Assignment 2: Creating a Tool or a Toy

Written on September 30, 2009:

The purpose of this assignment is to create a playful or useful object generated by creativity techniques. I have decided to work on a tool - my little brother already has too many toys - but more precisely something that would make my life easier.

As I was cleaning my room the other day, I started giving away clothes, shoes and various objects that I do not use anymore. Even though I have a bit more space than I used to, I still lack space in my wardrobe and my room in general. I need to use the space I have wisely in order to keep it clean. Being of female gender, I love to buy shoes and therefore, have many pairs accumulating dust in corners of my room. Because they are everywhere, I sometimes step on them, throw them or lose a shoe from the pair that I had intended to wear, so I definitely need to find a practical way to store my shoes!

I am guessing that I have about 30-40 shoes, including chic high heels, boots, more casual shoes and flip-flops. What I would like to do is to find a way to store them vertically, instead of having them on the floor, and protect them from getting dusty. I first thought of sewing pockets on a rectangular piece of fabric and hanging my product on my wardrobe door. In order to reinforce the structure, I wanted to add metal rings where the straps would be hanging as well as a metal bar on top. The teacher suggested that I buy shower curtains and build on from that. Because it was mainly for stilettos, I also wanted to make holes where the heels would be so that they would hold better. My tool would have been fluffy and colorful, and I would have added a sewn title on top!

Talkin' about a girls' tool...

Unfortunately, as I was looking on the Internet today, I saw that my idea of a fabric shoe-organizer already exists. I knew that some of them existed because my friend has a shoe-organizer made of metal that holds shoes differently. I am quite disappointed because I have to rethink about my concept - giving away shoes is not part of the plan - in a more creative way. I still have to bear in mind that I do not have much space in my room and that I cannot afford to lose more space.


October 6, 2009:

I decided to go shopping yesterday in order to find ideas for my project and came across a table dresser - the piece of tissue that comes over the actual tablecloth to make it prettier. I bought it, confident I would be able to make something out of it.

I have been sowing by hand for the last hour and a half. What seemed to be a simple task appears to be much more difficult now. I have gathered scattered socks and pieces of rags. I have decided to use my original idea in a different way.

First, shoes are placed two by two because the fabric is not very wide. Red elastics are sown onto my table dresser to fit the heels and pockets are cut so that the rest of the shoes can fit into it. I have only sown two pockets to demonstrate my idea to the class tomorrow. My limited sewing skills make it difficult for me to finish the rest of the pockets and still sleep a few hours tonight.

Now, where do I put this thing? I intended to hang it on my wardrobe anyhow, but the shoes are too heavy for the light material. Without good support, the fabric would break. I then thought about the "windbreaker" I have in my room. I will find the necessary material to attach my finished product to my windbreaker. Its folded panels makes it easy to reach the shoe support and more heavy-duty for my abundance of shoes...

Voilà. My project is not finished and I will not be able to bring my windbreaker to class because of its length. At least, I think that my idea is quite original. I intend to call it The Folded Shoe-Hanger.