Finish your handmade sneakers
Hi lovely quilters and crafters!
I am back with the second post about the handmade quilted sneakers I finished recently. If you don't know what I am talking about, read PART I first and then come back ;)
So! I finished the last post right at the stage in which I needed to start marking the placement of my eyelets and using the multipliers. Here, I have some advice before I move on.
- Making holes with the pliers on quilted fabric with all those three layers was impossible. I changed to small pointy scissors, the help of my unpicker and the best tool possible, a punch (it is the red tool that you see below in the pictures), that I already had from my pattern making course days. Whichever tool you use, be careful with the fabric layers as mine suffered quite a lot and the inside of the holes didn't look as nice.
-The kit I got from Sneaker Kit already came with eyelets but I didn't like the colour much so I bought different ones online.
-Take your time for this step and rest your hands. Mine were quite sore by the end of it all.
And now, let's go back to the steps!
Last step-by-step handmade sneakers tutorial
6. I used my traced pattern pieces to mark the holes for the eyelets using a Frixion pen. Then, I created the holes as explained above, using the pliers to attach the eyelets.
7. After doing this on both sneakers, I marked the holes for the soles using again the pattern pieces as a guide. Here, I would suggest to use the punch tool to open the wholes so it is easier for the needle and thread to go through and to also punch the already marked holes on the soles.
This will make the process much easier, although it is probable that you will end up with quite sore hands! I imagine that doing this through soft leather is much easier than with 3 layers of fabric...
In any case, take your time. I did mine in different days to rest. With the kit, you receive instructions as to how to do this step properly.
To finish them off, I made my own shoelaces as well, using the same fabric as the lining :) It was a bit difficult to pull them through the eyelets as I made too wide, but it worked out well in the end.
Oh! And you also need to sew with thread (I used embroidery cotton thread with 6 strands) the bottom part of the front outer pieces to the tongue, in order to keep them together. This part did not work out well with the right side and one side has quite a gap. I tried to fixed it but it is not perfect.
And voilà! My first pair of handmade quilted sneakers is finished! In general the experience has been really good. I think the inside of my sneakers could be much neater but I am really happy with the result. I think I will make another pair next year with the black sole and maybe an actual quilting design? Will see!
Thanks so much for reading and see you again soon!
Ana
xxx