of 9 lessons with duration of 45-60 minutes, 2 lessons a week. The cost of the course is 120 Euros.

The course will open in 25 March The course will launch on March 25th.

The course price:

Early bird registration : Until March 15 = 100 €

Members early birds: = ( Use your discount code) 55 €

Regular price : 120 €

Members: = 70 €

Here are short summary of the Footwear Design Course:"Knowledge -Technique – Freedom"

Introduction : Understanding footwear design or what is it mean being footwear designer.
Footwear design or Footwear styling
Footwear as complete product
Don't wait for inspirations- Use your technique knowledge
Technical knowledge as a key for creativity
Shoe world guide
Simplify the rules of pattern construction:
Workshop: 6 types of shoes
Learning the rules
Construction on the last
How knowing the rules of construction will help you to create any design
10 crucial points on your last to avoid mistakes in your design
Freehand Pattern Technique- How to simplify the most complicated shoe patterns. This technique will allow you to explore your creativity by giving you the right tools and freedom in design.
Shoemaking rules and freehand pattern workarounds

Intensive workshop:

Click the link for full list

The course will be hosted at Shoemaking Courses Online.

For questions you can contact me : Here



Kind regards,

Sveta Kletina








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Unlock Your Creativity At Footwear Design Course

When you are working on the design of your shoes, going deep inside of your imagination, choosing the right lines, navigating your mind between the emotions, looking for inspiration, giving meaning to your design, understanding what you are doing, exploring the unexplored, ..... do you do that or is it sound little bit strange to you?

I'm not trying to make fun of this or another way to create design, but working, learning and exploring footwear design for years I could not ignore some patterns of behavior and understanding of what is footwear design .

How to upgrade your shoe pattern in 30 minutes

This post will be short and informative as possible. In my last two posts 6 Best Value Shoe Pattern Making Tips for 2014 that I Use Every day and Why you Need To Target Your Design and Free Shoe Pattern Guide To Start Your Work I delivered very quick but powerful solution tips for you to improve you shoemaking skills. All those guides you can find at www.shoemakingcoursesonline.com in Free Tips & Guides page or following the link in the bottom of this post and sign up for the email list there so you will get direct link for every new update to your inbox.

As my last two posts had so much success and interest, I will not disappoint you and this one will be the same.
upgrade your shoe pattern in 30 minutes

Upgrade your shoe pattern in 30 minutes

Do you have shoe pattern, which you already been using over and over again? Do you want to upgrade it with minimum time and maximum effect? You can upgrade your existing pattern with small changes. Those changes are, adding folds to your pattern. You may create them in almost any place of your pattern, it will look great especially close to the top line and will make your pattern look more complicated when it's not. One condition of creating folds is to hide them under another detail, which will be stitch to it. That's why I added stripe to the top line in my tutorial. This stripe and the detail, where creating folds, this is all your changes in the pattern, because you don't need to make changes to your lining. It will be your guide to correctly assemble the upper with folds.

This is just a short but very useful guide that I use constantly in my own work, you can apply it to your pattern and see the big change that it makes. The wonderful thing about it is, that it takes just 30 minutes or less. Follow the link bellow to see this guide and check my full shoemaking courses online at www.shoemakingcoursesonline.com
Starting new cool course next week, " Fashionable Ballet Flat Shoes From Fabric" check out the pics.

Click here to view the full guide.

Have a nice week!

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Why you Need To Target Your Design and Free Shoe Pattern Guide To Start Your Work

 Since I started making my shoe pattern tutorials on my YouTube channel I was asked often about how to cover the last  with adhesive tape to easy apply any shoe design on that last. Therefore I decided to write a short guide about it. In this guide I go through each step how I cover the last to make your life easier. 

By the end of this post you will know how to cover the last like a Pro, no wrinkles, no wrong lines, do it right from the start!

6 Best Value Shoe Pattern Making Tips for 2014 that I Use Every day

Happy New Year Everybody! As I waked up early today after new year's celebrations I wanted to launch this year with very optimistic, happy start blog post to benefit all of my readers, In this post I will give away 6 best value Pattern Making Tips that I use in every shoe model that I do, and it helps me to avoid mistakes and saves my time like nothing else. But before we get to that, I want to take a minute to thank you all for the past year.

A lot happened in 2013 with this blog and this community, we definitely got bigger which is amazing in my opinion and what is more amazing and what I am personally thankful for is the support I get from you. I launched Shoemaking courses online 3 month ago, with no expectations what so ever and to see so many people joining the courses was just amazing, thank you all and I promise to keep the content in the highest level and help your growth and creativity.

Get Your Shoemaker's Tools For Great Price This Week

Today, I opened one of a kind SALE for shoemaker's tools on my shoemaking courses online store. At this sale you are able to purchase shoemaking tools in very low prices for the items presented on this sale. The sale is time limited and will be over in 6 days from the launch. It means that it will be closed at 12 December. 

Most important condition of this sale is Everything or Nothing:

Black Friday Sale and Making Heel Cover Tutorial

My current work schedule feels like one long working day, balancing between making my own shoe orders, shoemaking courses and freelance collaborations takes time, so each day I am thankful that I do what I love, because there is no way I would be able or willing to do anything else. This post was a long coming and I have a lot  to share with you .

I am very proud to announce that, last week " VIRTUAL SHOE MUSEUM" posted a blog post about  "shoemaking courses online" . Very detailed, great post , and it was kind of a weird for me , in a good sense, as a longtime follower of this website to be on it. Not just with my shoes, that  were listed on this website recently as well, but with what I do with this blog and with Shoemaking courses online, something that I am very proud of, something that I invested all of myself and I believe makes a change.  Thanks to that post, since last week, shoemaking courses online getting a massive flow of new members and interest of fashion bloggers, who discover this website for the first time, and that is just great. Big thank you to Liza Snouk, who runs "Virtual Shoe Museum".
 You welcome to read the post in the link below.

Virtual Shoe Museum 

My YouTube channel consist more then 40 tutorials and it's easy to get lost, specially with a new YouTube layout. Although I already published a post to help you find my old tutorials on making shoes and you can find it here " Here is a Post That Will Help You Find my Older Tutorials" I still have been asked to show tips and tricks that I already did, so here is the link again.
Recently I was asked by a member to show how to make a pattern and actually to create heel cover from leather. My answer to him was, that I already did, in  " How To Make Rihanna 2012 X Factor Shoes by Yourself " but he couldn't find it, and when he did, said it was too fast for him and he is use to normal speed tutorials that I have on the platform and why there is no voice over, just music.
 It made me think on all of the changes that happened since I started this blog and maybe there is a problem, specially with my long tutorials that I made and I defiantly need to take care of it. So here you go, a short ( 20 min) tutorial on "How to Make a leather cover for a heel".  It's in a normal speed, but there is no me talking like on my courses, maybe next time.

Great Shoemaking Solutions and Launching New Shoemakers Tools Store Online

Let's say you lasted your shoes, you made your heels, attached your outsoles, you have your new, done, finished pair of shoes. Only thing left to do is to take them off the last. Last week as I finished my Ballerina Shoes Course I encounter a dilemma, maybe not a dilemma, but I wanted to figure out a simple solution for my students to take the shoes off. Now, if you don't have the proper shoemakers tool you can use the hook method: you make a hole in the last, place the hook inside it and using the strength of your feet and rope ,you pull the last out. I find that method not that comfortable to say the least. I wanted to come up with something that anyone can make in their home fast, simple and cheap. So in my last lesson of the Ballerina Course I drilled a hole in a side of my old, heavy sewing machine and placed through it, 12 cm screw with 1 cm thickness, so it will fit the top hole in my last. That's it, simple is this.

You need screw and something heavy, so it will not move when you will pull the shoe. I know many shoemakers with their own solutions and tools for this and other process. So if you have, or come up with your own solution for this or other problems, you are welcome to share it on this blog.
Now as I promised shoemaking courses online platform will launch online store for shoemaking tools and supplies by the end of this week. As I still working on assembling more tools and more suppliers to enrich the platform more products will be added in the next two weeks.

In the online store you will find items like knifes, shank board, texon board, reinforcement tape, topline tape, awl, hammer, shoemakers rasp, lasting pincers and shoe lasts. More products will be added as we go and depending on the demand.
On the launch day of the store I will place 3 types of used lasts on sale in very low price. When I say used, I mean that some worked been done with them, so there are traces of nails and few scratches here and there. You can judge by yourself on the pictures below.

Ballerina Shoes Course and What Else Shoemaking Platform Have to Offer

One of my favorite courses that I teach on my shoemaking courses online for beginner level is about to end soon. It came out unexpected long, because I tried to explain and to show as much details as I could, so that you can easily make your first pair of shoes. The most important thing to me was to make it clear and understandable,  all the  shoemaking process, so that  in the you will be able to make pattern, to sew, to last, and to create heels by yourself. Only one lesson separates us from complete pairs of shoes where you will learn how to finish them, how to take them of  the last and to make the insole. You can see below some sneak peeks from this course. 

Quick note:  Because many of you don't have good connection with internet and asked me about this possibility. In short a time I plan to unit all these lessons together (it is more than 10 hours long) to create a DVD or eBook of Ballerina Shoes . It will take me time, but I will do it and you will able to purchase full ballerina shoes course on my blog here.

 Another exciting process which I'm working on now is that I'm negotiating with suppliers of various materials and tools for shoemaking , so in a really short time (maybe even next week)  they will be available on www.shoemakingcoursesonline.com.  I've been working on it for some time but I could never get it done , but now with the development of my new platform it has become finely possible to do it.
My faithful members of this platform, makers, shoemakers  will benefit from this even more; they will be able to purchase instruments and materials for shoemaking with a member discounts. And now since I have accumulated a lot of work because I was sick last week, I need to get back to work.

Good luck and have a nice day!

Sveta Kletina

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