A new pair of bound shoes. On these, I made the insole smaller about 3/16″ all the way around so as to draw the stitching in a little. It worked a bit, but was not significantly different from other attempts. On the next pair, I’ll definitely go to 1/4″ and give it a shot. Also, I must apologize for the poor picture – from this point on, you have my word that I’m going to take better pictures and not simply slack off with a cell phone picture.
I’ve been attending Costume College (held in Southern California) for a number of years now, and in the past few years, I brought along my shoemaker’s bench and did some work in the hallways to teach people informally about historical footwear. Although I do teach some formal classes, I can reach a larger audience as people come in and out of the classrooms. I normally bring a pair of shoes to finish, and, in fact, you can see me cutting out the woolen insock to be pasted in the strapped shoe that has just been completed. Forgive the modern last, again, my very impressed photo-mate is Amanda S., and the image is courtesy of Breanna M.
Apologies for not getting to take a close-up of the finished pair, but they’re very similar to these. I was able to get them a lovely forest green which was not my original intention, but I’m very pleased with the color. Thing is, I didn’t get to take any close-ups, because there were so many other things going on!
Continue reading Costume College and 1580s Shoes
I hosted a small workshop a couple of weekends ago, and both students came away with some beautiful shoes (that also happened to fit, the more critical part). One was a 1560s pair of pumpes, and the second was a pair of shoes based on the 9-10th century finds at York. You can tell from the smiles that both were very happy with their work!
I earlier made a pair of Poulaines on a set of modern lasts, and the results were not bad – in fact, I thought they were rather pretty. Of course, we all know that the fit has to be perfect, otherwise they can be as pretty as they like, and they won’t be suitable. As a result, I decided to carve a last based on historical reproductions. First, the finished results, and I apologize for the fuzzy image.
The lasts that I received were appropriate for a mid 15th century shoe, so my task was to scale the last up to suit a larger foot.
Continue reading 15th C. Poulaines Redux, with period lasts!