Soled and Waiting!

Well, the leather soles are on and the lasts are out!

The Velo shoes are in boxes and waiting to meet a special stitching machine before I can put the heels and rubber half-soles on. I'm looking into shoe repair shops to do the work and I'll be taking them in next week after I do a little extra research.

It's not quite the weekend, but have a good one! Please enjoy the slide show of the Velo shoes so far...

Cleaning House

Totally not an update about the studio.

I desperately need to clean out some stuff from the apartment - and maybe you need a couple last minute gifts? I've posted several items to Craigslist:

Home Pilates Machine in good used condition - Sold!

Pedal exerciser never removed from its shipping box

Collectible Voldemort wand recreation

Dress watch with black croc-print band

Gothic coffin case/purse with metal hardware - Sold!

IKEA wall-mounted folding table never opened - Sold!

Hopefully soon, I'll have time to go through my excess bike accessories and parts as well. For those of you hoping for crafting and making items - once I'm done with the bike shoe trial - I'm planning on making a serious effort to clean out stuff from the studio.

Soling the Velos

Quick update - I've attached the soles to the first ten pairs of the Velo shoes. I started with the duplicate sizes first, so I'm making speedy progress getting the duplicate sizes lasted and caught up with the rest.


Once all of the shoes have the leather soles attached, I'll take them to be sewn with a special stitching machine I do not have. Once that is done, they'll get their rubber half-soles and heels.

"Like" my page on Facebook to see more process WIP pictures!

Do you Facebook?

I did it. I created a Facebook page for my work and there is now a "Like" button over there on the right hand side of the screen, above the blog description. Among other things, I'll be posting more WIP photos so people can see what I'm working on between blog posts. Go ahead - you know you want to!

In other news, the lasting of the Velo Shoes is going well. Currently, all of the lasts are occupied, so the remaining pairs must be patient.

The lasting that I've been showing off so far have not been cemented to the insole boards yet - if you were my students, I would have called it pre-lasting.

I have started cementing! These are the ones with more uppers waiting in the wings:



This is good!

Current Projects and Events!

I've been pretty busy the last few days, so I thought I would post another update.

Lasting continues on the Velo shoes. Between pairs I've been working on some other components and progress is becoming steady.

Just as a point of curiosity, these uppers were designed to last easier/faster - and they are - sort of. Simply being unlined speeds up the process greatly by having less layers and steps, but physically they've been more demanding due to components and materials. The heat activated stiffener material requires additional dexterity between grabbing different tools while warming the material and pulling it into place. The spread of material characteristics adds some intrigue - all of them are suitable, but there is 'just' enough variety to make very distinct differences in the processes and how I compensate for more or less malleability.



I'm using a number of techniques that are either new to me, or I just don't use very often because there isn't any advantage when I'm making things one at a time. I am keeping a list of considerations for the next round - things involving patterns, techniques, and materials/component considerations. I'll definitely have a good idea of how things can be sped up to avoid many of the delays of this trial run.


My other projects are gaining momentum as well.

Currently, I'm in the process of adjusting two pairs of lasts for some boot projects. Soon I'll be fitting those, so pictures will follow once the designs get approved.

I'm working on a few new items for Etsy and Wolfbait and I hope to put a few out there in time for the current gift giving season. A note about the Strap-on Neckties: the current ones were a test batch I was selling at a reduced price. The next time I make a new batch, the price will be going up - so, get them cheap while you can.
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On Saturday evening, I made it out into the world and actually interacted with humans, hurrah!

I like talking to bike folks and meeting framebuilders, and Rob Vandermark of Seven Cycles was in town to speak at the Get A Grip bike fit studio.

It was very cool to hear about the methods Seven uses to build bikes out of titanium, steel, and carbon fiber. Virtually all of their production is custom, so they work with fit studios like Get A Grip who interface with the customers.

I got to chat about the company and a bit about the region. The Boston area has quite a framebuilding history and a special place in my heart , so I hope to get out there again soon. My schedule was very tight the last time I was out there, and I missed Seven when I was visiting framebuilders, but I'll correct that next time.

I was busy talking and listening, so I only took a few pictures of some stuff I've been geeking out over lately:






Until later!

At Lasting!

Sorry, I couldn't resist - as it implies, I have officially begun lasting the Velo shoes!


At the moment, my studio feels like an icebox - I have a spare space heater to bring to the studio, but I am waiting on a Zipcar reservation to drop it off and run an errand. Since I find myself with a few minutes to burn, I can point out some new things on the blog.

I did update the News page, but it is old news if you've been following the blog posts.

In addition to the link to my Etsy store and Wolfbait & B-girls in the side bar, I have added an Etsy page up top. While I was updating the Etsy site, I ran across code that allows me to include a preview of my store or my favorites on the site. I'll be tweaking the dimensions and perhaps ultimately scrapping it, but now you can go to the Etsy page up top and see a selection of my available items, as well as a means to click directly to the actual listings.

For more networking and promotions, I am considering creating a Facebook page. I've almost decided what to call it. Someone has created a completely unrelated page using the same spelling of Riotgeer as me. It leaves me a bit grumpy since I have very specific reasons for spelling it as I do - but I don't think I can do anything about it. Most likely, I'll wind up just using my name (though a few people will understand why I'd rather not do that). As far as business purposes I'd like to not add paperwork to my pile, so I don't want to do an assumed name for my design studio right now.
That said, I would like to get some feedback on the idea of a FB page.

Updates on Velo shoes and the site

Hello all! I am out of town for the holiday, but I have some updates to share with folks.

I think I mentioned this already, but when I was offered the opportunity to use my former employers machine to pick up where one of mine went down, I've also been picking up some shifts. At this shop we make mostly commercial costumes and props and it's all soft sculpture, working with foam and fake-fur and spandex and the like. It's a whole different world from making shoes and small leather goods - and it's been fun.

Between the costume shop and my studio, the Velo shoe uppers are now done - as soon as I get back to Chicago, I can start lasting. Eventually I'll make an album and include the close-ups, but here is a shot of the whole group of completed uppers:


Since I can't be at the studio working, I am taking the opportunity to make a few updates to the site/blog. I've added a new section to the sidebar for links to where you can find my stuff:

I am slowly working on updating my Etsy items (just in time for holiday shopping, right?) - don't forget that I am happy to hear inquiries into custom items through Etsy.

If you want to see some of my small items in person, I do have some items available at the Chicago store Wolfbait & B-girls - they are a great place to see various local and independently produced designs.

There are a few other changes afoot, but I'll save any announcements until they are more concrete.

Whether you celebrate the holiday or not, I hope you get to enjoy good drink, good food and good friends!

Sometimes it looks like a factory

Progress progresses on the bike shoes - a person I worked for back in school is letting me use one of her machines to stand in for mine. I'm also doing a bit of work for her which I'm enjoying.

Because of the order of processes it's taking a bit longer moving between studios, but slow progress is better than no progress - yes?

And sometimes, yes, it does look like a factory - there's something satisfying about shots like this one:



I've finished the backs, so I'm ready to join the fronts with the borrowed machine and then I can finish the uppers on my own machines and start lasting:



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Since the holiday season is nigh - I'll be putting a few items back up in my Etsy store. Keep an eye out for the link to be resurrected. On a somewhat related note, I'm contemplating some additions/changes to the site... we'll see.

Expletives.

After finally getting through a hump of delays, one of my sewing machines has died. It's one that I use for a critical part of sewing the bike shoe uppers, and it happened promptly after informing a customer that I would be very shortly moving from making the uppers to lasting.

The machine's an antique and made for a European market, so fixing it will be far more expensive that replacing it. I'm looking to either make use of a willing friends machine or find a way to acquire a replacement. Until that is solved, I'm working on other parts of the shoes.

Bike Shoes Update 10/15/11

A very, very brief update on the bike shoes trial.

I am hard at work on the shoes - the earlier delays, as well as some others pushed the project into a period where there were some major things going on that couldn't be avoided or rescheduled.

Since the last post, I've finished making all of the sectionals on the computer, made numerous spreadsheets to keep everything organized and efficient, and begun cutting. Right now, I am maybe 85% done with cutting all of the uppers. It is going smoothly and I will finish tomorrow - assembly will commence Monday.

On Sunday (tomorrow), my studio building is continuing a weekend of open studios - while I haven't prepared anything for guests, I will be there working - come by and see the art - and see what 13 pairs of shoes look like before they start getting sewn together! The address is 3311 West Carroll Avenue, in the East Garfield park neighborhood.

Maybe I'll see some of you tomorrow.

Goodnight!

Delay, Work, Delay, Work - Yay!

Sorry for the silence - I have been plugging away at the bike shoes, but as the title implies, I ran into a lot of delays which I'm finally recovering from.

Some of the delays were the result of some back and forth with suppliers. I'm still learning to navigate resourcing materials that are usually sourced for factories - most of these places aren't really set up for working on such a small scale. As of now, I have the materials I need, but I'll have to exercise extra amounts of caution with building all the pieces parts. The next go round, it will be smoother.

The grading process wasn't as straight-forward as I hoped, due to some inconsistencies in the lasts. So I did a lot of hand-wringing before deciding on a method to proceed with.

I've been using a combination of traditional pen on paper drafting, along with experimenting with using a vector drawing program to clean and scale them to different sizes and still maintain proportions. It's been an up and down process - especially since I'm not using a program with built-in footwear/pattern engineering parameters... someday... a person can dream, right?



Patterning can be time-consuming, but the nice thing about this design is that once I'm satisfied that the patterns are good, everything can move forward very quickly. Below are two sample uppers I'm testing to see how the patterns fit on the last. These give me enough info to tweak the patterns and begin cutting the finals towards the end of the week (btw, that's the "yay!" part).



If it continues as expected, the next update will show off some of the final uppers before they go on the last.

Until next time!

Lasts!

Haha, the lasts have finally arrived!



I was able to start the patterning process Thursday night, and I'll get into it in earnest on Saturday, when it will (hopefully) be less hot. I'll be taking the opportunity of working with multiple sizes of a single last style to try my hand at grading the patterns (generating different sizes) - due to mostly making one-offs, it's a skill that I've never had need to learn. This should also make it go faster (as I cross my fingers against jinxing things).

Also... A customer has just ordered a pair of the "Elf" last for future footwear.



Since it usually takes around a month to get lasts back from copying, they should arrive when I'm finishing up the bike shoes. If you like this style last and are interested in having a custom pair of lasts done up for you, this is the ideal time to do it so it won't take super long to start. The site is peppered with images of shoes and boots made on the Elf - look at the about page, and the portfolio page - they are the ones with the distinctive upturned toe.

FYI, I'll try to throw together a bit of a process explanation on the lasts page as a way of explaining the time lapse. Done! Let me know if it seems clear and straightforward.

Have a good weekend!

Bike Shoes Update 8/18/11

It's been a while since the last update, but things are picking up speed after some delays.

The person copying my lasts for me had to delay the production, but they are back on the job now! I need to visit family next week, but the lasts should be waiting for me when I get back. Once the lasts are in hand, I'll check them over and the patterning process starts.

I've been keeping busy while waiting on the lasts. I'm still in the process of replenishing my materials and supplies, but that is very nearly completed. I've been working on sample shoes to tweak the patterns and try out a couple of additional material varieties:



Above is an upper using my Horween "rust" leather with the trim worked from one of the scrap bin leathers - it's a pretty neat combination.



The second upper is from a waxier Horween latigo with a softer hand than the original red - I bought this option for customers that need more flexibility. The black trim is the same material from the tongue and top binding.

Both of these tests use a slightly different pattern layout on the toe and backstrap reinforcing:


I welcome comments on the pattern arrangement - sometimes subtle changes bring about dramatic reactions - what do you think?

With things being delivered next week, I will become crazed with shoemaking and I'll be hitting the ground running.

For a slight distraction from the bike shoes theme, next week I'll post pictures of pair of shoes that are moments away from being finished.

Now - I have work to do!

P.S.: I still have a sewing machine for sale!

Leather, Updates and Ideas!

I got to swing by the tannery yesterday to see what leather I could pick up to round out the choices for the bike shoes trial - always fun, and sometimes frustrating, it is the nature of how I procure hides. More on that later....

So now that I have all the colors I'll be able to offer, I'll go through my stock to see how much I have of what so don't promise six pairs of something I only have enough for three - or some similarly horrifying result.

There will be black - which is surprising since it's been years since I actually bought any (other than for trims and linings), plus there was one piece of red hide that should work as a softer alternative to the red latigo (see preceding posts for pictures of "those red shoes"). Unfortunately, there was no longer any more of the actual red latigo, so what I have in stock is it for the foreseeable future unless some company decides to order a several hundred feet.


Something I don't usually do, is go through the scraps bin. It's usually depressing to find a minuscule scrap of something gorgeous that I can't get restocked without thousands of dollars investment. This time I did, so there are some fun options for trims and possibly one unique shoe in one variety (it's a bit oily though):


Variety of leather is one of the benefits, as well as the downsides to being an individual artist/craftsperson/designer (whatever). I can usually come up with some pretty unique solutions to the needs of a customer by dropping by the tannery - even though sometimes it will come with a very hefty price-tag depending on what type of leather it is, as well as what grading it has. Horween specializes in very good quality leathers. I get to see a lot of samples that were made for specialty markets, and I have a huge library of swatches of ridiculously cool leathers going back to my student years. Unfortunately most of them will probably never be available to me, so I keep them for color and tannage reference and daydreaming.

The leather choice issue is also why finding a variety of crust leather that I can custom dye is so very appealing. If I could get a somewhat large quantity manufactured without committing to making hundreds of shoes all the same color, the volume pricing could potentially offset some of the cost of providing custom and semi-custom color options.

I do buy some upper leather from other suppliers - except for some premium Italian stuff, I keep having more bad experiences than good (mostly inconsistent quality). I don't feel bad about making those my last resort these days.
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I need to update my materials and make new cards and a new brochure type thing. I would really like to do some promotional items to sell, such as T-shirts and cycling caps. They would be printed with a variation of my header logo, so I've been shopping around screen printing shops and researching a particular cycling cap I like. I don't know if I'd be pursuing this while I'm working on the trial run, or afterward when I'm reviewing the trial and working out the logistics of a larger run.

I would love to hear from people any ideas on taking pre-orders or something similar. I'm wondering if using something like Kickstarter to graduate to the next stage might be something to consider.
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Some of you may have noticed that I took down my link to Etsy (as well as the pieces on it). I decided to try them out at a local boutique - Wolfbate & B-girls in Chicago's Logan Square. It's a pretty nifty shop, and people can see my stuff in person. I will probably gradually restock some items on Etsy, but I want to see how things go at the shop first.
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In an effort to make space (and a few dollars), I have one of my sewing machines up for sale on Craigslist here.

I'm thinking of holding a studio sale to make some space, and get rid of materials I probably won't ever get around to using - I keep buying fabric for projects that I don't have time to make. I'm going to be pretty hectic once the bike shoe lasts get here, so it needs to happen pretty soon - if at all.

Until next time,

Cheers!

Bike Shoes Update 7/12/11

This is just a really quick post to say that I've closed the pre-orders for my bike shoes trial run. The last model is on it's way to my last-maker. On order are twelve pairs of shoes to be made once the lasts come back.

While I'm waiting for the lasts, I'll be collecting supplies that need to be restocked and start discussing color and detail options available to the customers.

Then I get to be the crazed shoemaker!



In case you're bored with the same picture over and over again, I'll give you something new to look at next time!

There are a few details to work out, but there will be some more announcements to be made in the near future. I'm applying to participate in an event coming up that I'll post once I've heard back.

Cheers!

Bike Shoes Are Go! Plus a Boston Trip Recap

Fantastic news!

I seem to have met my minimum to start on the trial run of the bike shoes!

It would be great to get a few more people in on this, so give me a ring or send a message if you are interested. I plan on sending my bike last to be copied by the end of the week, so I need a final list of sizes by Monday, July 11th.

If you are local, it's possible that I can measure you myself (depending on time and your distance from me or proximity to CTA trains) - It's nice to talk to people in person - so it's preferable if it's possible.

Oh, and FYI: Because this isn't meant to be custom, you don't need to be local or follow a rigorous measuring protocol to take part in this.


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Boston was blast!

I was able to make the trip because there were a number of things going on - a high school reunion, networking with bike folks, pedorthics research and then on to a family reunion in Rhode Island to celebrate my parents birthdays. This trip was packed, and long and cool.

Did I mention long? It's been ages since I've left town for more than a few days - here I've been back a week and I'm still getting back into a groove, if you've made it this far into the post, you already know why I'm especially excited right now!

Out of shear luck, the tenants where I crashed in Boston were mostly involved with bikes somehow, so I got off to a great start meeting people just by staying put and hanging out (thanks Laurel!). Besides the where I stayed (and the reunion), I also got to to have a great time hanging out and catching up with some old friends!

I have rediscovered how bad my sense of direction can sometimes be by wandering around Boston. I probably would have been better off without trying to geek-out with the map program on my phone and just submitted to looking like a tourist - I can actually read a map, though you wouldn't know it if you'd seen me. Ha!

I still managed to stop by Geekhouse Bikes in Boston and Royal H Cycles in Somerville (as well as an unplanned visit to Independent Fabrications!). Thanks everyone for taking time out to talk, show me cool stuff and chat about how and why we make things.

I made it in to a few bike shops - both for eye-candy and to see what is what. Fitters at two locations of Wheelworks indulged me in conversation about how various fitting systems incorporate footwear issues (and vice-versa). Superb Bicycles in Boston was a pretty cool shop to visit - cool bikes and a cool selection of bike-centric clothing.

From Boston, I bussed it to Rhode Island to hang out with extended family (that I don't see often), immediate family (that I should see more often) and wish my parents a happy birthday!

My flights were mostly uneventful and now I'm back in Chicago!

Now, I have a bunch of stuff to make happen, so I'm signing off. I hope you've had a lovely Fourth of July weekend and you're looking forward to a great week ahead.

Cheers!

Updates Before I'm Boston Bound!

I am leaving for Boston tomorrow morning! While I'm away, I'll be checking my e-mail to discuss the bike shoe project, etc...

The Bike Shoe trial is listed at the top of my News Page

I'm just starting to add descriptions to the work on the footwear portfolio page - just a bit at a time.

Cheers!

Bike Shoes Trial Run!

So, yesterday I mentioned I want to do a trial run on the bike shoes - here is an updated version of the proposal:


The basic design is engineered to be pretty quick builds, so I can make them relatively inexpensively. Since the big hurdle is the cost of getting the lasts copied, I need a small group of interested people to put down deposits. While, I'm not comfortable stating it here, I have a trial price in mind that should at least cover a small range of lasts, the materials, plus help me keep the lights on. This is for handmade - not made to measure - bike shoes for use with clips and straps (heck, there's nothing that says you need to use these on a bike!). If you are interested, contact me and we'll discuss what options* there are and how to proceed. I'm not asking for specific sizes - give me a shout and we'll see if a natural range results. I am thinking at least six people will make it a go, and I need to know soon, as it takes some time to get the lasts copied.

It will help speed things up greatly if - before you contact me - you get your feet measured using a Brannock device at your local shoe store. Whether you identify M/F or other, please have them use the mens' device. Make sure you are standing up for the measuring of both feet. The instructions for the use of these devices have changed over the years - your particular store might not follow this set.

I have to get back to the studio, now, but please get in touch if you are interested or you have questions.

Cheers!

* I know not everyone wants bright red shoes - color is one of the points to discuss with me!

There Will Be More Bike Shoes!

Now that the Bike Chic fashion show is over, it's time to keep going!



I'm really liking the bike shoes so far, but I'm hoping to get a few people into other sizes this summer. The basic design (the red ones) are designed to be pretty quick builds, so I can make them relatively inexpensively. I still haven't costed them out, but I'd love to chat about it if you are interested. The big hurdle is the cost of getting the lasts copied. If I can get a few people in different sizes interested in putting down deposits on handmade - not made to measure - bike shoes for use with clips and straps - we can discuss a reasonable price. I don't have specific sizes in mind yet, so give me a shout and we'll see if a natural range results. I need to know soon, as it takes some time to get the lasts copied.

I'd like to play with composite lay-up, but that may dramatically increase the price - I will discuss it if there is interest.

On a related note (to handmade bike stuff anyway), I'll be visiting the Boston area very soon. I'm hoping to get an opportunity to meet some bike framebuilders while I am there - give me a shout if you are one and you have time for a chat, or maybe you know someone and can get me in touch.

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I need to make space both at home and at the studio, so....

I'm selling one of my bikes - here's the craigslist ad.

I am selling one of my industrial sewing machines. This is the Consew flatbed straightstitch machine with reverse. It has a nearly new clutch motor and K-legs with a heavy wood top - I'll be asking $200 as is (which is a good deal for those parts alone) - I'll up the price if I decide to lug the head to the machine shop to have it checked out. Contact me ASAP if you want it as is- there is no listing for it yet.

Bike Chic, Bike Shoes And A Plan

For those of you who couldn't make it to the Bike Chic fashion show today, here are some photos of the finished shoes - later, I'll post some shots from the show itself!



Something that resembles a plan:

Over the last year in the studio I’ve been trying some new things and continuing explorations already in progress – in a roundabout way, it’s been about feeling out a direction to take my work. I’ve decided to focus most of my studio efforts into developing and making cycling footwear and accessories. This is a subject that will allow me to continue to explore many of the things that I enjoy – such as materials research, last design and shoe/object making. Refocusing my studio work will require some changes both directly and indirectly related to my practice.

To focus on cycling stuff, I need to commit to some research and development, as well as some further professional development. I’ve decided to finish my prerequisites to sit for the Certified Pedorthist exam. Getting certified is partly for research, and partly for credentials to help me get a job. I think having my C.Ped will be useful if I’m making shoes that need to be particularly bio-mechanically sound, plus while I was taking the pedorthics course two years ago, I learned some techniques I can apply to engineering footwear. This should be a win-win situation – I’m expecting it to take a while to see the cycling shoes project bare fruit -- and having my C.Ped will keep me employed until then.

I'm still taking commissions - not only bike shoes, though that's going to be my main focus moving forward - plus right now, I am seeking something to help pay bills and opportunities to fulfill the intern hours required for pedorthics certification.

Finally, I still have my small leather goods for sale on Etsy - they want to make you look sharp and hold your keys, cards and cash for you!

Bike Chic Thursday!

Thursday at noon at Daley Plaza downtown Chicago is the Bike Chic fashion show!


Probably without the killer heat - bonus!

Hope to see you there.

Bike Chic Fashion Show Is Next Week!

Hey everybody! Just a friendly reminder that Chicago is presenting the Bike Chic fashion show on Thursday June 9th at noon in Daley Plaza!

I'll be providing the shoes to designer Seth Meyerink-Griffin's two looks on the runway. We should be doing the fittings on Saturday and I'm waiting until the show to post the final pics of the shoes.

On a related note, I've updated my About page a little bit, and I'll probably be making a significant post after the show next week.

Have a good weekend, and I hope to see people at the show if you're local!

Bike Shoes Progress

Things are certainly coming along with the shoes I'm making for the Bike Chic fashion show - here's a look at them so far:


The shellac isn't as nice as the trial I did last year, but I think for now it turns out how it turns out, so they are ready for soling, which starts tomorrow.

The fittings are this weekend, so that is my deadline - maybe I'll have a chance to make up the red ones before the show?


Oh, and visit my Etsy Store and buy things!

These Could Be Yours Now...

They're made of leather and they're for sale!

Small Things!

My headache finally went away late this morning - it's been one of those ones that's not excruciating in the way I imagine a migraine would be, but it sort of clouded everything and made me swear alot. I blame the wacky weather we've been having this Spring. But the good news is I've finished with the fun stuff! I have a pile of small leather items to put up on Etsy:



There really was a pile and there is even photographic evidence because sometimes I'm easily amused... but I can't show it to you now because that camera isn't at home. It also has all the nice pictures of what's about to be up for sale. So tonight and tomorrow morning I'm working on a spreadsheet for costing the items - I'll edit the pictures tomorrow sometime and get the listings up.

I'll be introducing two styles of wallets and two types of single loop key fobs.
The first is the same as ones I did last year, but using Horween leather:


And the second one is the Bondage fob:

Instead of the "D" ring I usually use for the snap to attach, I used a steel "O" ring - not the most original name, but it'll work.

So, I'll leave you with the prototype wallet and say goodnight:

Appearing Soon!

I wanted to let people know what stuff to be on the look out for coming up really soon.

On June 9th, Chicago is presenting the Bike Chic: Commuter Fashion show as part of it's Bike to Work Week, being put on by Bike Chicago.

A while back when I found that a friend, Seth Meyerink-Griffin, was possibly taking part in a bike fashion show, it seemed like an ideal time to take my bike shoe explorations off of hiatus.

Well, Seth is doing the show! As of now, my participation is kind of unofficial, but I will be providing the shoes worn by his models for the Bike Chic show. The shoe lasts I was modifying recently are for one of the pairs of shoes being modeled.

Here are a couple images I'm basing my designs off of - just a couple quick sketches from my sketchbook. These aren't the final designs and I'm working with Seth to keep the color story coherent, so this is just a little something:


Bike related things have been at the forefront of my brain for a while now, and I'm happy to have found something to spur new activity on the bike shoes.
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In other news, I've had a delay with the hardware for the small leather goods, so I can't finish them up before I go out of town for family stuff. Final assembly will happen Monday and Tuesday, and I'll be listing things on my Etsy site in the evenings as they are finished.

I will be doing a new style of single key fob, as well as the old ones, but in new leathers. I am introducing two wallet styles - one is a chain style with the double looped fob, and the other is something to put in your pocket or bag and can be outfitted with a grommet for a chain if desired. Here is a shot of the prototype chain wallet with fob:

... and here's my little assembly line:


So that is all for now. I'll definitely put up a post when I get the Etsy listings up and running, but I also have had some things on my mind that I'm pulling together. They're related to current projects and I'd like to get some feedback on them, so I'm going to put some of them to text while I'm on the train.

They Will Be Shoes!

I am working on some shoes for something upcoming (tease!) and I'm working on modding a pair of athletic lasts I've had floating around for a bit. The project is coming up soon enough that the lasts and shoes need to be good first time out, so I'm taking it slow and steady.

The technique for reducing the vertical height of the last uniformly from the bottom of the last uses a flex-shaft, drill bit and a stop-collar:



I've drilled two different depths, so when I rasp down the remaining material, I will have to blend the curves:



A little tool I've had for many years, that has proven to be invaluable to me, is this little miniature spoke shave. I use it to make fine adjustment and smooth out the bottoms of lasts:


I have a great deal of shaping left to do, so I'm expecting to be working on it most of the week between other projects and studying/research: