Stitching heels

Chiara is a whizz at stitching the heels now, having made so many moccasins and it's getting quicker and quicker... it's amazing how something quite time consuming to start with becomes so fast with repetition and practice.

Cutting and foil emboss

 Cutting the beautiful sheep leather I use for lining - I get this from Pittards in Somerset who have premium leathers available. The lining of a shoe can sometimes be more of a support for the foot than the upper, especially if the upper is made from fabric, or delicate in some way. This leather I use keeps the shape of the moccasin as you wear it, while also being breathable and soft next to your foot.

The sock labels in my Summer style of moccasin have a gold emboss logo - one of the most fun jobs ever once the you've got on a roll with the heat embossing machine. 

It's Black and White.

This pair will be trotting around Tokyo with Lis. I love the way the break in the ikat naturally fits the shape of the collar. When the pattern of a fabric works with the shape of the shoe in a way I couldn't imagine, i'm very very happy. 

Needles

Some lovely needle packs i'm delving in to as needles on the machine occasionally break (always at the most inconvenient times!), one paper one metal...get your stitch on.

Plumo competition

Visit the brand new Plumo blog to read about shoemaking and design, and enter the competition before the 22nd April. I can't wait to meet the winner and create the special pair!

The Black collection part 1

Stitching around the toes.

I'm using this beautiful black and white indian ikat fabric for the collar. I love the way it looks different on every piece due to where the pattern piece is cut on the fabric.

Hand dyed silk ribbon embroidery. The delicate ribbon subtly changes colour due to the manual dying process. This particular one is shades of light green and really stands out on the back suede.

The Black Collection part 2

This pair is from a small collection of black moccasins. Each customer can choose the motif and colour of the embroidery making it entirely personal to the wearer. This pair has a black and white ikat fabric collar, and is the first of the collection.

The finished pair!