Stamp Shoes

Hi !!!
A few weeks ago I spent a week with Stamp Shoes. It is run by Nick Cooper, a bespoke shoe maker. I learnt a lot during the week and now I understand how shoes are made and how he runs his business.

Towards the beginning of the week he was finishing off a pair of shoes, photographing, packing and sending them off to the client. I thought as I was there I might as well have a go at taking some photos of the shoes, as I have not tried taking professional commercial style photos before. Here are the photos I took of the shoes:

 Later in the week I learnt how to make a 2D pattern from a 3D last using masking tape.

Then towards the end of the week I was taught how to make a pair of shoes, including: cutting the pattern pieces, stripping dye from the leather, adding dye to the leather, hand sewing the pieces together, adding eyelets, lasting and finally attaching the sole.

 

Cutting out pattern pieces, removing and adding die to the leather

 

 

Sewing the sides to the front of the shoes

 

 

Adding eyelets

 

 

Sewing the back of the uppers together

 

 

Lasting

 

 

Removing the nails and the excess leather

 

 

Attaching the sole

 

 

The finished product

 

 

Hope to write again soon !!!

Flowers in the Garden of Life

Hi !!!
Recently the weather has been so nice and has made me want to spend my time outside while it lasts. In my garden the flowers have been really good this year, much better than previous years and with the weather inspiring me to take some photos of the flowers, here they are:

  
Hope to write again soon !!! 

McQueen Savage Beauty

Hi !!!
Recently I went to see the McQueen Savage Beauty exhibition at the V&A. Before going to the V&A I went for a short walk through London and Hyde Park. Then later, in the evening I went to the West End to see Death of a Salesman.

The exhibition was amazing, it showcased McQueen's excellent tailoring skills as well as his amazing concepts, also it included pieces I didn't expect to see there. Each room had a different theme, from the items of clothing shown (they were not presented by collection), to the décor, even the music played, giving each room a different feel and showing a different side of McQueen's skills and imagination. Here are some of the different themes of the rooms (that I can remember): The first room focused of McQueen's tailoring and had concrete walls and an industrial feel. The next had a dark feel and had gold distressed mirrors on the walls. One of the rooms had fake skulls covering the walls and one had an ocean feel. Another room was focused on McQueen's Scottish designs. The next, was based on a cabinet of curiosities, which I feel there was too much to see in and some of his most well known pieces were lost in there. Another room was based on Japanese designs and had rotating mannequins. The next room had a natural feel and featured the dress paired with lace ripped over a pair of antlers. The last room was based on Plato's Atlantis and looked into the future and the idea of "devolution", evolving back into the sea after the effects of global warming and the ice caps have melted.

There was so much to see and take in at the exhibition and we almost ran out of time spending about two and a half hours in there. It was such an amazing exhibition and well worth seeing.

Here are the photos I took while walking through Hyde Park:

Hope to write again soon !!!

Coniston | Biddulph Grange

Hi !!!
On the way home from Coniston I stopped off at Biddulph Grange to break up the journey home. The gardens there are beautiful, although I visited between seasons, so the spring flowers had gone over, yet the summer flowers had not yet come out.

  
Hope to write again soon !!!