Pennie Jagiello, brooch prototype among other leather cut-outs
The 2003 Craft Victoria mentorship, which I undertook with Melbourne shoemakers Johanna and Peter of Preston Zly Shoe Designs, aimed to investigate the physical properties and nature of leather in order to develop a range of wearable accessories for both men and women. It served to introduce a new medium into my current practice as a jeweller working primarily with recycled copper wire.
Researching traditional leathercraft techniques provided an structural base for product development which was then reworked into wearable designs. As I was intending to use leather in a mostly unconventional manner, my decision to train with Johanna and Peter was based on their practice of shoemaking by hand. Shoemaking is also an area of design which requires mathematical and technical precision, given that the resultant objects are designed and constructed to carry the weight of the human body.
The body of work produced at the conclusion of the mentorship utilises decorative techniques such as traditional tooling, cut-outs of positive and negative spaces, embroidery, quilting and applique, as well as new and unorthodox treatments and finishes on leather such as stencil and hand painting. Fastenings such as buttons were used for decoration, rather than their usual functional purposes.
In my initial proposal for the mentorship I had intended to undertake numerous projects and build a large body of work. When I started working with Johanna and Peter, however, I soon realised that I had not anticipated exactly how much I needed to learn in order develop these products properly, and that I wouldn't get as many products completed as I had previously thought.
They assisted me greatly with the development. Firstly, though it sounds obvious, I discovered that everything I wanted to make needed a pattern. The jewellery I had previously been making would also begin with a sample, but as a three-dimensional form already very close to the final product in format. Having no experience in making patterns from scratch, this was my first major challenge, and took up most of the time of the three month mentorship.
As the products I intended to make were mostly three dimensional, I used the process in which Johanna and Peter design their shoes. Firstly, a wooden shoe last is completely covered in numerous layers of masking tape. A design is then hand drawn onto the tape, the components cut out in pieces, laid flat and retraced onto cardboard. These cardboard shapes become the pattern ready to be transferred onto leather.
For two-dimensional objects, such as a flat cuff, a cardboard pattern is the first step of the design. A simple shape with a hole cut into the centre to put the hand through was easy. But if two different colours are incorporated into the design, the pattern piece has to be re-cut into separate pieces for each colour, including allowance for the seam overlap. There is also the consideration of whether the edges are to be left raw, folded under, or overlapped each other, requiring skiving.
Skiving is a technique of slicing or thinning out the edges to minimise thickness when an edge is folded back onto itself and remain the same thickness as the centre. It is normally done on the flesh side (wrong side) of the leather with a sharp knife and requires steady pressure and forearm muscle. Being a girl of slight build I found this physically challenging. The difficulty in skiving is to thin the leather enough without cutting through to the outside or removing a fingertip. Cutting leather requires utmost precision for a neat finish and is a very difficult skill to acquire. When the two sides of a design are to be joined cement glue is applied to the wrong side. After drying for about 15mins or until tacky, the two pieces are aligned carefully and joined, then pounded with a hammer.
With some pieces, it is possible to use a skiving machine. This technique is one of many where it is necessary to take leather to a factory who has such a machine. This was another aspect of making that I was not used to; where you have to rely on other people to help get the job done and do a lot of running around town.
Once a desirable pattern has been developed it is possible to have a knife cast to enable multiples to be cut out rather than by hand saving many hours of labour. This would then be given to another company that primarily cuts or stamps out patterns. This process also ensures a clean cut to a pattern, which is also quite difficult to achieve cutting by hand with a knife. You would need to be confident that the design was going to sell and be profitable before investing in the stamp.
My original intention was to make brooches backed in silver with a handmade silver brooch pin. Unfortunately the leather process alone was so immensely time consuming that this not only doubled the labour but meant the wholesale cost would have made each piece a few hundred dollars. As my aim with the leather work was to design and produce commercially viable products in comparison to my other jewellery which tends to be more expensive. This meant that I have had to change my initial idea to make the products cost effective. I modified the design to have both sides leather, and a pre-purchased brooch backing.
The first sample seemed a little soft to endure use, so I incorporated a material used in shoe making for the inside of the heel support. Similar to shapewell or interfacing used in dress making for parts such as collars or cuffs, this very stiff plastic-like board is covered in a heat-activated adhesive. A similar process was used for my brooches where the pattern was cut, reinforced and a brooch fastening attached to inside the leather back by making small incisions with a hole punch before joining the two sides.
There are just so many aspects of shoemaking that you could never fully understand until working with a shoemaker. This has also helped me to have a much better understanding of designing and making a 3 dimensional object. Patterns are designed with the fore knowledge of dimensions of the foot, the foot imprint, the foot from all angles, the bone structure of the foot, faces of walking and the arches. A last, which is an abstract copy of the human foot, functions to take the place of the foot in the production phases as a working surface. The last determines both the internal dimensions and the external shape of the shoe. The pattern is cut up, heat-treated and dried, pre shaped, followed by a rough copy, fine copy and final adjustments. This is all before the correct leather is soured for the design and this is difficult as shoe making is predominantly an off shore industry with few suitable products making it to Australia. Construction of the design begins by cutting out all the components, such as ornamentation, the lower parts, the insole, the feather, the upper, the counter, side re-enforcement. Then on to adhesives, lasting, hammering the shoe, seams, stitching the welt, soling the shoe, the outsole, stitching the outsole, double stitching, completing the welt stitch and seam, preparing for the second row of the stitching, the mid sole, the outsold seam, the heel, construction and shaping of the heel, finishing the sole and heel, removing the last, finishing the inside of the shoe, insole cover and final ornamentation. The process finally ends with the maker's name and details.
And now I should be able to make a pair of shoes! Watching the many processes involved in making just one pair of shoes has completely changed the way in which I approach my own work. From design and construction through to the business side of wholesaling and retailing and professional development. And this is also where, upon beginning the mentorship, Johanna and Peter took my breath away. I felt I was in another world, learning to speak a new language.
Working with Johanna and Peter has been the most amazing and challenging experience for me. Watching Johanna and Peter work side by side as they do everyday in their studio, which is also their home, was certainly an intense experience. Running all aspects of a small business is definitely hard work but even more so when your business partner also happens to be your spouse with whom you have two children who are quite often also in your work place. I have never seen two people work so hard. I admire Johanna and Peter's dedication to their designs, the business, their children and each other. On top of keeping it all together they found time to share their hectic but exciting lives with me and my project and for this I can not thank them enough.
I am extremely grateful for this ongoing support. I now feel confident in making patterns for my designs with the next stage of my work moving to encompass men's accessories and the final decorative stages. Although I planned to complete these during the mentorship, I know that through this preparation I have learnt, these designs will be so much more developed and resolved. I anticipate completing my body of leatherwork for the inclusion of the Melbourne Spring Fashion Week in September 2004.
I am looking forward to continuing my working relationship with Preston Zly Shoe Designs and while it has and is an invaluable opportunity for an emerging artist, I hope it has also been benficial for Johanna and Peter.
I thank the Australia Council and Craft Victoria for this incredible opportunity to develop my passion of making wearable objects into what I feel is starting to become a commercially viable small business; for challenging my existing designs, working methods and construction; for the opportunity to meet, watch and learn from Johanna and Peter, two of the most amazing people I have met.
I am very excited about the endless possibilities and this is just the beginning.
