
Mules, 2012
It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one makes or
buys some new piece of apparel, several other purchases or
handicraft projects "to wear with it" soon follow. Once I had
finally finished a new, sorely needed pair of stays and began
planning the photoshoot, it occurred to me that I absolutely
needed a pair of pretty little mules. Of course they would have
very little other use, but on the other hand a good opportunity
to gain experience on shoe styling must not be wasted.
The methods I used are largely based on the excellent tutorial
on Your Wardrobe Unlock'd by Loren Dearborn, which I also used
on my
first 18th century shoe project.

Details of La toilette (Boucher)
(1742) and The Declaration of Love (Jean François de Troy)
(1731). Wikimedia Commons
After some search I found a perfect
base for the shoes: An almost unused pair of pumps with a narrow
toe and a high Louis heel. They were an internet auction find,
and even though I was a bit worried that they might be too small
for me the shape was so great and the price dirt cheap that I
decided to take the risk. I had been right, once they arrived I
couldn't even get them on my feet. But I did not despair, as
I reasoned that cutting the back off would fix that, as
mules have to be a bit small anyway to stay on one's feet.
I probably wouldn't use them much for actual walking anyway.

So, for the first thing I took heavy
scissors and cut the back of the shoe off. I also cut a small
slit at the front of the opening to get more room. I cut away
the sides gradually until I was happy with the shape.
The shoes were assembled like the ones I used for my
first re-styled shoes, which was another reason for
choosing them. The sole piece continued on the underside of the
heel, and was easily pried off with some steam and a
screwdriver. This time I managed to rip the hole sole off which
made things much easier. The heel tip was fixed much more
soundly, but I managed to lift it a few millimeters.

One of the most characteristic elements of
18th century shoes is the louis heel. It's hard to come across
on modern footwear. Heels that curve on the back and sides are
around (mostly low and mid-high) but they usually lack the
gently sloping lower curve of the true louis heel that continues
long under the arch of the foot. I had for a long time toyed
with the idea of padding the underside of a modern heel with
some sort of paste, and this seemed to be the perfect project
for experimenting with that.

I used Milliput-epoxy putty, which was very
easy to work with - even nostalgic, as I felt like a kid playing
with plasticine. I was happy to find that it was a useful skill
to acquire back then! I added the putty on small amounts of the
underside of the heel and shaped it with my fingers. The left
and right heel are not quite identical but as this was an
experimental project I'm not going to be bothered by that.

I left the heels to dry overnight and on the
next day I attacked the toes. I cut a 1cm wide strip off the
front opening to get rid of the stiff edge which might also show
through the covering fabric. Now I could already get my feet in
quite well. I draped the pattern for the missing center part of
the opening with muslin and cut it doubled on thin leather. Then
I glued a leather piece on both inside and outside leaving the
original lowered opening between them.

I had shaped the leather a bit with
steam to fit the curving shape on the top of the foot before
gluing. With the altered heel and toe the shoes were beginning
to get the period look.
As the shoes were intended to match
the stays I naturally chose the same coutil (which I had plenty
of left) cor covering material. I found out that apart from
corsetry coutil is also an excellent shoe material, as it's
sturdy but also molds to shape.

I draped the pattern for the toe with
the help of muslin and tape and cut it with generous seam
allowances. With my previous shoes I had just glued the
fabric straight on the shoe, but this time I tried to shape it
before gluing with good results.

First of all, I cut the toe on bias to get
more stretch, ans sewed a gathering thread a few millimeters
outside the sole edge. I steamed and stretched the rising front
edge to match the shape created with the leather pieces, and
then placed the covering on the shoes, gathering the sides. Then
I steamed and eased the fabric with my fingers until it molded
quite smoothly over the shoe. This time I managed to get even
the narrow toe quite smooth, though there remained a thick bunch
of seam allowances on the underside. Working with the fabric
covering was also made easier this time by the damask pattern of
the coutil being to faint that I decided to ignore all matching
when cutting.
For all the glueing I used Tixo-contact
adhensive to which I had been introduced to on my first shoe
project. After gluing the covering I carefully cut of some of
the heaviest pleats on the gathered seam allowances, but lacked
the courage to trim them more thoroughly in fear of raveling.

This time I covered the heel after the toe,
reasoning that covering the fabric edge with the leather would
be much better option than vice versa. I had first planned to
make the heel light toned in keeping with the pastel palette,
then I set my mind on extravagant red leather. Sadly the scraps
of red leather I had planned to use proved to be too small for
the altered heel when I began cutting, so I had to make do with
what I found at home - it's so annoying to interrupt a good
manic holiday handicrafts session to hunt for materials.
The most suitable thing I found on the stash
was a bit heavier dark brown leather, which was, in the end, not
bad that all - period mules often seemed to have a dark heel
combined with a light fabric covering. Besides, it brings some
contrast to the bright pastel shades of the toe and also
balanced the overall look.

As the leather was a bit thicker I cut the
pieces on the most stretchy parts I found. I also steamed and
shaped them thoroughly before glueing. When I had applied the
glue the leather became much more elastic, and I was able to
ease it over the heel quite neatly. On the top of the heel I
turned the edges over the sole edge, and on the bottom I turned
them under the raised heel tip with the help of a
screwdriver. It was hard work and I managed to scratch
both the leather and my hands at places. While I was playing
with the glue on the heels I had protected the fabric toes with
plastic bags.
For the binding I used the same rose pink
satin ribbon I had used in the stays. I had also used similar in
my first shoes. Like then, the ribbon could not be neatly eased
on curved edges now either. The front edge needed a binding, but
on the afterthought I realized that the binding around the heel
edge is both completely unnecessary and bland ugly. Compared to
needle and thread glue is pleasantly fast but also impractically
final.

Now was the time to finally glue the sole
back on. First I tried it on, secured it with tape and pencilled
the altered line of the heel. The excess would have been removed
more neatly with a sharp knife, but I was too impatient to find
one and used the scissors already close at hand. I glued the
sole in several stages, first the toe, then the arch, last the
heel. The re-shaped sole does not quite match at the heel, but
maybe the next time I'll be better able to anticipate problems
brought on by altering the heel shape and also work more
carefully.

The wrinkled binding on the front edge
annoyed me so much that I came up with the idea of covering it
with a ribbon ruching. Though not common, I found a few extant
examples of this kind of decoration to justify it. Ruching sewn
though the edge would also secure the binding. First I tried
gathering the ribbon, which looked stuffy, so I ripped it off
and began anew, this time pleating it. Pleats looked slightly
better.
When I had finished I realized that the pink ruching was kinda
loud, and needed some other matching decoration on the toe to
balance it. I had already given the decoration some thought
before beginning the project. Embroidery would have been the
period choice number one, but it should have been worked on the
material before the covering, making matching more challenging,
and besides I was not prepared to give the needed amount of time
and effort for this particular project.

I had some of the braid I has used
for covering the seams of the stays left, and I began to pin it
over the toe trying on different patterns. It looked even more
loud, and I had to face that my shoes had gone from delicate
rococo elegance to the realm of burlesque. But I did not want to
take off the ruching since it would leave needle holes and was
also useful in covering the gaps on the sides, and it would
simply not work alone. Thus I decided to make a cute pair of
carnevale shoes instead and go with the braid.

I pinned the braid on the shoe very lightly
into a victorianesque looped design. Once it was more or less
symmetrical I pinned the crossings and secured them with a few
stitches. Then I pinned the rest of the braid on the top of the
looped braid motif to create a copy for the other shoe. I
finished the braid ends with small machine stitch and glue.

I placed the braid ornaments on top
of the shoe and marked the places for crossings very lightly
with a pencil. For attaching htem I used fabric glue which dries
transparent unlike the yellow-tinted contact adhensive. The
decoration hardly needs strong adhensive, and it would have been
nearly impossible to apply glue on both surfaces and magically
get them align perfectly with no stains. Thus I applied
glue only on the braid save tiny drops on the crossing marks. I
hid the ends under the ruching and secured them with a few
stitches.

The final outcome of the shoe project
is a bit different than I originally had in my mind. Actually
I'm not quite sure whether the mules are adorable or horrible.
Our dancing master quite fittingly described them as "candy
porn". As I'm probably not going to use them in very serious
re-enacting anyway they was as well be a little bit silly
- and besides, they are far from being the only item of dubious
historical accuracy in my 18th century closet. Anyway, I had a
lot of fun making them, and learned quite a bit too.
