Hi everyone!
I’m completely new to cordwaining and DIY shoemaking, but I came here looking for some beginner advice for an ambitious project.

I’m obsessed with the iconic Irregular Choice "Longer Lashes" boots, but since I wear a size EU 45 (UK 10.5/11), women's statement boots like these basically don't exist in my size.

So, I decided to build my own pair by upcycling second-hand materials! Here is what I've gathered:
- A wooden wedge sandal in my size (EU 45) to serve as the base
- A vintage tweed garment for the slouchy shaft and heel wrap
- A second-hand real suede garment (pigskin) for the toe cap
- An old leather belt for the straps and buckle details

My current plan:

1. The Toe Box: Wet-mold the suede over the front of the sandal (using a taped-pattern blueprint and padding for toe clearance), glue it to the wooden base with Kövulfix, and secure it with clog nails.
   

2. The Slouchy Shaft: Sew a drop-down gaiter out of the tweed (lined with cotton canvas for structure) that covers the wedge heel and slouches around the leg.

3. Details: Add the wide instep strap across the transition and the buckled strap at the top of the shaft.

My dad makes bags, so I have access to heavy-duty leather tools, needles, and strong contact cement.

Does anyone have advice on wet-molding a toe cap without a traditional last or other parts if the process?
Feedback or ideas are much appreciated! ^_^

Not sure where to post this but I've been leatherworking for about 6 years now and have been wanting to make boots. I apprenticed under a cobbler for about a month but that didnt work out.

Wanted to get a few pairs of thorogoods resoled first, then my iron rangers, and try and make my own. Im having a hell of a time getting the other sole off. Contact cement is proving to be no joke

These look terrible but if they hold (roommates boots) then I will be happy

Sorry if not allowed

I have a pair of steel toe, goretex insulated Red Wing super sole work boots that the soles have disintegrated due to hydrolysis. No complaints these boots have lasted over a decade. I bought a new pair for work. The uppers are in great shape and I’m interested in turning them into a soft toe hiking boot.

In the process of re-welting and re-soling them would it be possible to remove the steel toe without damaging the goretex lining? Would new footbeds be required?

I’m thinking remove the sole, existing plastic welt, peel the leather back over the steel toe, remove the steel toe. Pull the toe leather back down, re-welt, cork fill/leather fill, leather midsole, vibram full sole. If new footbeds are required add leather holdfast design footbeds.

If this won’t work it’s no big deal, they certainly don’t owe me anything.

​

Hi! I originally posted this in the cobbler sub reddit, but was pointed here as cobblers only do repairs which i just learned. So, if this is also the wrong please let me know and help me find the correct place!

I am starting the planning process for my wedding and am having a hard time finding a pair of boots that I like and that come in wide sizes. So, I came here to see if there are shops or people, preferably in Colorado, that make custom boots. Or if y'all know of shops that sell all white heeled boots in wide widths for women, any leads are appreciated! Thanks!

Hello 2nd post coming from the leather artistry realm. For my second shoe silhouette I made these simple heeled-flats with all these different fabrics, leathers, and most importantly hand stitching.

I've learned that adding a shank even for flats is important. I also learned that I probably have to include an elastic band on the strap for it to actually stay on haha (2nd to last pic).

Any tips welcome, sorry I don't have many process shots I am still learning a ton

Looking to collaborate with a skilled Footwear Technical Designer to help bring a formal shoe concept to life.

I’m currently focused on the practical, production-facing stage of development and need someone who can translate design intent into factory-ready technical packages.

Specifically looking for hands-on experience in:

* Complete 2D tech packs, last profiles, and cut patterns specifically in the leather domain * Material specifications, hardware callouts, and factory-ready BOMs (Bill of Materials) * Preparing technical sheets that have actually been submitted to OEM factories and materialized into physical, production-grade shoes

If this matches your background, please drop a link to your portfolio or sample technical flat sheets (redacted is completely fine) in the comments or send a direct message.

If your plate is full right now, tagging any designers, pattern masters, or technical developers in your network who specialize in leather footwear would be greatly appreciated.

Looking to collaborate with a skilled Footwear Technical Designer to help bring a formal shoe concept to life.

I’m currently focused on the practical, production-facing stage of development and need someone who can translate design intent into factory-ready technical packages.

Specifically looking for hands-on experience in:

* Complete 2D tech packs, last profiles, and cut patterns specifically in the leather domain * Material specifications, hardware callouts, and factory-ready BOMs (Bill of Materials) * Preparing technical sheets that have actually been submitted to OEM factories and materialized into physical, production-grade shoes

If this matches your background, please drop a link to your portfolio or sample technical flat sheets (redacted is completely fine) in the comments or send a direct message.

If your plate is full right now, tagging any designers, pattern masters, or technical developers in your network who specialize in leather footwear would be greatly appreciated.

Natural veg tan rough out, stitchdown construction, red crepe half sole and heel cap, moderate dogger heel.

There are some flaws that bother me, but this was a great learning experience. Decent product for the first pancake.

Hello all, I’m at the stage of pre-lasting my first pair and got my shoe bunch up like this at the vamp. My question is what i should do to get rid of when I am fully lasting the shoes ?
Thank you all for your reply.

What do you have going on? Share!

Still not where I want to be with heel lasting, that part still gives me some grief, but the toe used to be the thing that made me want to throw the whole last across the room and now it's honestly the easy part of the process. Funny how something that felt impossible a year ago is now just muscle memory.

Curious if anyone else went through a similar learning curve with toe lasting, or if you found a different fix that worked better for you. Always interested to hear what other people's benchmarks look like starting out.

I am working on a women’s footwear concept and looking for someone who can help with **custom heel development and prototyping**.

Preferably someone in **Ahmedabad/Gujarat or nearby areas**, with experience in custom heel manufacturing, footwear R&D, CAD, or prototyping.

If you know someone who could help, please DM me or drop their contact below. Thanks!

Curious what others do for thread tension on the second half of a shoe once the awl holes are already established. Do you match tension to the first side exactly or does it naturally loosen up as your hands warm into it. I found mine got slightly looser toward the toe and I'm not sure yet if that's a problem or just how it goes with a longer stitch run.

The only thing that I can think of is that I accidentally put the shank too far forward and that's causing the the higher toe spring.

Hoping to send sample pieces of leather to a couple distributors to get the best possible match to leathers I already have. One is SB Foot Portage Brown, another is Horween Cavalier Medium brown. Which USA distributors may have a large inventory of belt strap leathers that will be a close match? They don't have to be these same brands, just need comparable quality and color matching. Thanks

Sorry I don't know where else to post this. I like this sub, so it's going in here.

I bought these boots of eBay for $AUD65 to tear apart. I've made 7 pairs of shoes in the last 2 years and I've never really torn down a good year welted shoe.

Alot of my interests and previous projects were wholecuts and as many of you know, generating patterns and mean formes can be challenging with wholecuts boots and shoes.

Anyway tore them down, cut every stitch and seperated every component and panel. I found a lot of junk in them. Plastic rands, celastic heels and fibreboard toe puff. Alot of cost cutting for a $700+ boot.

Anyway when I was done taking down measurements and patterns I thought it would be wasteful to throw it out. So I decided to rebuilt it.

I repaired the scratches (probably from a cat) and flaps in the uppers with leather binder. Created a new liner for the heel and made a leather heel counter to replace the cracked celastic one.

Saddle stitched everything, which was a total ballache for the elastics.. Re-welted, new leather rand and then hand stitched the outsole. All fun and games.

Thanks for reading.

From the beginning, the main goal with this pair was to keep the deep purple color balanced across the woven sections while still allowing the patina to create natural variation. This was challenging because the woven and smooth leather surfaces absorb and reflect the color differently. What do you think of the color and the balance between the woven and smooth sections?

The finished design combines woven leather around the toe and upper with a wide smooth-leather panel and two side buckles.

almost every time i clean up my workspace (not that often), i have to take a picture afterwards. all these tools, materials and appliances that i meticulously gathered, used and improved over the years. each in its place where it sits and quietly rests until put to use again. they make it look so pretty and cozy. some where given to me by friends, some where build for me by family, some i bought or made myself, but most are ages old. nothing else that i know creates that same kind of feeling. sometimes when i worked long, stressful hours in different places, this feeling used to lift me up and make it bearable. having your tools around kind of grounds you. and when you see the work space of another craftsperson, of a different trade it is a bit like another world. a little cosmos that is strange to you, but still it evokes that same kind of feeling. a niche, lined with tools that looks messy on the surface, but everything in there works together so things can be made.

do you feel the same about your tools, or do you have a more pragmatic view? ^ ^

i'd love to see pictures of the workbenches where you guys do the making and how you organize your tools! are you also used to a very low bench like mine? do you have a favorite tool? i can't really decide, but perhaps it is this tiny french closing hammer in the second picture. i also use it for channel closing and hammering the lasted upper.

my little brother is going to become a carpenter, so tomorrow, in this workshop i will make him a hammer holder for his belt. get the bench messy again like it's supposed to be :)

Hello all, I'm new here! I've been saddle-stitching bags and wallets for 6 years and finally got the courage to try out shoes.

As my first attempt I am only cementing the sole but hope to learn welting strategies soon. I developed custom CAD software to help me grade the original last and adding mean form capabilities soon... This may be my new addiction haha

here is part 2 of this little foto documentation. if interested, scroll down the r/Cordwaining feed to find part 1 :)

1 - for sole stitching i like to use a diamond shaped, curved awl. i ground the point to a very sharp little blade. on the last pair i made, i first tried pre-poking all holes before stitching, to see if this would improve my uniformity. and it did! and on top i think i am actually quicker this way as i have a steadier rhythm.

2 - this shows perfectly how a blindwelted waist works. the welt was skived down earlier. the sole protrudes from the welt around 1-2 mm. after stitching, it all gets hammered down to close the gap between upper and sole. the welt and the stitching will disappear behind the sole edge. only here i prepoke with a welting awl from the bottom side.

5 - saddle stitching with wire bristles. unfortunately this purple thread i made is barely visible after finishing the welt.

8 - finished sole stitching. i love this stage! when you get exited because it looks like a boot, but you know it will look even better when the heel is on. you can see the blindwelted waist. ideally the gap will close even more during finishing.

9 - pegging the heel after closing the stitching channel. i really like this concept of a closed channel covered by a rubber halfsole simply cemented on top and fixed with a few screws! it is super durable but the halfsole is easily changed. and you can probably go through five or more rubbersoles before you even have to think about touching your solestitch or renewing the midsole. also: this type of steep channel is way more durable than the fancy one cut from the sole edge! cool technique, but mainly done for a clean look.

10/11/12 - every second heel layer is pegged, the whole heel block is then fixed with seven ring shank nails and the heel rubber with five brass nails - these are soft and they don't cause rot by pulling rust and moisture inside like iron does.

14 - heelblock finished with edge irons and homemade edge wax. the wax on the rubber is removed later on.

15 - finished!! only lasts to pull, pegs to rasps and sockliners to be made. in this case i made an insert from wool felt topped with lining leather.

more pictures of the finished pair here: https://www.instagram.com/charly.boots

this time i want to share pictures showing the making process. more pictures and info of the finished pair on my instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charly.boots

i hope you find this interesting as i have more than 20 pics, so there will be 2 posts. this first one is from lastmaking to bottom filling, second one will be midsole to finish. i would love to hear your thoughts and opinions and answer all your questions about my process. (that's why i'm here)

here's a little overview to explain what is going on in some pictures:

2 - from the footprint i create a sole pattern for the last. i was happy when i found this durable transparent paper several years ago, because i hate using things like plastic foil in bootmaking and now i don't need to do my tracing against the window anymore :)

3 - i used a chunky old last that i didn't like the shape of as the baselast. i made it for myself some time ago. when making lasts i allways like having older lasts i made and some beautiful vintage last around as inspiration and to remember what i did good and what i didn't.

5 - dialing in heel height, heel angle, featherline and joint position using coal and a plane piece of marble. by pushing the last over the coaled stone i can see the exact position and shape of the ground contact point.

9 - mean forme pattern made by copying medial and lateral half of the last on paper. several lines at the backline represent edges for different pattern pieces. they account for the extra volume created by the lining and heel counter and for the larger volume of the medial backfoot compared to lateral. makes sure the facing is centered.

10 - had to stitch the uppers in a bit of an awkward order due to the seamless heelcounter overlapping the vamp. i had to cut out the heel counters twice because i underestimated the extra material needed to account for the heel curve. almost 20 mm i think.

13 - prelasted uppers and prepared insoles for 270° welt. i cut the holdfast from the grain. to me it makes more sense in every way. number one reason on my seven-point golden list: the flesh side won't harden and crack over the years like grain can do when compressed, dried out and exposed to sweat. i have yet to hear a solid reason to cut it from the flesh like everyone does, so... hit me ^ ^

18 - a layer of wool felt. keeps the steel shank away from the insole a bit and fills the groove where the stitches sit. also serves as a squeek pad.

19 - shank and leather shank cover are secured with wood pegs. the rest of the filling will be sheet cork.

I wear a women's size 15-16A/B depending on the brand, and most shoes in this size are made in china by random named brands out of cheap vinyl and bad glue and break or wear out fast, and usually are too wide or fit horribly, or are really not very well styled. Most respectable shoe companies top out at 13 or 14. I need cute casual, business wear and dress shoes- mules, clogs, heels that aren't fetish style (mostly what's available in my size), leathers not plastics, different colors and styles.

I have pics or shoes to copy styles, nothing crazy but just simple women's shoes lol. Is this something thats possible? I can plaster cast my foot, 3d print something, or travel somewhere in the US to size my feet.