What I Did Over Summer Vacation: Part1

   Above:  the first moccasins that I sketched in my book.  They turned out too big, but encouraging.

My first successful pair on my pasty legs in the park!  The cutouts are inspired by a ribcage and the fringe is rounded like a picket fence.  Sandally, sort of.

A loafer pair that my sister Katie and I "collaborated" on.  They are made of fake alligator and we stamped them with a paint-stamp-pad from the craft store, then sprayed them with a leather finisher.  

These are Heart-inspired moccasins that I made for Julie's birthday.  They are made of a slightly textured white leather and pale-grey suede.

These are the backs of the ones above.

A brief history of (my) moccasins:

     Last spring, I began noticing moccasins in shoe-stores in my neighborhood, and for once I was not repelled by their hippie associations.  Instead, I thought, of course, I could make those.  And they would be even cooler.  

     It turns out I could, and I'm not as egoistic as I sound. It's in my blood.  My dad owns a cobbler shop in Canton, Ohio, and I come from a family of shoerepairmen and leatherworkers: my great-great uncle, grandfather, father, and two uncles own or have owned their own  leatherworking, cobbling, or saddle shops.  So, after briefly considering the Shoemaking 1 class at F.I.T., I decided it would be a better idea to spend time with the pops out in the heartland and really get immersed shoemaking and leatherworking processes.  

     Ohio is a great place to learn about leather and shoemaking for a number of reasons:

1. Proximity to cows, who provide the leather, which is cheaper in Ohio since it hasn't been shipped or taxed yet.
2. A tradition of saddlemaking and leatherworking, as most of the state is rural and people ride horses for fun.
3. The Amish population is the largest in the country there.  They use horses as their main means of transportation and make some of the most beautiful belts, shoes, harnesses, saddles, etc.  They also make delicious cheese, wine, and pretzels, and Weaver's Leather, where I purchased most of my leather, is in the heart of Amish country.
4. There aren't very many distractions.  As in, it's not New York.  There is not a ton to do in the middle of nowhere.  The only time I hung out with people my own age (Thanks Raquel!) , we went to an effing bonfire.    Another time I met people my age at a monthly art night in Canton, and they too suggested a bonfire later in the evening.  If you like bonfires and know the right people, it's the place for you.  If, like me, you have zero friends in the Buckeye State, you might spend a lot of late nights in Dad's cobbler shop getting high on his supposedly "green" shoe glue 'til the wee hours, and trying to make stuff, which is what happened to me.

More later!