With lively colours and girlish embellishments, Katie Kukulka brings the handmade moccasin into fashion. The look of the shoes might be contemporary, but their construction process is decidedly out of date - and Katie wouldn't have it any other way.

Cut from leather, each is sewn with an antique cast iron sewing machine circa 1930 powered with a good old fashion foot treadle and later laced by hand. "I think people are surprised when they find out I make my moccasins on an antique," she says. "Most people never get near working antique machines and I think people have a certain amount of curiosity about it. Normally people would rather buy newequipment that they feel they can rely on. For me it's all about functionality. Every leather sewing machine I found was either turbo loaded with a mega motor which is incredibly hard to finesse, or could accommodate the curves I needed to sew. When I found and image and description of a Singer 29K I knew it was going to be the best match for what I needed to do."

Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that Katie chooses to work with such an old machine. Her other creative outlet is photograph, in which she uses large format cameras and glass negatives. "When it comes to using antique machines and equipment I find it's always a more involved process. My sewing machine and large format cameras are far from perfect. I develop a relationship with them and get used to their quirks. If something goes wrong I have to know how to fix it myself or make it work."

The use of old technology forces one to slow down and appreciate the art of crafting something from scratch. "I started buying antiques because they had the features I needed. I ended up falling in love with the process of using them."