Did you know that you can create your own unique fabric using real flowers and use it to make shoes?!
That’s EXACTLY what we did in our latest collaboration with Michelle Moore Designs 🤩
We teamed up with Michelle using her hand-dyed fabric and our ICMS sneaker pattern to create this stand out pair of sneakers, and, if I do say so myself, they look pretty incredible!!
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE A PAIR OF SNEAKERS LIKE THESE?
Overall, these took approximately 8 hours to make (spread out over a few days), and if you are feeling inspired to make a pair for yourself, here’s a list of the all of components that we used 😉:
- Texon board for the insoles
- Foam for the insole
- Toe puffs
- Counters
- Water based glue and Solvent based glue
- Eyelets
- Heat gun
- Speedy stitcher
- Sneaker soles
- Flat lasts
- Sneaker Patterns
WHY DID WE COLLABORATE WITH MICHELLE?
Born from a love of the environment and nature, Michelle loves making unique, one of a kind textiles, and she utilises fresh flowers from her garden which she hand presses leaving a beautiful natural dye on fabric.
Her design process and intention of working with the environment was so inspiring to us; we just knew that together we could create something truly beautiful, that would also serve as inspiration for those who are hungry to infuse more creativity in their shoemaking and think outside of the box.
Michelle’s focus is on helping inspire the future of the textile industry through the use of slower, more thoughtful and creative processes, and I think she’s definitely achieved that in this collaboration.
Who’s ready to run to their garden and experiment hand-pressing the flowers? I am! 🙋♀️
THE MAKING OF THE SNEAKERS
We wanted to showcase as much of Michelle’s print as possible, so we used the flowered fabric on the entire upper with a fresh white contrast stitch and laces to match the soles.
Here’s the breakdown of how we made the shoes:
1. Michelle hand-dyed a large piece of cotton canvas using her garden-grown flowers and posted it to us.
2. We traced the sneaker pattern pieces onto the fabric, cut them out and stitched them together.
Because the fabric was canvas we decided to do a folded edge as we knew this would create a more attractive topline. This meant editing the original sneaker pattern slightly by adding 5mm allowance on to all of the raw edges. It was super simple to do this and shows how easy it is to adjust our patterns to customise the design to your own preferences 🤩
3. For the lining we chose a beautiful valencia leather in a neutral tone which was super soft and we knew would look really great paired with the colours of the upper. It was also a nice opportunity to add in leather, seeing as the whole of the upper was made of canvas.
4. Then, we padded the tongue and collar to give a ‘sneaker-like’ thickness. Padding is a great way of adding volume, comfort and structure to shoes, and we decided to use polyester wadding so that it would feel super soft. To keep in harmony with the style of Michelle’s fabric, we kept the padding to a minimal, but there's lots of room in our sneaker pattern for you to build up layers and experiment with the exact thickness you want 😎
5. After that, we lasted the upper over our ICMS flat last. Choosing the right last shape really makes or breaks a shoe because it determines the overall aesthetic, and we knew our last would be the perfect fit for the style of sneaker that would really compliment Michelle’s designs 🙏
6. From here, we attached our sneaker soles and hand stitched them on using our speedy stitcher in white thread. These soles are super easy to work with as they dont require you to use any glue - the stitches hold everything in place perfectly. 🌟 Also, because the are a ‘cup sole’ style, it gives a beautiful finish even if you’re a complete beginner to sneaker/shoemaking!
We’re SUPER pumped with how these turned out and I hope this project inspires you to think outside the box when choosing fabrics/materials so you can also create something truly unique 🌟
MORE ABOUT MICHELLE MOORE DESIGNS
We asked Michelle some questions about her design process. This is what she said:
How long did it take to create the fabric? (from picking the flowers to pressing to drying time etc)
It took around 4/5 hours total to create the fabric from start to finish. Including making a few samples of the design. The flowers were picked fresh each morning just before I was ready to start hammering them. I worked in sessions of around an hour a day until I was happy with the overall design.
What fabric is it that you used specifically?
I used a cotton canvas purchased from the local art store. It was a medium weight.
Was the fabric sealed with a protection spray or anything like that?
The fabric was pretreated with a mordant to create a chemical bond between pigment and fiber. For cotton fabric, I generally use a tannin first followed by a mordant of Alum. After the piece was finished I sprayed it with a UV fabric protectant.
What are the most challenging parts of your process?
The process of hammering flowers/leaves is time consuming. It requires patience to complete larger pieces. The flowers only grow so fast, so you have to keep that in mind when working to make sure that you will have enough of what you need to finish the design/project.
What excited you about creating a sneaker with us?
I love that you are teaching people how to create something special that they will cherish. If you spend time making something from scratch, chances are you will love that piece for years to come. I have the same viewpoint -- which is that if I inspire others to use what they have on hand to create something beautiful, We can help to keep items from reaching the landfill and create a new perspective on how we look at the items we own.
What are you working on at the moment and, what is next for Michelle Moore Designs?
I'm very excited to be working on a book that will have the "how to" for projects like this one and many more. It won't be out for a bit, but it's coming together and I'll be able to share more about that soon!
Is there anything else you'd like to add about our collaboration together?
This was a ton of fun! I really enjoyed working together and I love how cute the sneakers came. I'm SO excited to wear them. Thank you so much for the opportunity to collaborate. I'd love to do it again! Maybe with a handbag?!
If you want to find out more about Michelle Moore Designs or connect with Michelle you can find her on Instagram here.
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