I recently got a great email question regarding how to make the Manolo Sedarby D’orsay gumpaste shoe:

I used a the same method as Pink Cake Box’s awesome gumpaste shoe video tutorial.
Here are some extra tips on what I did:
- To make the template, I found a real shoe at home that had the same shape used it to make the template. I exaggerated the shape to look curvier. Here are photos of the actual shoe templates made (click for full size):
- I got reference photos from online of different angles of the shoe. And I love shoes, so it wasn’t hard to browse! In this case, I found photos on Ebay: http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=sedaraby&_sacat=See-All-Categories. I used these photos to copy the small details of the shoe.
- To make the form that the shoe sits on, I hand-sculpted a form out of modeling clay and covered it in saran wrap. This way, I got a nice exaggerated curve. I was particular about the curve of the form… if you look closely, you can see how it gradually curves out at the bottom. You can use anything for a form, but this is just what I had on hand. (Update Oct 17th/11: I’ve made a better shoe form out of foam core. See my new gumpaste shoe form here.)
- To make the stitching, the Wilton Gumpaste tool kit has a great stitching tool.
- To shape the top of the shoe, I used a ball of saran wrap lightly pressed into the shape that I needed. Similar to the shape of that wad of tissue you sometimes get in a pair of new shoes.
- For the the brooch, I used circle cutters to make a flat wheel shape out of grey coloured gumpaste. I bent the wheel shape a bit to make an oval, brushed on some clear piping gel and stuck small silver beads on. It was hard to get the beads to look even, and had to use tweezers in some spots.
- For the silver colour, I airbrushed it using edible silver food colouring. You can get the same effect by painting in thin layers using a mixture of edible silver lustre powder and alcohol.
- The heel is done using the method shown in the Pink Cake Box video gumpaste shoe tutorial. See the 4:45 mark for details.




Your shoe is awesome! How did u get the pleating effect on the front part? Did u just make an indentation or did u pleat it? Thanks!
Roochyroo – Thanks for the comment! The pleated look is created using indentations. In this case, I used a gum paste knife tool to press the indentations in.
Oh, it’s beautiful! I would allso like to know how you made the heel and if it’s flat at the top?
Hi,
Your shoe is fabulous! The details are amazing. My sister thinks its a real Manolo!
Could you please tell me how you did the heel in that shape.
your work look so nice !i love love love it! thank you for sharing. i will have to make a pair today. will use your template to make it.
Amazing job!! I’m about to go try and make one of these, thanks for the helpful tips and pics!
Thanks so much for sharing how you created this beautiful replica of this shoe. Vey nicely done!!!
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the templates are really small i cant get them to a large size!
Clicking on the image should produce the full size image. If that doesn’t work for you for printing purposes, try changing the settings on your printing preferences to enlarge the image. Hope that helps! -Rose
hi how did you do the heel?it’s amazing!
hi how did you do the heel?This is amazing!!!
Thanks for looking!
I use the Pink Cake Box Method, see the 5:00 mark for specifics: http://blog.pinkcakebox.com/fancy-shoe-shoebox-cake-video-tutorial-2010-01-10.htm
-Rose
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Hi Rose,
I’m new at these kind of cakes. When I saw your wonderful Manolo Blahnik I decided to make one too.
I read all your tips, took one million looks into your pictures, saw some tutorials … and I made it. And, incredible, I did succeed!
Thanks so much for sharing your work and knowledge.
Thanks to you I got into this new world of cakes
Incredible I cannot believe how real it looks.The best I have seen. How did you do the amazing lettering on the box? Such detail !!!
Thank you for your feedback & question! The lettering was handpainted using a fountain pen and food colouring.
THANK YOU for sharing! This is exactly what I was looking for!! You are a real artist!
its fab,really lovely,what size tin to make the she box
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