Chapter 42 Koi Insoles
It is not difficult to paste the 'cloth skeleton'. Ye Mingzhu almost completed it with the mentality of playing a game.
When she spoke again, her tone was relaxed: "Aunt San, can we make shoes after the cloth skeleton is dry?"
Fang looked at the sky and said, "The weather is nice today, so I think we can finish it tomorrow. How about this? Come to me tomorrow afternoon and I'll teach you how to sew the soles."
Ye Mingzhu went home full of expectations. She felt that making shoes was not difficult. After lunch the next day, she went to Uncle Ye's house early.
Fang had just finished washing the dishes. She looked up at the sky outside, covered her mouth and smiled, then took Ye Mingzhu to look at the soles of her shoes.
Ye Mingzhu felt the need to explain: "Aunt San, I have nothing to do after dinner, and I think learning to make shoes is quite interesting."
Fang nodded, as if to say, "No need to explain, I understand."
Ye Mingzhu simply stopped explaining. Wasn’t it just making a pair of shoes for her fiancé?
Fang took off the 'cloth frame' that she had made yesterday and asked Ye Mingzhu to cut it into the sole according to the size of Jiang Hongyu's feet. She then wrapped the sole and the edge with new white cloth and started to sew the sole.
"Mingzhu, when sewing the soles of shoes, you should start from the edge, then go back to the center, and finally sew half of each side. That's it. You need to use force, otherwise the soles will be too loose and you won't be able to wear them for long."
Fang first sewed two stitches, then handed the thimble and awl to Ye Mingzhu and asked her to try.
Ye Mingzhu only sewed a few stitches when she felt the awl become stiff. Fang picked up the awl and rubbed it against her head twice: "Just swing it on your head after a few stitches. It will save you some effort."
Ye Mingzhu: ...I used to think that watching TV was because the ancients had itchy scalps, but it turns out it was just to save energy.
Under Fang's guidance, Ye Mingzhu finally got the job done smoothly after half an hour. Her hands were already hurt by the hemp rope, but the soles were not even half done.
Fang comforted her: "If you are tired, just take a break. This is a laborious job. Fortunately, your wedding is only a few days away. At least we can make a pair before the wedding."
Ye Mingzhu: ...It has been such a long time, but I still don’t feel comforted.
Ye Mingzhu stood up and said, "Aunt San, why don't I go home and make it? Once I've finished sewing the soles, you can teach me how to make the uppers."
Fang helped her put the soles, awl, thimble and other tools into a basket and said, "Okay, then you can go home and do it first."
After a pause, Fang whispered, "It doesn't matter if it doesn't work. I still have ready-made soles here. I will definitely not let Jiang Hongyu be without shoes."
Ye Mingzhu: ... "Thank you, Third Aunt."
After returning home, Ye Mingzhu wrapped her hands with cloth strips, put in the same enthusiasm as she had for the college entrance examination, and began to work hard on sewing shoe soles.
Apart from eating and going to the toilet, Ye Mingzhu only did this one thing.
Ye Yun'an was so worried. His sister had been drawing with her head down for the past few days, and now she was sewing shoe soles. Did she still want to keep the neck?
He went in several times to let Ye Mingzhu rest, and Ye Mingzhu was obedient. She put down the work in her hands, rubbed her neck, stood up and walked around, and then sat back to continue sewing the soles of shoes.
With Ye Mingzhu's efforts, she finally made a sole by the afternoon of the next day.
Although the stitches were not that fine, there would definitely be no problem making shoes. She stood up, straightened her back, walked around again, and continued to work on the other soles.
Afraid that she would not have enough time, Ye Mingzhu would sit in the space for an hour every night. The next afternoon, she finally finished sewing the two soles.
When Fang saw this, she was shocked: "Mingzhu, your speed is too fast!"
Ye Mingzhu said embarrassedly: "Except for eating and sleeping, I have been making these two shoes."
Fang pulled Ye Mingzhu's hand over. Her delicate hand had been cut by the twine, and there were already blood marks on it. She frowned and said, "Mingzhu, we have shoe soles at home. You don't have to worry so much. Your hand is so injured that it will take a long time to heal."
Ye Mingzhu also knew that she was anxious, but that was her personality. If there was something to do, she would either not do it or finish it quickly.
She knew that Fang was worried about her, so she took Fang's hand and shook it a few times: "I will make this pair of shoes. When I finish the shoes, I will buy some ointment to take good care of my hands."
What could Fang say? Every girl goes through this.
She sighed, went to the yard to find a smooth stick, beat the soles of the shoes flat, and hung them in a dry place before starting to teach Ye Mingzhu how to make the uppers.
The upper is not a thin layer of cloth, it needs to be cut together with the lining and cloth.
Ye Mingzhu took out some scraps of cloth and said, "Aunt San, these were given to me as a gift when I bought some cloth. Can these be used as lining cloth?"
Fang pulled the cloth back and forth, feeling a little distressed, but looking at Ye Mingzhu's expectant eyes, she finally nodded.
After the upper is made, the upper and the sole are sewn together with hemp rope, and then a pair of cloth shoes is considered completed.
Ye Mingzhu looked at the smooth black cloth shoes with joy on her face. She said that as the best DIY jewelry designer, making shoes would definitely not be a problem for her.
Mrs. Fang reminded her, "It would be better to make a pair of insoles to put inside for comfort."
Ye Mingzhu acted coquettishly towards Fang: "I'll have to trouble Third Aunt to teach me."
"You!" Fang tapped Ye Mingzhu's forehead. It was rare to see her act like a little girl.
In comparison, making insoles is much simpler. Just cut the shape of the insole out of the fabric and then sew it together with thread.
"If you want to embroider, it's best to embroider first and then sew." Fang reminded Ye Mingzhu.
Ye Mingzhu wanted to say that there was no need to embroider, but then she thought that she had already done the laborious writing, so a little embroidery would not be a big deal.
She put away the finished shoes and said, "Sorry for bothering you these past few days, Aunt San. I'll take the insoles home and make them myself."
Fang did not expose her little thoughts, but only asked her if she had any embroidery thread at home. Ye Mingzhu nodded and said that she bought some when she bought fabric a few days ago. Fang then sent her out and reminded her to buy some medicine to apply on her hands.
Ye Mingzhu nodded and promised to buy the medicine, and only then did Fang let her go back.
Ye Mingzhu didn't plan to do embroidery. She planned to do cross-stitch. After all, they were all embroidery, and cross-stitch was simpler.
She embroidered two fat koi on the insoles, as the old saying goes, "carp leaps over the dragon gate."
Even if Jiang Hongyu was exiled here and could not take the imperial examination, the meaning is always good. There is another very important reason: koi is simple!
When Jiang Hongyu received the shoes, his eyes were filled with shock. His hands were shaking as he held the shoes. "Did you make this?"
Ye Mingzhu smiled on her face but rolled her eyes in her heart: The workmanship was obviously done by a novice. Any shoe store that sells shoes like this is probably going to go bankrupt soon.
Jiang Hongyu quickly realized that he had said the wrong thing: "I didn't expect you to make shoes for me. Thank you for your hard work."
"This is my first time making shoes, so my skills may not be very good." Ye Mingzhu said honestly.
Jiang Hongyu slowly touched the shoes and stopped at the insoles. "My shoes are all bought. My mother is not very good at making shoes. These shoes are so precious. Is this embroidered with fish?"
Ye Mingzhu nodded: "This is the koi fish I embroidered. If you wear these shoes, you will definitely have good luck."
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