Leather Moulding- learning from looking and listening

This is a rather challenging prospect without a shoe last but I've tried it on my trusty shoe keeper and now I know it works - stretching, moulding and 'setting' leather.

At uni:

I experimented with this red leather first just by playing with it, stretching it and moulding it by hand. I had watched a short film on the Hermes website showing a man making gloves, so I copied the way he stretched the leather, anchoring the piece with one hand and pulling it with the other, dragging the leather over the table edge, etc. It worked well and I was surprised at how stretched the leather could become (this realisation worries me a little because I think of what would happen to my shoes if I didn't stretch the leather enough while making them... sloppy brogues...). I put these little wrinkles in at uni just to see, I like the effect but I'm not sure whether there is room for it in my collection...

At home:

I tested the technique Aly had told me about in class, which is wetting the leather before stretching it and then sewing it to secure it while the leather dries out. Aside from making a bit of a red mess where the dye leaked, this was a success. I might have over stretched the leather because it became a bit rough in parts; and leather does become quite stiff too but I think this would be a good little technique.

I'm going to go back to the library to find out more.