Keep It On The Hush

D.I.Y. HF10-002

2010-10-25T23:33:00.009-04:00

As promised, here's a full breakdown on how I construct a custom Nike Dunk Low. No matter what base I'm working with I always try to incorporate as many factory pieces as possible for a legit fit and feel.

-Tools & Supplies

Base shoe
Upper textiles
1/2" foam & headliner foam
Sewing machine
T70 bonded nylon thread
Embroidery Floss
Rotary hole punch pliers
Hand sewing punch
Scissors
Seam ripper
Hand sewing awl
Flathead screwdriver
Dremel
Pen
Q-tips
2M Super 77 spray adhesive
Contact cement
Super glue gel & liquid
Dritz fray check
3" masking tape
Acetone
Angelus leather paint
Liner brush
Good videos or music

-Unstitch the swooshes and tongues

-Mask, trace, and cut your panels-note the direction of the carbon weave
-Seam the toe once or twice to compensate for the curve
-Cut an extra 1/2" or so for the inner panels

-For Dunk Lows I do the machine stitching first
-Stitch up the lace panels
-If the material is to thin use some freezer paper to stabilize it

-Working from the front to back, align the panels on the shoe. Use a real thin bead of super glue gel to bond the panels

-Stitch everything together to form the skin

-Trace and punch the toebox holes

-Trim the inner panels and pull the stitches from the upper lace panels

-Before bonding the skin to the upper you have to prep the base
-Unstitch the liner and midsole stitching-leave a few stitches at the end of the liner to keep it in place
-Make sure to keep the original foam attached to the liner

-Carefully shave the upper along the edge of the midsole-don't hit any stitches yet

-Saturate the raw leather with acetone

-Working carefully, separate the sides of the midsole from the upper-you need a clean separation

-Hit all the upper stitches with the super glue liquid. If this can hold a shoe that's skated together, it's enough to keep it together here too

-Shave the whole upper and smooth the seams as much as possible

-To bond the new skin to the upper-brush an even layer of contact cement on both surfaces
-The key to a strong bond is to press everything together while the cement is still tacky
-Tuck the edges into the midsole

-While the cement cures, break down the tongues
-Use the top layer as a stencil for the lace stay and tongue tag and layer the materials with Super 77
-Chances are the layers of the tongue will be a tight fit in the machine, use some tracing paper if things get stuck

-From here on in it's all about the hand stitching-tedious but effective
-Everything has to go through the factory stitch holes for a proper fit
-Either use pins or punched masking tape as a guide
-Stitch the piping to the new tongues-make sure the stitches are even in the front and back

-Once the cement has cured overnight, pin the swooshes through the stock holes and stitch them in

-Embroider your heel pieces
-Pay attention to the dimensions of your text in the embroidery software-I thought I came correct but apparently not(even a few mm is a noticeable difference)

-Glue the heel piece to the factory heel and stitch it in(hit the edges with fray check to make your life easier)

-Stitch the liner back together-it'll be super tight but it's doable

-Stitch the midsole with the embroidery floss

-Stitch the upper lace panels back together

-Punch the lace holes

-Stitch the tongues back to the shoe

-Stitch the vertical stitches of the liner
-The last thing to do is paint the edges of the original lace panels to match
-It's a wrap!

HF10-002: Greatest Misses Dunk Low

2010-10-23T20:11:00.009-04:00

I've been watching Greatest Misses S.F. a lot lately, so I was inspired to post a miss of my own. My MK6 GTI project car has been keeping me busy so I don't have any new material to post yet.

Created last summer for a failed project, these were made to show how different textures can come together on a shoe-for better or worse. Featuring a uniform black carbon, pigskin and cowskin suede, full grain leather, 3M, and denim upper-these are a great reminder of why customizing sneakers is a fun hobby and nothing more(for me). Since the original purpose of this project was to offer a look into the process of customizing sneakers, a full D.I.Y. breakdown will be posted so stay tuned.

Dunk's Not Dead

2010-06-25T22:29:00.005-04:00

HF10-001: Grip It & Zip It Sk8-Hi

2010-06-23T14:07:00.011-04:00

HF10-001 Sk8-Hi
-1 of 1
-Mens US10.5 EU44 JP28.5
-Olive drab/deep black/cadmium red
-Ripstop cotton and suede upper
-Custom sport zipper heel
-Embroidered tongue labels
-Fully hand stitched for factory fit and form
-$450 USD
-Free shipping worldwide
-Available exclusively in my online shop

D.I.Y. HF10-001

2010-06-21T16:30:00.061-04:00

Welcome to the blog. In honor of my first post as well as first completed pair for 2010 I decided to document and share the process with everyone. I'll be doing this with various base models as I work with them in the future. For me articles like this serve multiple purposes-they provide artists with a reference for their own methods and also offer a look into how much labor goes into a hand modified shoe of this nature. Due to the lengthy process I tried to be as brief as I could, so if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

-Tools and supplies

Acetone
Contact cement
Powerbond
Fray check
Super glue gel and liquid
Seam ripper
Custom needle punch
Rotary punch tool
Eyelet pliers and 5/32” eyelets
Razor blade
Hand sewing awl
16 and 18 gauge leather needles
Cotton balls and q-tips
Shot glass
Flathead screwdriver
Lighter
Scissors
Dremel
3" Masking tape
Ruler
Sewing and embroidery machine
Pen
Pins
T70 and T90 bonded nylon thread
Embroidery thread and backing
5” sport zippers
Ripstop cotton
Synthetic leather
Base shoe

-Separate the soles and remove the print from the canvas with acetone.

-Trace and cut the heel for the zipper

-Pull the insole-this can be tricky with Classic and Core bases
-Pull all of the original stitches

-Carefully cut and pull the liner
-Trace and trim the heel panel

-Trace and cut the ripstop cotton panels, paying attention to the direction of the grid

-Apply Fray Check to make things easier in the long run

-Shave any excess glue from the base

-Lay a base coat of contact cement on the ripstop panels and upper
-Carefully position and bond the lace and side panels-watch for bleeding
-Working from the inside once the cement has cured, carefully punch every stitch hole on the outer side of the base

-Using a 16 gauge leather needle and T70 thread, stitch the wave first

-Stitch the top and front edges of the liner

-Trim the zipper down and burn the edges
-Position it and glue down the edge
-Stitch 3 or 4 stitches along all 3 rows of the liner to ensure proper alignment
-Stitch along the edge of a piece of masking tape and pull the stitches
-Using the tape as a guide, punch and stitch the outer edge of the zipper

-Once the zipper is stitched in, pull the stitches from the 3 rows, switch to an 18 gauge leather needle and fully stitch the rows with the T90 thread.

-Switch back to the 16 gauge leather needle and T70 thread
-Punch the lace holes, wrap the edges, and stitch the lace panel to the shoe

-Punch the new larger holes for the eyelets and install them

-Repeat everything for the inner side of the shoe, but this time add the flap behind the zipper

-Separate the tongue

-Digitize and embroider the logo then measure and cut the tongue label

-Stitch the label on the front and tag in the back

-Stitch everything back together

-Stitch the toebox with T90 thread

-Stitch the toebox back to the rest of the shoe
-This is the hardest step but important for a proper fit

-Shave the original heel embroidery

-Bond the ripstop to the heel and wrap it

-Mark, pin, and stitch the heel
-Make sure all of the rubber to be bonded to the upper is free of any debris or glue
-Reconnect the sides of the midsole to the upper with Powerbond using a flattened q-tip to apply the adhesive(thanks to wideangle and ghettro from Crooked Tongues for introducing this adhesive to the customizing world and Sharp020 for testing it on vulcanized soles)

-Now that you've finished one shoe complete the pair and repeat all the steps for the other shoe
-After many hours of work you should end up with a fully hand stitched custom sneaker with a shape, fit, and feel true to the original base