In Which I Tell What I’m Gonna Post About Later:

1) American Duchess “Georgiana” shoes - After having them in my possession for almost a full week, I finally pulled them out and tried 'em on. I'll talk in detail about them later. (Probably)
2) Plan A B C D for Barons War Dress. Yes. I have found a solution to partlet woes, sleeve worries, and veil angst. Tis a cunning plan. (I’m going to pretend I meant to go this direction the whole time, no really.)
3) Awesomeness that I received today yesterday for Barons War
4) Ancient Greek "chopines". Awesome, right? Right.

Final Chopine Update (!!!)

Finally, at long last, I was able to completely finish a project….I am so excited! (And my wrists are thanking me, too!) After weeks and weeks of unfinished projects, it feels so good to be able to completely check something off the list-O-doom.

I spent most of the day finishing up the sole and doing the decoration – which sounds like it wouldn’t take that long, but with having to run to the store, stopping to chat with friends, and being indecisive about the lace, it took a while!

My original plan was to do the very simple braid covering the seams like on my original inspiration chopines….however, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to put more bling on them. I think they turned out quite nice for my first ever shoes, if I do say so myself!

There certainly are things that I would do differently if I were to do them again, but nothing that actually bugs me enough to worry about.

I thought about doing something boufty and cute on the straps, but I didn’t want things getting caught up in my petticoat, so I decided on a flat lace & a small medallion instead. I haven’t seen anything to directly support this mode of décor, and I’ve only seen one pair so far (much later period) that has the braid around the top…..so both those things are questionable, but I like the way it looks, so did it anyway. The upper braid also does double-duty of covering some of the bumpiness from the transition from the leather sole to the cork…in another pair, I will be more careful to shape that portion properly. I wouldn’t hate the way it looks without the braid, but it certainly does detract from that area…I didn’t realize it would show quite so much!

I can’t find my ‘real’ camera, so cell phone pictures it will have to be for the time being, but I can’t wait to post about them, so here they are!

And now for some foot shots!

And for good measure, here’s a couple of pics of my good friend Holly trying on my gown, complete with chopines:

It takes a little getting used to, but they’re relatively easy to walk in, and are very comfortable.

The biggest change I would make is some sort of angle to the foot bed…having them so flat almost makes me feel like I’m tipping backwards.

Another thing I would change is the angle of the curvature on the sides; which has always kind of bugged me throughout the project, but never was able to get quite right. (I am so glad I went back and took out the bulbousness of the sides….I doubt I would be nearly as happy now if I had not done so.) I was a little nervous about making the curve too drastic and weakening the integrity of the cork, so that may have to be something that happens with a wooden or high-density cork version.

All in all, I’m really quite pleased with them, and with myself for being able to do so many new things all in one project!

Chopines–Update II? III?

And here is the fruits of my labors….chopines that fit, and are relatively easy to walk in!  I still have the decoration to do, but they’re functional now, and that is quite a relief. 

I need to go out shopping (yet again) and grab as many gold brads as I can.  Because my gold lace is so thin, big huge upholstery tacks would look a bit….off.  (The picture below has a tack in the lower point right in the middle of the picture….it’s barely visible!)

I’ve been reminded to talk about my sources – I get so wrapped up in the project itself, those details seem to slip!

The fabulous website “Chopine, Zoccolo, and Other Raised and High Heel Construction” has been an invaluable resource.  It’s where I first found the idea of using cork yoga blocks as the base. 

That actually was one of the first diversions from the information provided therein – it was suggested to not use the blocks for chopines, but I felt that due to the minimal carving out involved, I’d risk the blocks in favor of the purse – the suggested cork was very cost-prohibitive, considering all the other projects pulling at my pockets.

My main reference was the lesson on chopine construction.  Specifically the most helpful was the information on sewing the sole, and the suggestion of using the bench grinder, which worked a charm, but in the end was very, very messy, and more than once took a large chunk out that I was not meaning to. 

If I were going to do chopines again, I’d use only a knife and an orbital sander with a rough grit.  (I used the sander when taking out the curve, and worked just as well as the grinder, but was much more maneuverable, and far less messy) 

Here is a brief list of some of my diversions from the information provided:

• used cork yoga blocks instead of wood or high-density cork.  (So far, so good…..I’ll hope they don’t crumble away!)
• used a butcher knife instead of a saw (the saw tore through the cork, whereas the knife made a relatively clean cut)
• I made my chopines to be left/right rather than symmetrical – for no other reason than I didn’t remember that bit.  (d’oh!)
• Patterning of the sole covering ended up being only 2, rather than 3 pieces, but that is likely due to the simpler geometry of my chopines.
• I was very liberal with the use of a staple gun instead of stitching whenever possible (due to lack of hand strength, and massive pressure to finish as soon as possible!)

Hopefully I’ll have fully decorated chopines to photograph tomorrow….I just need to figure out what I’m going to do to the toe bit…I have the soles all figured out for now, that is until I change my  mind yet again!

Chopines–Update

Okay….it’s been a long day, but I’m close to the end!  (Hooray!)

I cut down the bulbous sides that were bugging me so much yesterday to create a flatter side.  I didn’t get the curve that I wanted, but at least it’s closer!

This is the soles stacked together to check that they’re matching up:

The pink lines are the center line, and the black lines are for strap positioning.

I didn’t take any pictures of the steps of gluing the velvet to the leather insole, punching holes, and sewing the vamps & sole coverings down, but here is what it looks like after being sewn down, glued to the sole, and staple-gunned down to the sole:  (You can tell I’m getting tired….I’m not so careful with my shot setups nowadays!)

After that, I covered the cork sole with fabri-tac, and smoothing the fabric over the sole.  I used push pins to hold the fabric snug against the cork.

I’ve stapled the fabric to the bottom of the cork, and cut off the excess (using my nifty applique scissors, btw)

I’m trying to be patient and let the glue dry before messing around with the seams, but I’m not sure how long I can hold out….I really want these to be done!

Chopines semi update

I reshaped the soles, and now my hands, wrists, forearms and biceps are all killing me! Tomorrow may be an Aleve day!

I'm really nervous about the vamps and covering, so I decided it was time to stop. Hopefully I come up with a solid plan by tomorrow!

I may need to grab some glue from the store, so yet again, I'm stymied by purchases!

Chopines–I do have an update!

I gave into temptation and only swept the floor….waxing can happen another day!

To recap, this is what I’m going for…something sexier than the Spanish style chopine, but less crazy that some of the later Italian chopines.

I am not a power tool expert, as I’ve found out, and my finished product certainly shows this. In carving out the base, I realized I probably wasn’t going to be able to achieve the curve….I just don’t have the finesse to do it, so plans changed half way through to a more bulbous hourglass shape. I’m not entirely convinced I love it, but I’ll keep thinking on it and I’ll see how it goes.

Here are the blocks straight out of the package:

I drew in the center lines on all surfaces to help with centering the sole pattern:

I carved a channel next to the sole outline to make it easier to cut:

Then started cutting off the excess:

Then flipped it over and did the same to the underside:

With all the cutting implements I tried, I found a small butcher knife to be the most efficient, oddly enough!

After all the cutting, I only had a rough shape outlined, and I have a whole pile of cuttings to show for it!

After that, I set up a grinder wheel to (what at the time) I had thought was to only finesse the outline. What I ended up doing is covering the entire garage and myself in a thick layer of cork dust. (I just got out of the shower…..I couldn’t even brush off that nasty dust…it stuck to everything!)

But after all that, here is what I ended up with. I’m not overly happy with them, but at the same time, it’s my first attempt at making chopines, and using power tools! (eeep!)

My feet are just a bit larger than the base, and I’m still trying to decide if I’m going to overlook the overhang, or go with the original plan of a stacked leather sole to compensate.

Hmmmm….

(I’m actually reconsidering the whole Spanish chopine idea….so much easier!)

EDIT: I'm going to take the trusty knife to them and see if I can't smooth out some of the bulbousness.....I'm not liking the shape so much right now.

Chopines

As I have woefully neglected my abode these last few weeks, I have spent the morning getting everything back to some semblance of order….even if it is only the down stairs portion!

My cork blocks showed up today, and I’m really excited to get started on them, but I’ve promised myself that I will at least get the floor waxed and the collection of things off the stairs…..so I may or may not have an actual progress update today. (It just depends on how many times I get distracted by naughty dogs running away, doorbells ringing etc.)

The plan is to turn this:

Into this:

My toes hang over just about 1/2”, so I’m thinking up plans to stack leather on the sole to create a smooth curve that covers my entire foot. This is all still very much TBD, just my initial thoughts on the matter.

FYI – I wear a size 9, so these blocks should work with no mods for anyone size 8 or under no problem. I will update as I figure out how to solve my giant foot problem!

Red Gown Chopines

As much as I love the elegance of this shoe, it looks a bit tricky to walk in; also the geometry of the heel looks none too stable – I’d hate to break it off in the first wearing!

The easiest chopine to construct (and walk in, I would imagine) are the “Spanish” style chopine. Not very elegant, but serviceable for creating height.

I could probably knock these out all by myself without any power tools at all, but then again, honestly, they lack a certain ‘sex appeal’.

After flexing my Google muscles, I found what might be an acceptable compromise: (The red velvet pair on the left)

I’m not terribly enamored of the Spanish-style lacing, but the curves make up for it. The curves aren’t so drastic that I’d worry about snapping off the heel, and the base seems wide enough to keep me nice and stable.

It is paramount that these chopines are comfortable enough to wear, since my gown is constructed to be worn with 6-6.5” chopines. (Yeah, I went a bit overboard on the height. Go big or go home, right?) EDIT: I tried on the gown again, and it’s looking like 4-4.5” will be plenty. Anything over that will be icing. Also, I just purchased some yoga blocks on amazon.com, so hopefully they will be stable enough to use. (I bought 3, two for the base, and one to stack for a heel if more than 4” are needed.)

I’m a bit stalled on the gown right now, since I can’t decide if I want the tuck to be on the inside or the outside; there is evidence of both methods, but I don’t want to decide until I know about the potential hem trim, since that could affect (effect?! dang, I can never remember) the over all look. I’m slightly leaning towards an inside tuck, but that is still TBD.

I also can’t start on any of the shoulder treatments or sleeves, since again, I’m waiting on finding out about the stamp.

Today, I am going to start on either the camacia, the petticoat, the partlet, , or rehab of the bodice, but I’m so indecisive, I’m posting instead!

EDIT II: I am getting more and more excited about this gown….I just spent the last 15 minutes swanning around my sewing room picking up all manner of crafting detritus with the train. sigh.