truly courageous

So my bailiwick is sewing and embroidery. I’m pretty good at it since I’ve been doing it since 1970-uh-something. I have memories of sewing on a Holly Hobbie battery powered sewing machine at my nana’s house using McCall’s 627/8181 (copyright 1982) for my Darci Cover Girl fashion doll, and at that point I’d been hand sewing for a few years already doing needlepoint and counted cross stitch. I know it was before I turned 9 that year. So it’s been a hot minute.

McCall’s 627/8181 – my favorite doll sewing pattern from my childhood

But this isn’t about that pattern. That comes later. 🙂 Today I’m sharing something I tried that I’ve never done before and have been super nervous about but have REALLY wanted to do for a long time. Silicone mold making and resin casting!

Some “truly outrageous” shoes!

This is by NO means a how-to since I’m a rank amateur at this (witness the bubbles in the shoes) but I’m so excited (pun totally intended) to share my very first attempt. I was heckin’ nervous about potentially ruining a 35 year old pair of doll shoes that I paid WAY too much for but it came out really well for the first attempt. They do resemble “Cinderella” style shoes, even though that wasn’t the look I was going for. Protip: stir the resin SLOWLY. Fast = bubbles.

I will say that this particular product has a REALLY long work time compared to the products used by the YouTubers I’ve been watching… 30 minutes! I WAY overmade the batch too because I couldn’t gauge how much I needed for one pair of shoes that weighed 3 grams. Protip: it’s about 7.5ml TOTAL resin for A pair of shoes. That is a SMALL amount of resin.

I’m also the world’s most impatient crafter (TM) and kept checking on this project every 5 minutes. After about 4 hours, I stuck the mold outside because it was just not setting up. 10 minutes in 90 degree Florida sunshine did the trick and I was able to de-mold them while still flexible. They are an exact replica and I’m gratified that my first-ever mold actually worked.

Stay tuned for more “truly outrageous” projects to come along with more “Sew Through The Century” projects and other vintage and vintage inspired things.

The Queen of Vintage