If the Shoe Fits 2010 - "After"

Here's the Kanzashi shoe I made, ready to be auctioned off on May 20th at the Center for Patient Partnerships 6th Annual fund raising event.  Come and check out all the fantastic shoes at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, 227 State St. in Madison Wisconsin from 5:30 to 8:30 pm.  It's always a fabulous time!

UPDATE:  The Kanzashi Shoe made $1,500 for the Center!

If the Shoe Fits 2010 - "Before"

One of the most fun projects I do every year is to come up with a shoe for the annual "If the Shoe Fits" benefit. It is sponsored by the Center for Patient Partnerships at UW-Madison and trains advocates to help patients and their families deal with life-threatening diseases (check out

http://www.patientpartnerships.org/).
The shoe gala will take place on Thursday, May 20th this year at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art from 5:30-8:30 pm., at 227 State Street in Madison, Wisconsin.

The hardest part is coming up with the idea - after that it's "relatively easy." I try to stick with an Asian theme so I decided to incorporate the Kanzashi flowers that I have been making into my shoe this year. Here is a photo of the shoe before - a Carlos Santa wedge in what must be a size -4!! After decorating a size 10 shoe my first year, I'm always looking for something smaller!

First I decided to finish off the inside of the shoe. I was able to make use of some beautiful red and gold silk that my niece (Thanks Megan!) sent to me from China where she currently resides.

Next I worked on the wedge heel using some silk brocade and red frogs that I bought at a fabulous fabric market in Shanghai. The fabric market was a sewer's dream.

The components were last. I made the Kanzashi flowers in various sizes, from 2" down to 1"--- lets just say it's nearly impossible to fold 8 tiny one inch squares into a flower, I only made a couple of those. The bigger the square, the easier they are to fold. The buttons are covered with more of the silk fabric that lines the inside of the shoe.

So - check back later to see the completed shoe - like most things I do, the descriptive word I would use to describe it is "overload."

If the Shoe Fits 2008

For the past 5 years I have been decorating a shoe for the UW Law School's Center for Patient Partnerships If the Shoe Fits benefit. My theme this year was inspired by Tim Gunn, mentor of Project Runway, known for his "Make it Work" catchphrase. My parasol pump is functional art - if it's going to be on display it might as well serve a purpose -- in this case as a pincushion. My favorite handbags have an Asian flavor and I like to design my shoes as a variation on this theme. Each year is a new challenge to see which of my many collections can be incorporated into the shoe design. This year I chose the parasol and used parasol fabric and metallic paper parasols to decorate my shoe. Even the zipper pull on the pump is a tiny silver parasol.