How Pointe Shoes are made

Or you can watch the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzB1yY2397E&feature=related

All pointe shoes are handmade. They first sew the shoes exterior with three pieces of satin, (the machine that cuts these pieces slices enough to make four pairs!) for each piece that it cut they also provide a cotton lining the same size to protect the dancer's feet from getting irritated. What they are making now looks like a 'v' and is called the vamp. This is the front half the of the shoe. The seamstress attatches two other pieces one on each side called the quarter panel, these make the back half of the shoe when sewn together. She sews the ends of the bigger 'v' together making a heel seam which is reinforced with rayon ribbon.

To make the drawstring, rayon ribbon and the elastic drawstring are both threaded through a special machine that sews it on but at the same time overlaps the ribbon encasing the drawstring inside, the drawstring and ribbon are cut off so the ribbon can be sewed down the the drawstring left to be fitted and cut by the dancer. They put the satin ontop of a wooden form and check the sizing, the height of the vamp must be exact by an eighth of an inch if it's even slightly off the top of the shoe will push and cut into the dancer's foot.

The shoemaker nails the cotton lining to an insole made of ridgid cardboard that is impued with plastic for support and flexibility to keep the dancer up en pointe. The shoemaker cuts off the excess satin and cotton and glues the lining to the insole making neat and delicate pleats. Once the glue has dried the shoemaker removes the nails and uses a razor to practically shave off the tops of the lining so the base is smooth. They pull back the satin and start to sculpt the toe box. They soften up a piece of rosin coated cotton with water and apply it on top of the cotton lining. They paper mache` the toe box using fabric and paste. Next the shoemaker saturates two layers of burlap sack (potato sack) and applies it on top of the fabric. The final layer that is applied to create the toe box the shoemaker applies a piece of pure cotton.

The toe box is then wrapped in plastic, they use a hammer to square off the front of the box, then the box is pressed onto a piece of marble to make it completely flat. They use a right angle ruler to vertify that the toe box is completely square otherwise the dancer will fall over.
After it has dried for 24 hours they glue the lining over making once again delicate pleats.

They apply a foam filler to even out the shoes underside as there's much fabric on top of the shoe but where the cardboard can be seen there is less fabric and material. They then coat it with high strength vinyl glue. They apply the same glue to a sole and leave both to air dry.

24 hours later they apply them to a heater set to 200 degrees fahrenheight, this reactivates the glue in approximately thirty seconds. They apply the sole then put the shoe in a press for 15 seconds to solidify the bond. Then the shoe is removed from the form, the outter sole is made from suede, a material that has just the exact amount of grip, non-slip but still enables the dancer to glide smoothly across the floor. Then they glue in a white suede sock liner, it is made to cushion the dancer's foot also keeping the dancer from slipping forward while en pointe.

Or you can watch the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzB1yY2397E&feature=related