Thursday, February 7, 2013

Steampunk Boots

My speed with shoes had been increasingly greatly when, for some silly reason, I decided I could manage to throw together a pair of Victorian style boots for Teslacon.  In two weeks.  Yes, I managed it, but boy was that stressful!
I had some left over satin coutil from my corset which I had dyed a raspberry tone.  I actually found a few original shoes from the late 19th century in similar tones, so it seemed appropriate and horrendously bright.  There's a pair in light purple leather from the 1890s at the Russian Shoe Museum that was the basis for the final design along with a canvas pair I purchased and used for some patterning.



The uppers are lined in unbleached linen.  The strips, toe, and heel are all whittaw leather.  Most of this was assembled by machine.  The back seam has a reinforcement strip down the exterior and the lacing holes have whittaw on both sides so I didn't have to stitch any eyelets.

The construction was done the same as my common shoes.  Last the upper to the insole and whip it down.

Stitch on the heel cover.

Paste in wood heel, then paste on outersole and stitch through all layers.

I laced up the fronts with silk cord.

You can see the grove where the big stitches go all the way to the inside.




14 comments:

Julie R. said...

very nice work! didn't realize that you made those! awesome color scheme!!

Quinn said...

Wow!!! Boots, too! That must feel so wonderful when you get to wear boots that you made.

Best,
Quinn

melissamary said...

My goodness! Those are amazing!

Kim said...

Amazing!

Love the dress also.
Kim

Thread-Head said...

Please insert loud, vulgar noise of admiration here. I noticed (and loved) the boots in your jacket post. For some reason, it never entered my mind that you made them. Incredible and beautiful!

Chelsea said...

I'm kind of in awe of you. And I’ve nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger award: http://asartorialstatement.blogspot.com/2013/03/my-first-blog-award.html

bauhausfrau said...

I nominated you for a very inspiring blogger award! :)

http://costumerscloset.blogspot.com/2013/04/very-inspiring-blogger-award.html

Maggie said...

Please don't feel obligated to do this, but I nominated you for a Very Inspiring Blogger award!

http://costumersguide.blogspot.com/2013/04/very-inspiring-blogger-award.html

Andrew said...

Congratulations - I've nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.

http://victoriantailor.blogspot.com/2013/04/award-night.html

Cheers! Andrew

Learning To Costume said...

Looks like I'm not the only one. I've nominated you too!
http://learningtocostume.blogspot.com/2013/04/very-inspiring-blogger-award.html

Quinn said...

Well, I'm either the 7th or 8th person to do this, but better late than never, right?

I've also nominated you for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award!

http://quinnmburgess.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/very-inspiring-blogger-award-thanks/

Best,
Quinn

Laura said...

You've gotten a lot of these but you deserve them!

I've nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blog Award: http://americanseamstress.blogspot.com/2013/04/blog-award-time.html
best,
Laura

Kirstine said...

I have nominated you for an inspiring blogger award

www.historyseamstress.wordpress.com

Olympe de la Tour D'Auvergne said...

Fabulous, I love the whole outfit! I've awarded you an Inspiring Blogger Award (http://olympesdiary.blogspot.com/2013/05/inspiring-blogger-award.html). Thank you for the always interesting posts!