I should know better than to sort through my file box of patterns. I saw this one, thought it would make great felt slippers- and I need a pair- so just an hour or two and then I would get back to “what I am supposed to be doing!” Well, I’ve been working on the …
My books are available for free!
My shoe and sandal-making books are free! I want to promote the “frame method” for making custom footwear, and the patterns in the shoemaking books can be used for this method. If your feet are standard size, the patterns in these books and their stitch marks can be used as is. Make a felt mock-up …
Shoemaking inspiration
I’ve taken such a long break from blogging, but seeing these yellow shoes on Instagram gave me the incentive to share! What I love about making simple shoes is that you can take key features from elegant shoes, but hand-make them in comfortable shapes and funk them up! So what would I like to copy …
My favorite “common folk” shoes
Since I prefer to wear “common folk” shoes, I love these shoes of mine. Just a little hand-stitching says a lot! These flats were made using patterns from my book on making stitch-downs – and stitch-ins – How to make simple ecological shoes for women.
Make shoes from vegetable-tanned leather
http://gizmodo.com/how-leather-is-slowly-killing-the-people-and-places-tha-1572678618 I invite you to check out the above url for information on what the chrome-tanned leather industry has done to the Ganges River in India, and consequently, the people. In the U.S. and European countries, chrome-tanned leather tanneries cannot dump their chemicals and dies into waterways, they must all be contained within the …
Make a simple wallet from scrap leather as a gift – or for yourself!
I focus as much on creating little kits using up my mountain of shoemaking scraps as I do making shoes these days. I thought some of you might like to make this wallet as a holiday gift. I got the pattern from https://theleatherguy.org/blogs/how-to/a-simple-leather-wallet-free-template. I love that it has a big space for embellishing the wallet …
Sandal/shoe from the 1970’s
This shoe pattern has been available under the “Resources” category for a while, and I thought it would be a good idea to give it some exposure as a blog post. Please send a photo if you make a pair! I saw this “sandoe” or whatever compound word you can think of (Ruth Emily Davey …
I got an order for “crabs” – and I delivered!
When my niece had her first child, I made a pair of “first footsteps” toddler shoes with a boat appliqued on them. When her second child was born, she wanted to continue with the nautical theme and asked for a pair of shoes with crabs on them. Well, that took some trial and error, some …
My old favorite sneakers
This pair of sneakers demonstrates why I love making leather shoes – from earth-friendly sources, of course (thrifted leather items, scraps from upholstery shops for example) – I have worn these sneakers through twenty years of zumba classes at the local fitness club, and about an equal amount of hikes on hilly country roads. Yes, …
Carol from the Midwest is obsessed with shoemaking!
Imagine my shock when I checked my email a few days ago and saw this photo – with the caption “I made 15 pairs of shoes in 30 days!” Inspecting the photo, I see center-seam stitch-downs, side-seam moccasins, slip-on mules, ghillies, ballet flats, and many from “How to Make Ecological Moccashoes for All Sizes of …