I knew I would need a form (called a "last") to mold the upper part of the shoes. I filled a pair of shoes with plaster of Paris, cut the shoes away at the sole, and lifted out my lasts. I used the tops of the shoes for my patterns. My local newspaper heard about me and wrote an article about my shoemaking. They called it "Feminine Cobbler Creates Colorful Wardrobe." After that, there were other articles in various San Francisco area newspapers. After all that publicity, I had a lot of phone calls from women who wanted to learn to make shoes. I had a waiting list for students and taught for several years. Then I taught at the San Mateo Recreation Center. I decided I had to write my instructions into a book. I had 1,000 copies of that first book printed, got a business license, saw a lawyer about a copyright, and placed an ad in Vogue Patterns Magazine. I sold all those books and ordered more. Since then, I have sold thousands of books all over the world. I have revised, rewritten and updated the book four times since that original book.