Shoemaking & Techniques for Creative Footwear Design

Finally my book came out. On the way of its creation was a lot of technical difficulties, especially at the last moment, and I sorry for this delay. But today finally I present to your attention my "Shoemaking&Techniques For Creative Design" book and I'm so excited , as if going to school for the first time, because it's my first  book, in which I share with you my thoughts and knowledge about shoe design that I gain through the years, working as a shoe designer and making my own collections.

Here are few screenshots from the book:

This is just a short glimpse for the 47 pages book. I talk a lot about design techniques, few approaches to the subject, so you would be able to find your own way. Actually it is very difficult to label yourself as one kind of designer or a shoemaker as I see it, because to create you need to have the passion and urge to try different techniques, different methods and thats what I try to do in this book.
One of the most important chapters in this book is the "GOLD POINTS" for creating correct patterns and for me, knowing that it is kind of restricted area for most designers just because they lack this information, gives a great pleasure to share it with you. I explain all the points in the book for different types of shoes and how to use it in shoe design.

Another exciting chapter, (they all are useful and exciting in my eyes!) is the "Building an entire collection just with 2 types of lasts". I explain the differences in types of lasts and their properties that will help you to reflect it in creating entire collection just with one or two lasts. Using this knowledge and creative design techniques that I present in this book, you will be able to do it.In the book I present one of my past collections that was made only with two lasts, and it looks very different in every model.  
 As well, this is the first time I share new technique that I had developed, the "Freehand Pattern Construction Technique".  It is result of my long time search for easy and more affordable ways to create shoe patterns that would allow me to create complex and interesting designs and patterns. I actually use it to create all of my collections and in this book I share this technique with you.
The book also contains a video tutorial for Freehand Technique and I will show you how to build a 3D pattern in most shortest and easiest way. In the video I'm making 3D element of a rose in the toe area, here's the pic.

I look forward to your feedback and to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you all for support and for great online friendship.
I will run this book with a discount of 20% for the next 2 days, specially for readers of this blog.

The book is in online PDF format, and it's will be downloaded directly from my blog. You will be able to find it here on this post and in the "Full shoemaking Guides" tab at the top of my blog (navigation bar).

Here is the book :

                                                                                          buy                  

Table of contents

Introduction  3

1. Classic models of shoes and why you need them.               4

2. Must know pattern points or the secret of making correct pattern from the first time.                                                                10

3. Don't wait for a muse, rely on design process techniques. 21

4. The bad the good and the ugly- 3 Methods of footwear design.                                                                                                    24

5. Shortcut to creative footwear design - Freehand Pattern Construction Technique.                                                          34

6. How to build an entire collection just with 2 types of lasts.                                                                                                                                                         35

You can find more information about me at :

www.sk-shoes.com

http://pinterest.com/svetakletina/my-designs-timeline/

http://svetakletina.blogspot.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/SKDEZIGN?feature=mhee

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sveta-Kletina/221543161271318

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Shoemaking with Freehand Pattern Construction Technique

Today we going up a notch,  and I want  introduce you to my "FREEHAND PATTERN CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE"  that I developed . I work with this technique and for a very long time , this is the only way I design and construct my patterns, do to one important reason, I can build almost any design that I desire with this technique. Try to think about this technique as you just purchased  a 3D printer and this machine can make your wildest designs.  

 It will be an almost impossible to explain all the technique in this post, but I just wanted to open your mind to the possibilities, because I sincerely use it in my work . In my opinion this is the best approach to shoe design, because it gives me much more possibilities in making creative patterns for shoes.   It promotes an understanding of the shoes as a whole object, which is based on engineering laws, and does not consist of separate parts, as in decorative  design .

I describe the design through pattern more particular in my book and how I use this method to make more creative designs. Here is a short tutorial that is just a little taste of what you can do with "FREEHAND PATTERN CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE". In this tutorial I will show you how I transform pump shoes into half pumps- half boots.

Have a nice week!

If this post was useful for you and you think you can integrate it in to your work, share this post to fallow shoemaker and post comment bellow.

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Here is a Method That is Helping Shoemakers to Make Correct Patterns

You familiar with this situation, when you do something and just cannot complete it because of constantly emerging desire to supplement and improve. My book now at the last editing stage, and will appear on the blog in a few days. Due to the delay, in this and next posts that will come out this week I want to show you a few snippets of it, to somehow compensate you for your wait. Each tutorial - is a small excerpt from the whole and vast parts of my book. Today, using pumps shoes as an example, I want to show and explain, an absolutely important knowledge in pattern making and shoe design, using critical points to make correct shoe pattern.
 You want the shoes sat well on the foot from the first time? No loose ends on the sides! No falling out fingers on the sandals! No too high or too low  topline in throat area! No irritating bubbles on the leather!  No, too tight shoes! 

Summer Flip Flop - Step By Step Full Video Guide

This one is a really short post, it's more an update than a post actually. Just wanted to let you know that my new guide "Summer Flip Flop - Step By Step Full Video Guide" is finally uploaded and you can find it here on your right and in "Full Shoemaking Guides " tab.
I'm keeping the same strategy as I wrote in the last post of easy shoemaking. As a footwear designer my approach to shoemaking is also technical and efficient, and if there is a way to make it easier it is the right way for me. Sure, it have to be wearable, strong and most of all a kind of innovation, because my belief is, that without trying new ways, there will be no progress.
This guide is no rocket science, but it will give you new ideas. How to create without using a last, creative technical design and you have the power to change the design itself. Try it out, and I will be happy to see what you get.

Thank you for reading.
Sveta Kletina

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You can find more information about me at :

www.sk-shoes.com

http://pinterest.com/svetakletina/my-designs-timeline/

http://svetakletina.blogspot.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/SKDEZIGN?feature=mhee

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sveta-Kletina/221543161271318

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Design Concept: Collect, Research & Develop

How long it have been? 2 months ? I know, I know I have a lot of explaining to do and I will, but first let me just say it's good to be back, how strange it may sound it's even exciting to type this post on my keyboard, a definite change for me in this couple of months.

I thank you all who emailed me, concerning my sudden disappearing, it's a great and warm feeling to know you care and it surely gave me a lot of strength to keep up with what I was doing. The reason for my disappearing is pretty simple, work a lot of work. I can't say it was not expected, I was willing to take orders and make this collection in a bigger scale but I was not ready for this and you know you are not ready, when there is just not enough hours in a day (and night). There is a bigger story to tell what and how it happened, but I learn my lesson and I even developed new and exciting techniques to help me work faster and more efficient and I didn't forget you. So, remember the book? Design book that I was writing about, just before all this? Well, I made a few serious changes and even added more  great content for your creative minds, like the points you have know  to create correct pattern from the first time.

The book is planned to be available here on my blog on June 15, so I will keep you posted.

Here is a Post That Will Help You Find my Older Tutorials

As the week passed by so fast, and I'm still in a middle of editing my book and some of my new tutorials, which will come out real soon, in a matter of days, and I'm actually very excited about that. I didn't had the chance to create any new tutorials to upload this week, but I did wanted to reuse my older posts and to be precise,  my older video tutorials and the reason for that is that each week I get an email from someone asking me to make some tutorial and most of the time it's something that I already did. So I thought, it's probably not that easy to find them on my Youtube channel, and I should make some order for my readers and this post will be all about old tutorials and not so old tutorials.

Midsole/ Insole How Do You Do It

Creative Pattern Making As a Key For Wining Design

This post is all about my new book that is coming out by the end of next week, which I'm very excited about. I'm very confident and thrilled about this one, because it has to do more on my field of expertise that is footwear design.

As my experience taught me, the best designs are emerges from creative pattern making. In this book I will give away my best tips on how to create any shoe design, from creatively approaching pattern making if you want to build entire collection or just a shoe for yourself and much more. I will probably place more updated information about the book, before launching it on the blog, so stay tune.

More than that, I finally updated my last collection, so I wanted to share this one with you as well. The concept behind it and what inspired me to create it the way it is.  

ABOUT  "REVEAL RAW" 

How To Make Rihanna 2012 X Factor Shoes by Yourself

First of all I want to launch this post with announcement, that this is the most frustrated post I ever made. It took me 7 days. You will think that making the shoe itself or shooting the process was the problem, but no, it's something to do with Voodoo powers I'm 99 percent sure of it. The tutorial is a step by step video as always, but this time I made an effort and did the whole process, from designing the sandal to the finished item (yes I did).

So the tutorial is maybe the longest I ever made 2:15 hours, but it wasn't supposed to be a problem, and after the editing was finished, I uploaded them (2 parts) to YouTube. Although it was pretty fast the first time, and I was ready to publish it on the blog, then I noticed that my video is corrupted for some reason, just big black sequences in a middle of both parts. I checked the original footage but it was ok, so I uploaded again. It took me the whole day and in the end the upload crashed, It happened twice . 

Unfortunately it was not the end of it, after finally the both parts uploaded I checked them again to make sure that everything is right, but what you know, the end of the process was missing! I wanted to upload it again, but there was no movies to upload, yes you heard it right, it was gone. At that moment I was so close to quite the whole thing, but I couldn't, it just drove me insane. Well, it took me two more days, exporting the movie clips and uploading, but I did it. I don't know if there was some "Tech Voodoo" involved but It feels like forever making this one, so I hope you like it.          

So the story of making this tutorial is that my cuisine is a big fan of Rihanna. After she saw her on the X-factor in Alexander Wang shoes, she didn't stop bothering me with the request to make the same shoes for her. 

Finally I found time  to do it.Usually I don't like to do what has already been done by someone else, so I changed the design a little bit for well known reasons and to be honest doing Rihanna sandals was unexpected fun.

Now You Can Make Midsole By Yourself And Say Goodbye to Your Supplier

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Today I decided to share with you one of my "gold" tutorials: how to do mid-sole by yourself. I mean gold in sense that it helped me a lot in the beginning of my way as an independent shoe designer.  As it usually happens at the beginning ,no suppliers want to work with you, because you don't order big quantities. So to make my dream come true (make  my own shoes) I had to come up with a technique of manufacturing mid-soles in home, by myself, as they call it DIY.

Why is it important to know how to make the classic model of shoes?

When I studied at the Art Academy in Jerusalem, I was very fond of classical drawing lessons, because I understood that in the future  for  me to be able to draw any of  my fantasy figure, I must first learn the basics. So, in whatever  you touch upon, in any field, you must first learn the basics of the subject, in which you would like to achieve perfection. At the shoe craftsmanship such a basis, in my opinion, is the study of all the classic shoe models based on which you can make any shoe.

So to be a designer that is not only "creates" and by that I mean "makes a pretty drawing on a paper", but also can really make any of his ideas, it is important to know the construction of the classic shoe models. While I personally have never made any classic model of shoes (in a his "clean definition") in my own collections, I have all my models designed only because my knowledge on how to structure classic models of shoes. Those  models as they are, in terms of design, don't interest me, but the knowledge of their design gives me the freedom to create. They, like the alphabet, for those who wish to be a writer.