Me Made: The Carmen Sandal

OMG SHOES!
I can honestly tell you I never thought I would make a pair of shoes but wowza I did it! Lisa from The Shoe Camaraderie sent me a kit to make, review and give feedback on so, here are my thoughts!

The Carmen Sandal Kit comes with all the materials you will need to make a pair of shoes. If you have never made shoes before some extra tools are required like leather punches and an oblong hole punch. It also (surprisingly ;D) dosn’t come with a belt sander (which is used at the end) but the instructions provide suggestions on where you can go and have that done very inexpensively. I also just have to say, the instructions were beautiful, I’ve never seen such detailed and delicate line drawings. Not only does this kit come with PDF instructions but you can also follow along with videos. I just played them on loop as I worked through each step and I felt like Lisa was there in the room with me coaching me through the whole process. If only she was around at the end to help me take photos!

I was actually amazed at how easy the making process was. I thought to myself at the start, how is this pile of materials going to become a lovely shoe? Well, it did and I managed to smash these out in just 2 days. Obviously, the level of difficulty will depend on the style of shoe you are making and I feel that I chose something kind of in the middle. The trickiest part for me was getting my straps on evenly on both shoes and making them fit around my foot nicely. In the photos, they do look a little big and perhaps they are, but I think the leather is just a touch tight at the moment and when it relaxes and stretches a bit my foot will spread along the sole better. Keep in mind though, I do have pretty big feet (size 10 - a result of my Maori genes Im told). Next time I make shoes, I will make my soles the tiniest bit slimmer and shorter.

So here is the finished result! You can still see a couple of pencil marks and maybe a rogue blob of glue but I think they are fabulous! I also don’t have a belt sander so I used a bench grinder (DIY Dad to the rescue). My sole edges are perfectly smooth but that’s part of the whole look for me. They are my handmade shoes! I almost don’t want to wear them and hang them on the wall but I can absolutely see them going with so many of my outfits. I really enjoyed the whole experience of making shoes with this kit, I haven’t stretched my new craft muscle for a while so this was a great challenge. The great thing about making things like this is that you are forced to slow down while you wait for things to dry. I cant wait to make another pair!