Saturday, March 28, 2009

Shoe insanity and dress up fun

My friend M came over today to find a ren faire costume and, you know, it's just as much fun to play dress up now as it was as kids. Even better, the shoes usually fit and I've gotten MUCH better with that lipstick. :) She did find some stuff that looked like it was made for her - a Rohan-ish linen dress I made years ago for a Return of the King party and haven't worn since, mostly because the dark blue with gold accents does nothing for me. She, however, looked gorgeous in it. We're going to Scarborough Faire with her and her husband in a few weeks so I'll snap pictures then, promise!

For my own outfit I plan on re=using my fairy garb from last year but the boots I wore with it are a total no-go. They're quite cute but the poly suede doesn't breath and there's no good support and the heels punch through the dirt ... such a pain. So what's a gal to do but make her own shoes? I'm using a McCall's pattern for moccasins suspiciously like those sold by Medieval Moccasins and of which the internet has no record. Hm. And the non-suspiciously-familiar shoes included in the package have been reissued as a Butterick pattern. Discuss amongst yourselves and formulate your own conspiracy theories.

I've traced out the pattern and got it fitted to my size (not easy when I'm apparently two sizes below the XXS - thanks a lot McCall's) and will start cutting tomorrow - tonight I'm exhausted, still a little shaky from the (cough) six cups of coffee I had (conference this morning and it's what they had to drink!) and really not in a good state to be holding anything bladed. :)

In similar news, DH found out about my cobbling aspirations and decided to make up his own pair of boots, version C from Butterick 5233.



Unfortunately he's two sizes BIGGER than the largest size (XL) so more mods had to be done. And he wants a cuff and for those tabs on the side to be smoothed out for a more medieval, less Indian look. So tonight he learned how to trace a pattern, pin-fit it, and size up. :) He did good!

And now for sleep. Soooo sleeeepy.

5 comments:

Becky said...

I agree, dress-up is fun! And I'm looking forward to seeing those pics-- I have to admit I'm a huge Lord of the Rings geek and I love the movie costumes from that, so I'm curious to see what your dress looks like!

Sherril said...

I love that shoe pattern. Thanks for pointing it out. I would have never seen it otherwise.

Lory said...

I had no idea that there were patterns out there for shoes! Qu;ick ?, does this pattern have a sole of sorts? Or do you have a regular shoe underneath and the pattern shoe goes over it as a cover? I'm curious now. :)

Hugs,
Lory

Alicia said...

Thanks for the encouragement - I need to shoot some quick pics of DH trying out his first draft of these shoes. He's done quite good, though they're not, by any stretch, easy. Foot fitting is apparently up there with pants fitting but without the nice resources for helping. Still, it's coming together well. Mine shoes are also in progress but, unfortunately, not at a point where they're very photographic.

And to answer your question, Lory - they do come with soles of a sort. You're supposed to use leather or suede for the shoes and it seems to give you the option of cutting out and gluing or sewing on a thicker leather sole. What I mean by that is that there's no directions to do that, per say, but included with patterns are an outline of the finished sole which would be very easy to add yourself. I want a bit more between me and the ground so I'm going to pick up some thin flip flops tomorrow and glue them on with some industrial level glue. Ok, it's not ACTUALLY industrial glue but it's pretty bonding stuff. :)

Therisa said...

If you still have it, could you tell us which McCall's pattern number you used?