This was the project that broke my passion for making shoes!!

These were made for my 4 year old daughter.

I don't like sneakers. So naturally I don't like making them 🫠

I started making good year welted and hand welted shoes in late 2024. I made 6 pairs of footwear in less than a year.

This one took 9 months. To be fair when I finally decided it was time to stop procrastinating, it took around 1 month.

The moment came when my daughter put her foot into my foot sizer device and I realised I had run out of time. Make them now or she'll never fit in them.

Anyway onto the shoes, these were constructed by deconstructing a pair of Kmart cheapies (Mostly for the cupsoles) . I copied the pattern of the individual pieces whilst adding some changes I wanted.

I decided I didn't want to faff about with stitch chisels so I scanned the patterns into Inkscape and I cleaned up the patterns and added in stitch lines. I then took the scans to a mate who has an XTOOL laser cutter and through alot of messing about (months) got them cut. Stitch lines and all.

Never laser cut Chrome tanned leather. It's terrible. Burns, smoke everywhere and smell the lingers for days.

Assembled everything quick fast, stitched up and lasted. Cupsoles were bonded then finally outsole stitched. Hugely different to GYW construction where it feels you spend hours and hours on the sole.

Heaps of mistakes on this like every project I've attempted, but in the end, she loves them. 🧡💜🧡

That is all that matters.

Hey guys, I've just draped over my boot last, trying to think how I can make the pattern lay flat. I can make some shallow cuts all around the edge, but im not sure if that will help with the instep/tongue curve. My boot will have a seam along the back and a zipper on the interior side. I understand that adding a seam near the instep/tongue to take on some of that curvature would make it easier, but im not going for that look. Any suggestions? If there's few options, then ig I will add a seam somewhere.

Hello everyone. I’m not sure if this would be the correct subreddit to ask this in but I want to know if anyone knows. Is there a place/site or person that could custom make a design of shoes? I really want these heeled boots and I’ve been wanting them for so long now. But unfortunately they’ve been discontinued for a few years and I cannot find a single pair being resold in my size at all and there aren’t any similar existing shoes that I’ve been able to find at all :/

Upper is 3/4 oz Horween chromexcel stampede from Maverick leather. Lining is goat from Panhandle. Last is classic men’s dress shoe from Lonsdale. Sole is an EVA unit sole from Soletech. 4mm veg tan insole/midsole. 2mm veg tan heel counters and toe puffs. 270 stitchdown.

Very happy to be finished with these. I made a ton of mistakes, but I learned a lot. First time doing a fully pegged heel/waist.

Would love any constructive criticism or insults or whatever.

Version 2 coming out awesome. Still taking notes on my mistakes but no deal breakers yet. The last has no steel plate and my cobblers anvil are too big, so I cant nail the heel. I went with a blake stitch instead and it feels super solid. Decided to not do 360 stitchdown at the last minute. You kinda need to plan ahead so the fronts of the counter cover dont lap too much over the bottom of the quarters cove, makes a few welt stitches worth of top many layers in that area.

After both are bottomed and stitched, ill do a half length 5mm eva foam and then another full length layer before gluing on the rubber outsole

The leather is thinner. Feels very good on feet. Put a thin rubber from topy and a Cats Paw heel.

I came across these wooden clogs at Goodwill for $4.99. From what I can see there is “FRANCE …. April 1919” written on them. I thought they were amazing so I bought them but I’d love to learn more about them.

Hi boot bros and sisters! These are my first go at designing and making sandals and I'm fairly pleased with the results.

They're a hell of a lot easier than boots, and having a project from start to finish that only takes a day or two is very rewarding. This is also the first real project using my (new to me) post bed sewing machine, and I have to say that it's going to be very hard to ever go back to hand stitching.

I built these myself, and they’ve been my regular boots ever since. I love how the leather has darkened, softened, and developed a unique patina over time. Show yours!

These came from Nicks Marketplace. I got what I feel was a fair deal 200 dollars. I order Venetian leather balm at the same time in cordovan. When they arrived they were soaked in what I think was Obenaufs LP. So I broke out the dawn dish soap and bought a scrub brush. I spent about 2 hours in total scrubbing then 2 days to dry. Then came the leather balm 3 coats each boot. Using a blow dryer between coats and a day between coats. Then I brushed them a lot. I had some scrap horse rump so I cut some basic kilties and camo paracord for laces. They are not perfect but for what I have invested I think I did good. I am in under 250. For the whole project and about 8 hours time

I’m trying to welt with thread that I made with thread and shoemakers wax( both from starko tools). The needles I am using keep on snapping ( I am using https://www.rmleathersupply.com/products/copy-of-john-james-curved-needles-5-pack in large).

1. what needles do yall use (and what size) and from where?
2. the “knot” where the thread is locked with the eye of the needle isn’t too easy to pull through

the holdfast and upper/lining holes)

1. Could it be how I am making the waxed thread? Or maybe the awl isn’t making a big enough hole? I am using beeswax to as a lubricant.

Hey everyone, just wanted to share a little raw behind-the-scenes video from the bench.

I’m crafting a new custom pair of sneakers using this beautiful green suede. In the clip, you can see some of the prep work: from hand-marking the stitching lines to sewing the embroidered panels, and finally hammering down the edges after lining to keep everything as flat and clean as possible.

I really love how that punchy yellow pop contrasts with the green suede texture. Left a quick peek of the finished custom shoe at the very end.

Let me know what you think of the process! 🛠️👟

Gotta get back to painting the kids bedroom. If only I could just put full days into this lol

First crack at a derby boot on top, revised pattern on bottom.

This is my father’s most recent creation. It’s a very special order for a highly unusual costume, at least for us.

The client came to us because of a common problem with classic clown shoes: they are notoriously difficult to put on and take off due to how the traditional pattern is built.

My father, who is a master shoe pattern maker, redesigned the entire model from scratch. He engineered it to fit and feel like a normal shoe, making it easily removable thanks to a zipper added to the back.

The real innovation here is that you don't even need to tie or tighten the laces to make the shoe fit properly; the new pattern ensures it hugs the foot perfectly right away.

While this pair is more expensive than a standard clown shoe, the enormous amount of pattern work and development behind it makes it completely unique in both design and construction.

What do you think? For the makers out there, can you guess the trick to patterning this?