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Thursday, June 14, 2018

Making An Old Dream Come To Pass With a New Pair Of Kicks

About 6 weeks ago, I took a sneaker class at the Chicago School of Shoemaking and Leather Arts. I had so much fun! I especially enjoyed being the student :)

Below is my work in progress. The shoe that you see at the top of the photo was my inspiration piece. Below the shoe, you see my pattern, tools, and my shoe in pieces.


The class was 2 full days of instruction. I made a mistake on one of my shoes while attaching the top of my shoe to the sole. At that point in the day, I was quite tired, and ready for a break, so I elected to just finish my shoe at home. Last Sunday I finally sat down, redid the stitching, finished the shoe, and ordered my laces.

Ta Daa!!! My finished sneakers. I love them!!!


I have never been a big sneaker person, but these are not typical sneakers. Thankfully, my husband and I don't wear the same size shoe, or I would lose these! 


Pure fun :)


I have no intention of making all of my shoes. It was just a fun class to take. A bit of a dream realized, well, almost. When I was maybe 8 years old, my shoe wardrobe consisted of a pair of shoes to wear to church, a pair of sneakers, and a pair of school shoes. And there were times when all I had was a pair of sneakers. I so wanted a pair of cute sandals, so I decided that maybe I could make a pair. I found some cardboard, glued a few layers together. Between the layers, I glued some heavy string, punched holes through the top layers, and made the loops to hold my "sandals" on my feet. After all the work I did, I was so proud of what I had fashioned. They lasted about half a day before they completely fell apart. I never would have dreamed that I would one day own a pair of leather sneakers. Life does get better :)

Here's to realizing our dreams!
Rhonda



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16 comments:

  1. Your shoe memories match mine. I too had church shoes, sneakers (white keds) and school shoes. Not too many kids wore sandals back in my day and they looked nothing like they do today. Congratulations on your handmade shoes! They look great!

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    1. Thx!
      I also had white Keds 😊 My mother liked the fact that she could bleach them and keep them somewhat white.

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  2. Those are awesome Rhonda!!

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    1. They really are fun 😊 They offer a leather sandal class. I just might have to take it!

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  3. These are utterly amazing, Rhonda! I wish there was a course like this where I live; your sneakers look super professional, it's hard to believe they were mostly done in 2 days. =) I want so badly to copy these, haha!

    -Abbey

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  4. now if they were suede, you could have BLUE SUEDE SHOES! (but no one could step on them)! That cultural reference really shows my age! The shoes are fab!

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  5. They really are the coolest sneakers I have ever seen. What size are you again ....

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  6. Those look so professional and fun!

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  7. Rhonda, I am just blown away. You are so lucky to have such amazing resources.

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  8. Wow! Those are some very fancy sneakers! Those "do you proud" as Loretta Lynn would say!

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  9. Wow. Your shoes are great. I’m impressed that you made them.

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  10. Those are perfection! I love the leather and the style. Looks like you did a fabulous job constructing them, too. I hope you enjoy wearing them.

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  12. You sure have come a loooong way from your 8 year old self! :)

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  13. Good for you! These are wonderful!

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