I have been talking about it for some time, but I finally decided to teach a full-length shoemaking class at Costume College, held every year towards the end of July. The primary reason is the work involved – I need to pattern shoes, modify lasts, cut leather, and make stitching cords for every single student. As it turned out, we only ended up with four students (one had to drop out at the last minute), and though it was plenty of work, each student came away with a great piece.

For first time cordwainers, they did quite well – compared to my first pair over fifteen years ago, these are orders of magnitude superior in every way, and I’m delighted to have started them down the path several rungs ahead of where I began.

Just for some context…

Being as efficient as you can with your leather is important – in the finds where there were known leather-workers, often times, all that is left is little triangular strips and shavings, and you can see why. Good leather is expensive now, and was not cheap then either.

In progress shot. What you do not see are the empty bottles of champagne and sweat and blood from my students. =)