Making Fuchsia Flats

Making Fuchsia Flats
What!! It takes more than 30 steps to prepare Fuchsia Flats (Khusas, کھسہ).

That was my initial reaction when I was told by my artisans. So I decided to spend a week with them in their factory and see it myself how Fuchsia Shoes are made.

Our artisans usually work on a batch of 40 to 60 pairs in one cycle and it takes them around a week (sometimes 2 weeks) to complete a cycle. The usually follow assembly line for their manufacturing. Some steps take from hours to days depending on weather and climate. Since a lot of people were interested in learning about the overall manufacturing process, I have listed down all the major steps of manufacturing process. We have made a condensed video of all these steps here.

  1. Acquire leather from tanneries.
Acquire leather

2. Wash it with water, and let it dry. In summer it takes about 2 hours but in winter it can be up to 3 days.

Washing and Drying

3. Bring it to factory.

Factory

4. Out line the sizing with lead pencil.

Measurement

5. Cut it with one side cutter called Rumbi.

UScutter

6. Make the gauge of the leather thin using a peeler.

Peeler

7. Put tartar in water and let the leather soak in it. Now wash the leather to remove any spot or stains.

Stain remover

8. Apply tool (they call it ‘Guti’, yes it seems like some gaming character name :) to make it thin and get water and dirt out.

Scrape

9. Put it outdoor to let it dry. In winter it takes up to 2 to 3 days in order for the leather to dry completely.

Outdoor

10. Apply the same tool again to give leather shine.

Leather shine

11. Lining with ball point and make it prominent.

Make prominent

12. Cutting the leather, following the outlines.

Cutting outlines
Cutting Leather

13. Apply solution to the cutting and let the solution dry.

Apply solution

14a . Embroidery is done in parallel. The embroidery artisans work in isolation. A single artisan cannot make more then 8 pairs per day (depending on the details of the embroidery)

Embroidery

14 b. Paste embroidery upper on leather.

Paste embroidery

15. Cut the edges with scissor.

Cut the edges

16. Fold the inner suede and apply solution to edges.

Fold inner suede

17. Now come another fun part which is ‘Shoe stitching’. A typical artisan stitch between 10 to 15 shoes per day.

Shoe stitching

18. Apply shoe tree for sizing.

Shoe tree

19. Clean the edges.

Clean the edges

20. Take shoes out from shoe tree and apply tools to make the edges smooth and bring some shine on edges.

Make smooth and  shine on edges.

21. Apply solution to insole.

Apply solution to insole

22. Paste inner sole and cover it.

Paste inner sole

23. Fuchsia Shoes are ready to be packed in a box.

Ready to packed

5 comments

Cis HK @ Mon, Mar 07, 22

I have 2 pairs of Fuchsia shoes and have ordered a 3rd pair. I love them because I can walk around in them for hours and they are so pretty. I’m happy to provide these artisans with a living.

Bonnie @ Mon, Mar 07, 22

I just got my first two pair and they are simply beautiful! Very comfortable out of the box, and I can’t wait to spend a day in them!

Pamela Koontz @ Fri, Jul 24, 20

They take great pride and care in their jobs. You can tell by the finished product. They truly are artists. I can’t wait to see and wear my new shoes!!

Cynthia Mitchell @ Mon, Nov 11, 19

Loved seeing the process of the shoes being made. Takes quite a while to do each step, so happy to be supporting such hard work and creativity. The embroidery is beautiful and great craftsmanship!

gretchen v powers @ Mon, Jul 29, 19

I have travelled a lot in India. I am so happy that you are providing work for artisans. I am eager to receive my shoes and hope that I’ll want to buy more.

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