In case some of you were not aware, shoemaking is actually not my livelihood. In fact, my primary breadwinning is far less interesting to the general public, although it does sometimes afford me some liberties. In this case, I was traveling to Germany for work (Munich specifically), and since it was my first time in Germany, I decided to arrive a bit early and see the sights, visit a few museums, and sample the local cuisine. I understand that this is not, strictly speaking, related to shoemaking, but if you bear with me and be patient, I can promise you shoemaking insight of the kind of that has opened my eyes and made me a believer! To start, here is what is on the front of most subway cars in the Munich U-Bahn: a fellow in medieval clothes going along for the ride. This is apparently Munich’s “mascot,” the Munchner Kindl. He appears on Munich’s coat of arms, as well as obscure places like manhole covers, and the front of U-Bahn trains. =)
I traveled to Munich a few days before work needed me, and took the time to visit three different museums: the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, the Munich Residenz, and the Alte Pinakothek. Continue reading Europe Trip Part I: Munich→
This was actually a pair I had made a while back, but completely forgot about! Standard construction with straps and decoration, but this pair was actually made flat. I may end up adding a heel lift if the lucky person to get them wishes so.
Another fun pair, and my apologies for the poor picture quality. These were a bit of an experiment, though you can’t really tell from the fuzzy pic. In this case, I overlapped the vamp on top of the quarters and stitched through the quarters with a tunnel stitch so that the stitching does not show. You can still see a bit of tugging, but I like the look of the overlapped quarters. Additionally, I cut the insole about 1/8″ smaller than the last all the way around in an attempt to draw the welt underneath the shoe a bit more. It worked to a certain extent, but I think I’ll need to go at least to 1/4″ before I see some real undercutting of the welt.
I’ve been pondering this particular project in my brain for some time, and I finally got around to sourcing the right raw materials. This is a pair based off of the painting of Elizabeth I currently located in Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, dated to around 1599. Let me give you the original as well as the finished product and then tell you a little bit about the construction.
