Expert: treivilo - 12/13/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
I have been doing pointe for a few years and I have heard many different ways to sew pointe shoes. I have also heard of many different materials that can be used to sew pointe shoes. I have heard of sewing ribbons only to the bottom of the shoes, I have heard of them being sewn only at the top and I have heard of them being sewn all the way from the top to the bottom of the shoe. I have heard of elastic being sewn to the shoe on either side of the ankle and I have heard of it being sewn so that the ends overlap each other at the very back of the shoe. How should pointe shoes be sewn? Also, I have heard of snaps to hold ribbons on to the shoes which are "the new thing" and do not involve using any sewing, I was wondering if they are any good? I was also wondering if transparent elastic is as good as the regular elastic? Just one more question (sorry to bombard you with questions) what can you do besides cutting the silk off the ends of your pointe shoes to stop them from being slippery? (I have heard of techniques such as putting moleskin on them and professionally having rubber put on them)
Thank you so much!!
-Stephanie

ANSWER: Hello Stephanie,

pointe shoes ribbons should always be sewn in a manner that will avoid putting any pressure on the back of the foot (the Achille tendon) as this could cause pain and problem to the ballet dancer.

I do not know the "snaps" you refer to, can you pointe me to some informations about them ?

The invisible elastic, like those provided by Sansha with 111 futura pointe shoes, are quite efficient, as long as you do not sew them in a too loose manner. They need to be sewn quite a bit shorter than regular ones.

Last, to avoid slippery pointe shoes, the best solution I know is using rosin but, unfortunately, many dance teacher do not know about it !

'later,

Olivier



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much!!! here is a link to the website that sells the pointe shoe snaps: http://www.pointesnaps.com/
-Stephanie

ANSWER: Good morning Stephanie,

Definitely, I would say "do not use this" ; When sewing a ribbon on a pointe shoe, it is sewn so that strength is distributed all along a straight line and over each stitch, making the strain remain equivalent across all of the ribbon width.

With such round strain distribution, the upper part if the "snap" will have few to zero strain, while the bottom part will do much of the work, resulting fabric tearing and, when the snap will remove, there'll be a wonderful (sigh) hole in the fabric (best case) or it will tear while you are en-pointe and you can have major injuries (worst case).

Stand with "traditional" ribbons sewing, it will be more safe I think !!

'till later,

Olivier



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: good morning to you too,
i apologize but i do not quite understand what you mean about the strain on the pointe shoes could you please maybe explain it again? Also I have a friend who uses these snaps and she puts two along the body of the pointe shoes and then she sews along the top of shoes to hold the ribbon against the shoes, does this help at all?
-Stephanie  

Answer
Good morning Stephanie,

To make what I say more "clear", please find attached a (wonderful) drawing I just made.

On this drawing, you will see, in black arrows the "initial" strain put on the stitches, and in red the "secondary" strain.

Per this drawing, you can see that with the "traditional" stitching, the strain to the shoe fabric is spread across the 2 stitches lines, making the tear of the fabric less possible.

At the opposite, on the "round" stitching, only the lowest part of the snap has the strain. As it is quite smaller than an in-line sewing, the fabric may have more opportunities to tear.

Hope this is more clear,

Olivier