8 Jan 15

Kasut Manek (Beaded Shoes)

Finally, I finished my second pair of Kasut Manek. It has been the most eye-straining project I have done. Average people take about 2 weeks, even months to complete but I took about 12 days (working throughtout day and night). I did my first pair about 9 years ago for my wedding, unfortunately it was stolen during a break-in.
The manek or beads I used is Size 15 Japanese Seedbeads. I used 7 colours: white, sliverlined blue, yellow, sliverlined yellow, opaque green, opaque chartreuse and black. There are manek shoes made from bigger beads, size 11 but personally I prefer the smaller size as it makes the pattern look finer and better.
First of all, clamp a 16-count cross-stitch cloth onto a rectangular frame, trace an outline of the shoes cover of the pattern and size you want (I got it from the shoes-maker who is going to do the final part of the shoes). Start of with sewing the top and bottom outline (blue colour beads in my picture shown below). Next, start sewing the beads from the center of the pattern. The bead should be sewn in diagonal direction on a square of the cross-stitch cloth. Pick one bead into the needle for every square you sew.

Upon finishing, you can give your manek shoes cover (shown above) to your shoes-maker to attach the sole and heel in order to complete the kasut manek. Choose the colour you prefer for the sole and heel. I used blue for the sole and white for the heel. The shoes-maker will need to measure your foot in order to perfectly fit your feet. If you can’t present yourself there, you can trace your foot outline on a paper and measure the width of the widest part across the upper arch of your feet. Some shoes-makers will want you to come again to fit the shoes before he nails and fixes it permanently.

***Update***

I developed a step by step tutorial for manek shoes beading:

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15 comments... read them below or add one

  1. gracie says:February 28, 2009 at 4:26 pm

    Hi,

    The slippers are lovely. Do you like conduct lessons on how to make those lovely slippers? I am interested.

    Gracie

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  2. Craftpassion says:March 2, 2009 at 2:24 am

    Hi Gracie, I don’t conduct classes for the beaded slipper at this moment. I might write a tutorial on how to do the beading once I complete some of my on-hand projects.

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  3. gracie says:March 2, 2009 at 5:02 pm

    thanks darling

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    Reply
  4. Noe says:April 17, 2009 at 7:34 pm

    those shoes are beautiful! I love them!

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  5. Pingback:Beading (Manek) Tutorial – Part 1: Preparing The Frame& Canvas : craftpassion.com

  6. Sue Clark Chomycz says:August 28, 2009 at 6:35 pm

    Beautiful! I’ve never seen this done. Something I must try.

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    Reply
  7. Madeline says:November 15, 2009 at 11:58 am

    lovely shoes. I’m keen to learn the skill. Please really do consider about teaching. If you r giving lessons please inform me.

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    Reply
  8. MissCraftyFingers says:March 30, 2010 at 10:04 am

    wow! this is awesome! my friend’s mom used to make shoes like these but she made them into pumps instead.
    http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2718/4475286082_9f3faa8ced_o.jpg

    Great job! :)

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    Reply
  9. Weiling says:May 26, 2010 at 2:10 pm

    Hi there,

    I would like to try doing these beaded shoes but have no idea where to get the face shoe shaped pattern from. Would you mind sharing it or giving instructions on how to do it? Thanks in advance.!

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  10. Superduck says:May 30, 2010 at 8:35 am

    Like Weiling, I too would like to do my own beaded shoes following your detailed instructions. Thanks for sharing these. Very grateful if you would also share the instructions on how to get the shoe face shape for close toe and open toe. Am looking forward to beading my own pair of shoe. Many thanks.

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  11. Windie says:February 2, 2013 at 11:04 pm

    Hi, I read your blog and know that you must be in Penang as well, would you mind tell where do you learnt a beads shoes. I am interested in making a beads shoes, but I’m not sure where can I learn it from beginning like design and draw a template. Thanks a lot.

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  12. tarcila salas says:April 10, 2013 at 1:52 am

    hola craft passion

    soy colombiana y me encanta todo lo relacionado con las mostacillas o cuentas, gracias por compartir tus creaciones con los que nos interesan.

    Translation (by Google):
    hello craft passion

    I am Colombian and I love everything about the beads or beads, thanks for sharing your creations with which we are concerned.

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    Reply

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