Leather objects catch my eye, but none more so that a handbag I saw on the arm of a woman who entered my tent at a craft fair – I had no camera so didn’t record it, but I can still visualize it. Large bag, all seams hand-stitched and couched, meaning that a thin strip …
http://abknyc.com/
incredible site for all leatherworkers
flat shoe inspiration
I recently came across this notebook page that I somehow acquired many years ago. As I recall, these shoes were sold in a leather shop in Damariscotta, Maine. Hopefully the shoemaker is now computer-savvy and will contact me, so I can ask permission to publish this! I hope the stitch-down shoemaker finds inspiration is these lovely drawings.
Huaracheblog.wordpress.com etc
If you haven’t ventured to this site before, now is a good time for the journey because there is a fascinating video to watch. There is so much ingenuity and beauty to marvel at on this site, enjoy! I like these sandals because they are one of the few that are simple enough so I can …
Shoe photo from Sierra Leone
This photo sent from the top of a hill in Sierra Leone shows the well-worn shoes of a young man who made them when he was a shoemaking student of mine. He wrote that the shoes had served him well on his journey there, where he was volunteering with an aid organization. When you make …
How to make a pattern from a favorite boot or shoe
Do you have some shoes that fit just right, that you would love to duplicate? If so, here’s how to do it. Use two layers of masking tape that exactly copies each piece of the shoe. Just as you do when making a pattern over a last, have one layer of tape going in one …
How to make simple stitch-down shoes for people with swollen feet
My own mother had problems finding shoes to fit her swollen ankles, so I had wanted to make her a pair. However, before I was able to, she moved into a nursing home and was not getting out of bed. So, I had some ideas in mind when I recently received a call from a …
Two rights make a wrong!
Recently in a shoemaking workshop, one student dutifully cut out vamps for toddler shoes, but both somehow turned out to be for the right foot. She came out with the above priceless quip! I have had to use the quip again during some of my own work..
Interview with leatherworker Renee Canady
I have had the good fortune to collaborate with Renee Canady – an accomplished leather worker – on making a pair of sandals, to show what can be done with carving and tooling on footwear – that isn’t a pair of cowboy boots! She did the carving, tooling, painting and dyeing, and I assembled the …
RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN SHOE SHOW!
A few cold months ago, I had the pleasure of teaching a one-day shoemaking workshop to Rhode Island School of Design students who had just the previous day returned from a shoe-design trip to Italy. Kathleen Grevers, Senior Critic, Apparel Design, and Khipra Nichols, Associate Professor, Industrial Design, shepherded twenty design students from a variety of …