Welcome to my blog, featuring various pieces from my collection of Oz books, artwork and memorabilia!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Ruby Slippers 2

Here's the finished pair of ruby slippers. This has been an interesting project that I don't think I'm anxious to repeat any time soon!

For those interested in some details - the shoes are vintage 1930's size 5 1/2, and there are around 2500 sequins sewn on silk overlays attached to each shoe. The bows each contains 46 rhinestones, 3 central glass stones and varying numbers of bugle beads. The sequins are metallic 5mm flat sequins, which have been aged ( I didn't age them myself and don't know the process). There are some details that I haven't done - adding an Innes Shoe Co. label inside the right shoe, gluing felt on the soles or adding Judy Garland's name inside the shoe. I still may do some of this.

There is debate over whether the original shoes used metallic or transparent sequins. Here's a link to an interesting article concerning the sequins on the slippers - Why do they look like that?

Here's a fascinating blog covering one slipper maker's process - The Ruby Slippers Project. I took a different route, but there are still a number of good reference points.

Another interesting site is The Ruby Slipper Fan Club . Here you can find more information on the various original shoes, see other reproductions and view a helpful blueprint containing a number of useful measurements.

I found Etsy to be a very useful site for finding supplies - particularly the Dreamer of Oz shop, which has had various helpful things.

So, if you're feeling inspired, why not give it a shot? It's certainly a project you'll remember!


3 comments:

Unknown said...

So after you sewed the sequins onto the netty fabric stuff in the picture, how did you attatch it to the shoe?

Bill Campbell said...

The overlays were attached by a combination of glueing and sewing. I used a few different adhesives - contact cement, heat set glue and Elmer's... I believe the originals were sewn to the shoes, unfortunately this particular vintage pair had turned quite hard with age, and it really wasn't possible to sew through them - so I improvised!

Unknown said...

Bill - the original overlays were both sewn and glued to the shoes, so you're still being true to authenticity!