Custom Make your Own Shoes and Handbags Author:Mary Wales Loomis Subtitled: A Simplified Method of Making Women's Shoes and Handbags at Home; 32 photographs * 185 drawings * 13 color plates — From back cover: — With the prices of women's shoes so high, here is a practical, easy-to-use, money-saving book that can show you how to custom-make beautiful shoes for yourself. The author has developed a unique method o... more »f making a comfortable, permanent last from an old pair of good-fitting shoes. From this last you can make your own up-to-date, fashionable shoes. Her method requires neither nailing nor machinery, only an ordinary sewing machine, to stitch the upper parts of the shoes, and shoe-maker's cement, to assemble the parts.
The author also describes ways of making your own lasts by casting your feet in plaster of Paris, and ways to make and label your master patterns. She tells how to choose material for the shoes: fabric, leather, and suede. Then, in easy, step-by-step instructions, you are shown how to construct the entire shoe: the upper, the heel, and the sole. The next section adds the decorative touch--making insole, adding trims, bows, and buckles. Also included are directions for making sandals, envelope bags, and evening bags.« less