Customer Reviews

The Art of Making Beautiful Fashion Doll Shoes

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I make and design clothes for the Madame Alexander doll Cissy and have always been frustrated with the scarcity/lack of selection/high price of shoes that I can buy for this doll. So, when I saw this book advertised in one of the many doll magazines I browse monthly, I knew I had to have it. The instructions are fairly easy to follow though sometimes the photographs showing the various steps are not located on the page facing the written instruction (the sole reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5). The instructions for making a permanent last were very helpful. This book contains patterns for lasts & shoes for Cissy and Gene in particular, but the instructions and methods in this book could be applied to many dolls though I wouldn't recommend it for people wanting to make anything for Barbie. There are also instructions for making molds for heels (if you have a high-heeled doll like Cissy or Gene). Following these instructions, I successfully made my first pair of shoes, and, because I made them myself, I was able to customize them to the outfit I had made. A great book for making shoes for dolls for whom you cannot cheaply and easily buy decent shoes.

This book is pretty on the inside and outside. Lots of colored photos. Plenty of photos of the shoes they have made and who they were made for. But no patterns to go with any of them except two. Very involved detailed process for making the solid shape to build your shoes upon. Brief explanations of various shoes over the centuries is nice, but don't expect to be able to design a shoe from many of the line drawings of shoes. The drawings are crude with no variations for each time period. They are not in color and mention no fabrics or popular colors for the time period. Nice glossary of tools used, shoe parts and techniques. There are 8 sources where you can purchased parts, etc. And last but not least there is a nice full page plug for the new upcoming book. I gave a three because the book is pretty, photos done nicely and process explanations were clear.

I really loved this book. I have no experience in creating clothing for my 15½" Franklin Mint fashion dolls & the shoes that came with the dolls are a major disappointment. I hope to be able to rectify that soon with my husband's help in creating lasts & molds.

I gave the book 4 stars because, although the creation & design processes are detailed very thoroughly, there is a dearth of good photos of finished shoes. Many of the shoes that are shown tend to be somewhat hidden under the hem of a doll's outfit, the folds of artistically draped fabric, or the lid of a colorful candy box.

As suggestions for a second edition: If I could re-edit this book, I would add more finished shoes, add patterns for other popular fashion dolls (such as Franklin Mint vinyls,) & change the typeface font to something less fussy, with full margin justification.

If you're buying this thinking you'll be making shoes in no time, put it back on the cyber shelf and pick up something more basic. This is inspirational, but not necessarily educational if you're just learning to make shoes from beginning to end.

There are some rudimentary sketches and somewhat sloppy-looking photographs of shoes in progress to follow along for making your own shoes, along with some advanced directions for making lasts (assuming you have access to the materials needed), but if you're just beginning to make doll shoes, you might be a little bewildered without some pattern guidance, at least for your initial pair or two. Lasts are not easy to make either, and today, for the beginning shoemaker, there are some inexpensive alternative blanks that can be purchased through doll supply stores that can be embellished (and that's where books like this can be invaluable to even the novice). They generally come in vinyl form, in the size of the doll of your choice, can be trimmed to the size you want and then covered with the fabric you choose, all for less than a few dollars a pair usually. Tonner, Madame Alexander and some of the ball-jointed dolls are all covered the last time I looked.

Where this book does succeed is in providing gorgeous photos of period shoes with lots of ideas for embellishments. I love to haunt the ribbons and trim sections of fabric and art stores looking for odds and ends and this is a terrific place to put all those bits and pieces to good use. This book with a little imagination and either some prefab lasts or if you've got the skill, your own lasts and uppers, and you'll have endless hours of shoemaking ahead of you.

Just don't look to make any money selling these, this is an expensive habit!

This book has given me a wonderful boost in making my own shoes.
I would highly recommend this book.