Over my years of shoemaking (about 9 at this point), I’ve picked up a few techniques and tricks through trial and error, and I thought I might share some of them, as people might be interested in more than just pictures of recent work and the occasional lesson or technique. By no means am I an expert – I haven’t been making shoes for decades, and I’ve yet to cross even the basic threshold of making 100 pairs of shoes. Additionally, I’ve only taken one informal class on shoemaking, so the majority of my knowledge comes from trying things out based on written descriptions and illustrations, but primarily from trial and error. As a result, if you have some potential insight to offer, I welcome it heartily! Hopefully, this series of posts might entertaining, insightful, and potentially even amusing.
This particular post focuses on an important tool of the trade – the hammer. In your visits to antique stores or looking through various Ebay or Etsy shops, you might have seen hammers looking very similar to the two below (if not, just type in “cobbler hammer”).
Apologies for the lack of productivity – I just recently purchased a new house, and that ended up sucking up all of the creative energy for a while. But, now that it’s reasonably sorted out, please see a new pair of shoes in a fantastic green. Welted 1570 shoes with no heel lift, slashes and pinks, a whipped in heel-stiffener and wool sock. Although you cannot see it well in the picture, I did not dye the sole edges but instead simply burnished them to a mirror polish. I do like the way it looks, and we do not really have much evidence for dyeing the sole edge anyhow. Sarah Juniper also does not dye her sole edges, so I’m happy to take a clue from that.
I have to preface this by saying that these are *children’s* shoes, and all the photographs are of said child wearing them. =) My thanks and copyrights on all of these images to Jeremy Tavan, 2012. I had promised the lovely mother of the young Master C. a pair of shoes for the young gentleman, and I was delighted to be able to finish them within just a short time frame (two days). That included taking measurements for other shoes, chatting with passers-by, and talking about historical shoes at the Much Ado About Sebastopol Renaissance Faire.
Astute observers might note that the grain on this leather seems a bit pronounced – indeed, that is because I had neglected to bring appropriate upper leather, and a lady at the faire was kind enough to provide me with some leather that, although not perfect, did the job quite well. The leather was chrome tanned, so it did not retain the shape of the last as well as it might have were it vegetable tanned, but I really did want to see these complete.
A new pair for the Ruffiano! A ruffiano (or roffiano) is a bawde, a ruffian, a swaggerer, a swashbucker (per Florio’s 1611 Italian dictionary). Also can be a…well…someone who protects certain lovely ladies who might happen to need protection =). Anyhow, these are your standard pair of welted 1560 shoes with no heel lifts, slashes and pinks, a whipped in heel-stiffener and wool sock.
Dedicated to the Research and Construction of Chopines, Pantoufles, Zoccoli, Shoes, Boots,and Other Raised and High Heels.
