Pressure sensors may be used to directly measure the pressure between a green tire and a curing apparatus during shaping and/or during curing. This can be accomplished by a method including the steps of: (A) providing a bladder, a tire mold and, a green tire having a pair of annular beads and one or more plies; (B) mounting a first pressure sensor to an inner surface of the green tire between an overlay and a belt; (C) inserting the green tire into the tire mold and closing the tire mold; (D) shaping the green tire by expanding the bladder within the green tire against the closed tire mold; and, (E) directly measuring the pressure between the overlay and the belt of the green tire during step (D) with the first pressure sensor.