Creative Leather Accessories

Another class that I took at LCOF was Creative Leather Accessories. We had two projects during this class, both involving bags.

The first project we had was a pouch. We were given patterns for this, then had to make the pouch our own. I finished my pouch by adding a small handle on the top and a gold closure on the flap.

Our other project was to design our own bag. The only rules were that it had to be kept simple and clean. I decided that I wanted to make a bag to keep my portfolio in. That way on interviews they see the bag I made in real life. 

FRONT

BACK

This class has showed me that I have interest in a career in accessories. I enjoyed the sketching and seeing the design come to life. Can't wait to use it!

I'm a cobbler

I have officially finished my shoe from my shoe-making class. Glad to say that I've cobbled! The class was really intense and long, but I'm glad I took it. I can now start an accessories portfolio, along with the leather bag that I'm finishing shortly.

Here are some picture of my shoe in process:

The first step is to tape the last (the yellow thing) and make your patterns. 

Here is a picture of my upper fabric in pieces. It's the 3/4 and 1/4 pattern pieces. This then gets sewn/glued to the lining and is stretched and nailed onto the last. 

Here the lasted shoe. The heel is completely lasted and the lining is lasted down. 

Here is a picture of the same step as above.

Here is the shoe with the attached sole and heel. 

The last step in making the shoe was to add my design piece. I made a fortune teller out of leather to go on the back of the heel. Here is the finished shoe below. 

That was the production of my shoe-making class. There are a billion more pictures, but no need to bore! Look out soon for a post about my bag that I've finished and pictures from my styling project. 

Traveling Around Europe

For the past few weeks I've gotten a break from school. We got a 2 1/2 week holiday and I spent mine traveling around Europe. Part of the time was spent specifically studying fashion and some was just for fun!

The first place I went was Dublin, Ireland in order to visit some friends from my summer internship. My favorite part of the trip was going to The Leprechaun Museum. I highly recommend going to this museum. They have a giant's room where you can climb around on huge furniture.

The next place I went was Paris, France on a trip with the school. This was extremely fun and fashion-filled. My personal highlight was getting to visit my favorite designer store Manoush. This is a company that I strive to work at. And, if I wasn't terribly poor, perhaps I would have bought something. 

I also spent some time seeing typical Paris tourist spots. Hark, the Arc de Triomphe!

After spending some time in Paris I headed back to England. Spent a bit of time in Northern England and did some London adventuring. I almost met the muffin man... at least I met someone who knew him. 

Finally I finished my time with a trip to see family in Italy. I had a wonderful time in Italy, seeing Assisi, going to Eurochocolate (a festival purely for chocolate), and truffle hunting. We found a lot of truffles, and by that I mean our amazing dog found them and we quickly took credit for it. 

I also spent some time in Florence seeing beautiful architecture. Nothing like a day trip!

That was the end of my adventures. Although, I did just go back to Dublin for Halloween. Oddly enough the British don't really celebrate Halloween as much as we do in the States. 

Look for an update soon about what I've been making in classes! I only have a month left here. Can't believe time has gone by so quickly!