Amber sunrise

Gintarinis saulėtekis

Longing for colours

This year Winter is brown and grey. After a couple of weeks of a real Winter we have rain again. I am longing for colours, waiting for Spring, felting for Spring:

Shoemaking

My son had to tell about is his mothers profession during his English lesson last week. He tried to describe what I am doing. Together with his teacher they decided that I am a shoemaker:) OK let it be so :)
In recent couple of years I really focused in studying the secrets of shoemaking. Reading history, studying materials, communicating and cooperating with creative shoemakers and shoe designers. The most helpful for me were practical advices of an old shoemaker. He explained what are the most important things for a comfortable shoes. Height of counter, sole deflection, durability of materials etc. Combined these tips with my knowledge of the possibilities of felt my felted wool footwear was be made into very warm comfortable shoes. And now a lot of wearers are enjoying my felt boots in all over the world.

With proper materials, tools and skills feltmakers can make comfortable shoes. Here are few tips about how to do it:
1. Proper materials . Felted wool should hold the shape very well and not loose it after months of wearing. I use rough robust wool, which structure is not damaged with chemicals it is not carbonized and dyed. If you use dyed thin wools, then your shoes will need additional heel and toe supports.
Soles for the felt boots should be deep with an edges for stitching. Such soles gives additional support to the shape of the boot and can be stitched to the felt boots.
When glueing special cardboard heel pad or leather is necessary between the felted shoe and the soles
2. Tools. One of the most important tools for a proper shoes are the shoe lasts. They should fit the soles perfectly. If you want to have comfortable flexible shoes, shape of the sole should repeat the shape of the shoe which is stitched to it. I ordered few new models of the shoe lasts. They were designed especially for the soles which I found very suitable for felt boots:

One more important thing - strong stitches. This is easy, when soles repeat the shape of the shoe lasts. Felted footwear made on them fits perfectly - no empty spaces, no bended rubber edges appear. Well, this part of the job - glueing and stitching - I give to do to a real shoemaker, because it requires strong fingers. If you want to make it by yourself - use adhesive for shoes and leather stitching needles.

Supplies for shoemaking you can find in my Etsy shop

Felt wedge boots

Felt wedge boots for my mom. Just finished them, almost in time for Winter :)

 You can make your owd felted boots, using such shoe lasts for felting and wedge rubber soles

Felted wool boot for men

Felted wool boots for men.
These are size 48:

Shoe soles for your own projects of extra large sizes you can find in my Etsy shop supplies for shoemaking
And felted wool shoes for men with ethno motives:

For both:

Rudnosiukai

I just love these! Felted wool boots colors of teddy bear :) Knitted/felted top I made of fuzzy wool yarn, it gives warmer look for the boots. And they really are warm and cozy. Rubber toes saved boots even in a heavy rain. But it is better to use shoe impregnant (suitable for textile shoes / suede leather).

Filzstiefel Kastaniebraun

Felt wool boots chesnut brown

kable knit mittens of organic wool yarn

Batsiuviai su batais

Felted wool boots Gray Black

Felted wool platform shoes

Felted stone

Felted stone - an old dreem of mine:

And new wild looking step-in shoes. I love this model - short soft knitted-felted trim and solid wool felt shoe. Very comfortable felted shoes will fly to Finland tomorrow:)

Felted Water / Veltas Vaduo

Ar žinojote, kad spalio 5 diena yra tarptautinė veltinio diena? :) Šiais metais FeltUnited komanda paskelbė jai temą Vanduo.

Lietuvos veltinio amatininkų gildija ta proga ruošiasi parodai ta pačia tema. Mano pasiruošimai juda link pabaigos. 

Lašelis:

Batai banguoti:

Coming up Autumn...

It is cool morning today... Autumn days come quickly. Let natural wool boots to warm up your feet :) Felted boots for Autumn and Winter
Shoe part I felted of natural undyed wool, it is durable, solid and very warm. Top part is knitted of 100% wool yarn and felted, this process makes felt more flexible, soft, but also durable and warm.

Rubber toe soles

I was looking for a perfect soles for my felted boots for a long time. In traditional way galoshes are outer shoes worn in inclement weather to protect the felted shoes (valenki) and keep the feet dry. But traditional galoshes are so clumsy and big...

I found the soles, which reminds of galoshes, but are much more elegant. They are with rubber toe, so the part of the felted shoe, which is the most vulnerable to moisture, is safe now :) From now on, my felted boots and clogs, can be ordered with  these soles.

In my Etsy shop you can find these rubber soles for felt shoes for your own projects