The Art of Making Beautiful Fashion Doll Shoes by M. Dalton King, Pat Henry, Timothy Alberts (2004, Paperback)

I didn't know fashion doll shoes could be so pretty and realistic, until I glanced at the cover of this book. Inside are pictures of more pretty shoes, along with detailed instructions for making them. However, after going through the book, I did feel that maybe there should have been a little more: more tutorials, more pictures (what about boots?). Also the fancy font used for the book got a little irritating after a while. But all and all, this is a great starting point to learning the craft of making fashion doll shoes, and to the best of my knowledge, the only book on the subject out there.

On the most part this book is very useful. It shows step by step with helpful pictures the entire process of tiny shoe making which is not much different from regular shoe making. There are some full size patterns for Gene and Cissy but if you have a different doll, especially Asian Ball Joints, you're on your own.

Here is where the book is very worth buying, you are shown how to make a last, the "dummy foot" used to make a shoe, methods include carving or casting. How to add a toe pattern for vintage shoes and several methods for making heels are shown as well. The author specializes in vintage shoes for high heeled foot fashion dolls, if you plan to make shoes for your flat footed ABJD you'll have to make a few adjustments. You also learn the correct names for parts of shoes and there is a glossary of historical footwear.

If you are crafty and know a bit of what you're doing this is a good book to guide you towards making shoes for any doll you happen to have. Armed with this and a good book on pattern drafting you're set for your dolls. If you haven't had much sewing and crafting experience the book might seem overwhelming at first but it is written very well and the step by step pictures will help walk you through it.

I,M A SEAMSTRESS ,NOT A COBBLER....I THOUGHT I COULD MAKE SHOES TO GO WITH MY DOLL DRESSES ...IT WAS TOO COMPLICATED AND WOULD COST ME TOO MUCH TO TRY TO MAKE THEM ...I SOLD IT AGAIN ON EBAY...

The shoes that this book teaches you to create are quite pretty. If you can follow all of the steps, then you could make shoes for any doll. The difficulty comes in actually doing what is directed. In order to make the shoes lasts both woodworking knowledge and tools and resin casting equipment are necessary following this book. If you have those skills and items, or are will to get them, this this is a good guide to making doll shoes.

I often buy books for customers, and then want one for myself. This is one of those. For the creative person, this is the nuts and bolts of making elegant shoes, for dolls or just for pleasure. I don't plan to make the exact shoes in the book, but it gave me the knowledge and basic skills to build on... to make my own creations. I do have a shoe fettish, and plan to make some xmas ornaments using these basic designs. I liked it. MR

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I am happy to find this book in ebay as it is hard to find it elsewhere. As I am a seller of dollie shoes / boots, I think I should also have some idea for how to make the quality shoes, so I can produce the quality shoes for my customer. This book has many information for how to make the handmade dollie shoes in very detail. Making shoes is really an art!

great info just another one for my collection doll and crafts book collector
HAs great ideas for making doll items very complete info

This is a terrific book, though the pictures should be bigger. It's a bit hard to see the step by step in the size pictures provided.

I must say these shoes are more detailed than the most expensive Tonner shoes supplied by their manufacturer! A very good step by step book repeating over and again what needs to be done so that it will become second nature.

Although you don't have to be an artist to follow the instructions it helps to be able to draw a little and have a concept of design and sewing neatly. All in all a very good book to put you on the road to creating your own shoes for difficult to shod dolls.

This book was not at all what I thought it would be. Very poor instructions and patterns. I wanted to be able to make doll shoes. This is no better than any of them and way over hyped and way overpriced.

I make and design clothes for the Ginny and Tonner dolls and have always been frustrated with the scarcity/lack of selection/high price of shoes that I can buy for this doll. So, when I saw this book advertised in one of the many doll magazines I browse monthly, I knew I had to have it. The instructions are fairly easy to follow though sometimes the photographs showing the various steps are not located on the page facing the written instruction The instructions for making a permanent last were very helpful. This book contains patterns for lasts & shoes for Cissy and Gene in particular, but the instructions and methods in this book could be applied to many dolls though I wouldn't recommend it for people wanting to make anything for Barbie. There are also instructions for making molds for heels (if you have a high-heeled doll like Cissy or Gene). Following these instructions, I successfully made my first pair of shoes, and, because I made them myself, I was able to customize them to the outfit I had made. A great book for making shoes for dolls for whom you cannot cheaply and easily buy decent shoes

This book is the hard copy of something first made as a video. To some extent it would be helpful to watch processes in action, however the how to steps are very detailed. There are no short cuts to producing these tiny hand crafted shoes. They are made in the same stages as hand made shoes for humans. Although featuring fashion dolls, the techniques are appropriate for other dolls and very suitable for doll artists to use.

Although I make and clothe smaller dolls (1:12), this book has excellent pictures, directions, examples and techniques. As a reference for me, it is probably the best I have seen even though I will need to simplify and reduce certain things due to the smaller size of the dolls I dress. Great book.