No, you are not losing your mind – yes, these are very similar to the other pair I made earlier. =) I had promised a friend of mine a pair of shoes for some wonderful calligraphy that she did a while back, and she very much like the earlier shoes for Cathyn, so here is the repeat!

The only real difference here is the lack of a binding on the top edge, and that I used a square fingerloop braid instead of a flat braid. It comes out a bit thicker, more like a real shoelace.

I recently finished up a pair of 16th C. shoes for a good friend of mine. What I had in mind here was a pair that was appropriate to the century, but would also give an acceptable look for an earlier century as well.

A very large portion of shoes from both medieval times and the Renaissance had some kind of treatment on the opening of the shoe, be it some kind of simple reinforcing stitching or a separate binding or strip applied to the opening. As you might imagine, stitching of that kind takes time to be elegant and look decent, so I figured I would give it a shot. This is also a front lace closure, and the lace can be tied either on the top of the throat opening (like modern shoelaces), or placed through the holes as shown and tied on the medial (outside) of the foot. Tying on the outside tends to give it a bit more flair, at least in my opinion. =)

Continue reading 16th C., but flexible… →