A while back, some good friends discussed the possibility of doing a pair of welted renaissance shoes as a weekend workshop. Back in 2013, I’d hosted a two weekend workshop, but this time, I thought that I could get through it in a single weekend, just as we did for the medieval shoe workshop. Taking some lessons from there, I had two students making up some cowmouth shoes, and let me tell you, we finished about ten minutes before we had to get on the plane. =) A few things that worked quite well:

– Lasts were prepared in advance based on measurements provided
– Uppers were cut out and ready for dyeing
– Stitching cords and tools all set at the ready.

As you can see, my very lovely and talented students came out with some excellent pieces right out of Goubitz. In fact, I was amazed at how successful they were, showing that it is possible to do a pair of welted shoes in a weekend. Keep in mind that because these shoes were on straight lasts, they did all of the inseaming and sewing themselves. I even had a little bit of down time here and again which I could have used to help push things along, had we been using crooked left and right lasts. Fantastic work for first-time shoemakers!