Clog boots

I bought these clogs online but they arrived a bit damaged. There was a dent in the wood. So I sent them a message and they kindly sent me a new pair.

Time for an experiment.

I always fancied having clog boots but they are rather expensive. Correction: they cost a lot of money. As they will last you a lifetime they are worth every penny. Pennies I don' have at the moment. And as any creative tight person would think: I can do this myself. So let's see...

I asked my husband if he had any worn out army boots as we have the same shoe size. Turned out he had plenty in his collection. I choose one with a leaky bottom but with a good top. And I cut the bottom off with a Stanley knife.

It is very interesting to see how many layers go into such a boot.

Then I put the leather top over the clog. I considered the option of taking the clog leather off completely but I kinda liked the stability it gave.

I used a hammer and a small screwdriver to tap out the rivets of the strap (which I will reattach later)

Now... how to attach the boot to the Clog?

The thing was that the boot leather was just not quite long enough for me to staple it to the wood. No matter how I pulled it.

So what does any creative thinking leatherworker do? Attach a piece of leather at the bottom to make it longer. And the only way was to sew it on.

I found a piece that was the right thickness and cut it to length. Then I used my teethed prong and a hammer to make holes all along the edges. I got a bit overzealous and did the bottom side too. Which I didn' need to do because that is where the staples were going to be. I will make it into a happy design feature later 😉

I dyed the leather black and started sewing.

 

Wooden icepopstickle bracelets (part 2) the results

It is time to make the bracelet sticks into something more interesting. You could paint it. But I put some wooden buttons on it. This is how I did it:


Drill holes for the ends and the button. I used my Dremel for it. Then sand it down.





PVA glue. Or wood glue.

Only glue isn't enough. Lign your button up with the holes and sew it on. It will give stability and it will look good.

And this is the end result.

Now I need to find a creative way to connect the ends because otherwise the bracelets won't stay on the wrist.  I'm thinking jute cord and wooden beads. To keep it natural. 

Wooden icepopstickle bracelets

On the internet I saw this craft video of somebody bending icepopstickle sticks into bracelets. I had a pack laying around from making demo heddle loom weaving frames. So let's give it a go.

The idea is simple. Put water into a pan. Chuck your sticks in. Bring it to a boil and when it boiled for about 10min then put it on a simmer for an hour (!!!) Don't forget to keep the lid on the pan.
Look for some drink glasses that are tall and narrow enough to give you the right size bend.
Up untill now its all very straight forward.  The tricky bit comes now where you take a stick out off the pan ( one at a time. I used a fork) and then you have to bend your stick.
Your stick does not want to be bend. But you need to persuade it. Gently but firmly.
This is a two hand job.
Best way is to work from the middle. Hold it there and gently bend one end at a time towards the middle. In a round shape. This is the point where you will brake some sticks because they dont want to play ball with you.

Then when you have convinced your wood this is going to be its new shape ( it will not stay in this shape when you let go but it prepares the wood for what is about to come.
Then get your glass. Hold your stick in the middle.
Now with your other hand bring the two ends towards each other and lower it into your glass. Let go.
Most likely it will jump right back out at you. But you will get the hang of it.
When it stays in there, try to shape it a bit more like the shape of the glass by pressing outwards towards the glass.
And repeat. You can fit quite a few sticks in one glass.
When you are all done and have stopped swearing then let them dry for 2 days.
They will come out all bendy and strong.

welcome

Because I am always working on something, I thought it might be nice to show things about the process. So that is why I started this blog. I hope I can teach you something in the progress. And would love to hear your comments on it.

Welcome to the blog of Vikinggirls Workshop. Hope you enjoy it.

Sandra Geurts.