The Registry

[PalmettoMan]

I should start by introducing myself. My name is Curt H. I live in South Carolina, hence the name PalmettoMan. I am 39 going on 12 and work for myself in a non-shoe related field. I am also back in college, working on the degree I should have finished 20 years ago.

I have always found well-made shoes fascinating. I have recently started doing my own repair work on my shoes. Soon, I plan on making my first pair of shoes by hand. I also plan on making a good many of my own tools.

At the time, I am trading odd jobs and war stories with a local shoe repairman for hands-on knowledge. I have access to the usual assortment of shoe repair machines and tools. The man I am working with admits he has instruments to do far more than repair but neither the skill nor desire to do more.

I’ve been a lurker here for a while now and figured I should just go ahead and jump in head first. I have downloaded the books and have read as much as I understand. I have a lot of questions and hope I do not annoy anyone.

Curt H.

[paul]

Welcome Curt!

You have a classic start on your "hero's journey"!

Several of us had our start in shoe repair. My first awareness of DW came from one of the Shoe Service of America Conventions, He tell you that his tutorial are aimed at such as us because of the "various assortment of tools and machines" we use.
The service aspect of footwear and leatherwork is where I've found my anchor. The view that what skills I may have were given to be used in the service of others, has been the driving force for the direction my life has gone.

I wish the same for you.

It sounds like a passion lurking around the corner.
Even the most difficult aspects of the trade can be come second nature with good technique applied.
There's a really great podcast by Ira Glass, an NPR contributor. It's entitled "DO a lot of Work" A wisdom, he explains, he wishes he would have known sooner. I've got it saved somewhere if you can't find it yourself.

You'll find great encouragement here as you progress.
It will be exciting to view.

With welcoming regards,
Paul
PK Boot Maker

[PalmettoMan]

Thanks for the welcome Paul. I think the thing that most attracts me to shoes is the magical simplicity of them. Every job that I’ve enjoyed has been blindingly simple at first glance yet remarkably nuanced once you learn what you are doing. I worked in a cotton mill during my early 20s. The machine I ran would do a perfectly acceptable job on its own, but if you listened to it and paid attention to the vibrations, you could make it sing. Humidity, temperature and cloth type all played their part too. A good operator could triple the output of what was expected of the machine.

Your comment that your skill should be used for service of others rings true to me. I have no doubt I can make shoes for myself. I would like to be able to make them for someone else to enjoy. That would be special. That is a weird way of explaining it but what could be better than being able to craft something of value for someone else to enjoy. By value, I mean appreciated by someone, not in the financial sense. I am neither young nor rich but have reached a point in life where I can work towards what I want. The medium may not turn out to be shoes, but I will never know until I try.

Curt H

[dw]

Curt,

As the "official" greeter and host, I apologize for being so remiss and not responding sooner--I've a lot going on in my somewhat secluded and usually sedate life.

In any case, welcome. As Paul said, it's a journey...one that requires a lifetime. I hope you will find a "home" here and comrades that inspire and motivate.

[PalmettoMan]

Thank you for the welcome DW.

I have certainly found inspiration here. Maybe a bit too much

[TokyoShoes]

Hello to you all. I found my way to this forum because I watched a video on youtube about making shoes and found it absolutely fascinating. Sometime in the near future I would like to try to make my own pair of derby's or oxfords but I still very much lack the knowledge to do so at this point. If you have any advice for a very new beginner please do share.

Out of curiosity I visited a shoe supply shop in Tokyo near my residence and looked at some shoe lasts, however they were all much too small for my big feet. I guess the first step in creating shoes is to acquire a last and so that is what I have on my to do list.

I am not too confident that I can actually make a truly functional pair of shoes, but maybe I might learn something trying.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Arttu]

Hi TokyoShoes, I'm also very much a beginner shoemaker, so my knowledge is very limited.

However, I started the same way as you, watching a youtube video getting sucked in completely. My interest in actually making shoes has seen ups and downs since starting, but I've been reading a lot on the subject the whole time. I've finished 2 pairs so far (and scrapped several pairs) and I'm close to finishing the third.

A beginners advice for a beginner hobby shoemaker would be;

If you have the time and money, try to find a teacher to help you understand the basics.

Get a proper pair of lasts that fit you as well as possible without too much modification.

Don't skimp on materials, especially bottoming leather (insoles, welt, outsoles etc.). Inseaming an insole made of sole bend will most definitely make you want to quit (I know I almost did).

Get a good knife and learn to sharpen it (this really is essential).

Get a proper sewing machine, unless you really enjoy hand sewing for hours and hours.

Be prepared to spend money. I probably could have gotten a pair of bespoke shoes for what I've spent on tools and materials for the first 2 pairs (and I made most of the hand tools myself).

Read a lot. When you are starting to do something, think about what you are doing and why you are doing it a certain way. If you don't know the answer, find it (this forum is a great place for that). In shoemaking, everything is done for a reason.

You can definitely make a usable pair with the right tools and materials. It won't look like DW's work, but you can most definitely do it. You will also get better fast, so when you finish your first pair, start another.

Happy shoemaking!

[Almar]

Hello,
I am a French podo-orthésiste (shoes for handicapped persons). I also realize custom handmade shoes. Sorry if they are many mistakes, my level in English is weak.
With this link you can see a part of my job.
http://travail-du-cuir.fr/coordonnerie/ ... t1591.html

Regards

[SteveBarrus]

Hello TokyoShoes and Almar,

I am still new at this craft but I have built 35 pair. I learned by reading and doing. A few books, DW Frommers ‘Western packers : an American hybrid’ and Tim Skyrme ‘Bespoke Shoemaking’ ‘Pattern Cutting’ Watch videos on youtube and study these books.

Cheers,

Steve Barrus

[Damien]

Hello everybody,

My name is Damien, I am a 29 years old french collector of leather tools. I also like to work leather especially by doing dog collars.
I don't know anything about the art of doing shoes, but I like to see videos to try to understand this job.
I am a friend of Almar, who told me about this forum.

Regards,

Damien

[Anton K]

Hello,

I'm a rookie shoemaker from Ukraine. Found this forum when i was to looking for the info about the smallest stitches per inch on the upper of the shoe, great topic with a lot of useful information.

All best,

Anton

[dw]

Anton,

Welcome.

Late and not really in the right thread...but 64 stitches to the inch has been recorded.

[GalvinLW]

Thanks for allowing me to join!

I've had a nagging interest in footwear for many years now. I eventually wound up learning leatherwork in general making wallets, belts purses and such. I've continued to be drawn to something more of my skills. About 2.5 years ago I took my first shoemaking class to complete my first pair of shoes. Within the past six months I've completed three more pairs. Hoping to see what more I can learn from connecting with others on this journey.

~Charlie

[dw]

Welcome Galvin...may the road rise up to meet you.

[Anton K]

Anton,

Welcome.

Late and not really in the right thread...but 64 stitches to the inch has been recorded.

Thank you, but could you help me to find that record?

[paul]

Anton, you should be able to see the variety of conversations on the subject by using the search box at the top of this page.
Good luck,
Paul

[ArborCW]

Salutations!

I am the equivalent of a newborn baby in terms of shoemaking experience. I have had two lessons so far under a local boot maker and am currently struggling with designing my insole for my first last for my feet using the Koseff geometric method. I have sewn about 30" of stitching total in my life into a scrap piece of leather and am trying to assemble a basic tool kit. Despite my prolific level of experience, I do have two feet, frequently wear shoes on said feet, and have a deep love for trying to achieve perfection when working with my hands. I have a background in motorcycles, education, woodworking, and biomedical science. I hate my current job and would try shoemaking as a profession were my output ever to become worthy of someone else's hard earned dollar.

About five years ago I saw a pair of color 8 shell cordovan boots in a catalogue and fell in love. That began my journey with footwear, and essentially today I find myself in a position where my desires for custom shoes and boots for my wide feet vastly exceed my budget. I've always been one to "make" when I was unable to "find" (or in this case "afford"), but in this case I'm finding myself already diving deep and head first into this new hobby and eager to see how far down the rabbit hole it really goes. I must finish this journey at some point with a decent pair of brogued cordovan boots. All else I achieve for however long I practice will be gravy. :-)

With three young children, a wife, and a dog, my opportunities to leave the continent and properly apprentice are nil. It's my hope to perhaps travel like a true journeyman and take a weeklong course every year from a different shoemaker, building skills as I go. In the mean time, I'm assembling a library, set of tools, and have begun a few lessons.

-Av

[martin]

Welcome and you've come to an excellent place to learn!

[agathos]

Kevin, Art teacher, Detroit.

I have experience in creating using all sorts of materials and gravitate toward learning about what is novel and interesting to me. I am usually trying to figure out what I can do in a small space without tons of tools/machines. Along with the myriad art stuff I've done, I have spent time playing guitar and drums, building guitar electronics (a la Diystompboxes), model building, flying RC aircraft, building rubber-band powered planes, gardening, and wondering how I'm going to fix up my house while my own parents tell me to just "burn it down." And, I'm working on a theological degree.

The "boots" I've been researching for a while. I couldn't justify spending tons of money on more than one pair of custom made boots. So . . . I have justified spending the time and tons of money on books, materials, tools, and a boot-making class that my wife and I completed together.

I've been trying to keep one day a week special for working in this creative endeavor.

[paul]

Welcome Kevin! How exciting for you!
From how you express yourself, I think you'll appreciate the depth of information you'll find here over the social platitudes of other forums.
The tone is a serious practice of traditional techniques, perfect for your small space. And there is an openness and acceptance of the learning curve.
But know that you are part of a growing number of people coming to our trade who have wanted to experience more self-reliance in your footwear.
I'm encouraged by the fresh attitude many have and what I discern in you.
Enjoy this body of information. Best Wishes,
Paul Krause
PK BootMaker

[brooklyn_edie]

I am wondering if you're still active here Sandra. Or if you may be back in Iceland. I'm traveling there and hoping to connect with any shoemaker that may be active.

Alternatively, does anyone else know if we have colleagues in Iceland? I'm flying out tomorrow.
Thanks to all
Edie K
Old Bitchin' Cat Boots
Brooklyn NY

fasteredie (at) yahoo com

Hi, my name is Sandra Björk. I was born in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1966. At the age of 19 I moved to California where I studied art in California College of Arts and Crafts and later at the San Francisco Art Institute. In 1991 I moved back to Iceland where I got a job with one of the oldest cobbler firms in Reykjavik. I soon noticed that there were two guys seated on the upper floor of the firm making shoes. They were learning the trade of orthopaedic shoemaking and soon I got interested as well. It took quite some years to convince my boss into taking me on. I spent the first 2 training years winding the firms gold mill, making insoles for athletes, children, elderly and anyone who could be persuaded into believing they needed insoles (99.9%). Occasionally, when the boss was absent, (which he was per natura) I would have to work the reception, run the treadmill, do measurements and master lies. I got pretty good at sweeping floors and cleaning apparatus, being at the end of the food chain.
With one year left in training I was getting a bit anxious to get on with the program. After some shouting about my boss finally calmed down and did me the favour of getting me a “seat” One of the guys I mentioned earlier, who now had completed his journeyman walked me through the first pair. After that I was on my own and he was ordered to make lasts. Breathing down my neck when sober, my boss ordered 2 pairs a day as soon as I could make 1. When 2 pairs a day became reality I should make 3.
My last year in training was coming to an end and I told my boss that we might want to look into the fact that I would have to go to school in Denmark for at least 3 months before taking my test, which I also would have to complete in Denmark. He made some calls and true enough the test was just around the corner. A week from that day! I agreed that I would pay my own way and stay, as well as the cost of the test. I just wanted to get this over with. The following day he told me that I was fired, but was so kind to lend me some tools to take with me on my journey.
That weekend I packed my life and headed to Denmark. To make it short, I failed the test. I passed the female shoe, which had a rubber sole. The gents shoe, was I fiasco. I had very little experience working with leather. The test was a no good. I got drunk ;-)
I got a tip that maybe I could get work at one of the shops in Copenhagen. I had everything to win so I marched to the shop and talked to the chief “Master” Of course he had heard of my pour test results (Small city) and was not convinced. I asked him if he would be willing to give me a trial period for 3 months. If he did not like my work I would go. We had an agreement. A year later, in 1996 I completed my journeyman with specialisation in Orthopaedics
3 months have turned into 8 years. I have been fortunate to have the guidance of both my Master and another cordwainer who has been with the firm for 56 years. He retired this year. Following his retirement and the suspension of another fellow shoemaker, my master hired a “young” American (We are all around the same age at the firm, making it a fun place to be) who I now get the pleasure of ordering around. I think he knows where the broom is ;-)
In the past, my Master and me have had some conversations about boot making. It has elevated since we got the US inspiration. We are however quite busy, so most of it is talk.
Looking forward to reading and learning more.

Sandra

[Erebor]

Hello to my fellow members of the Crispin Colloquy. My name is Romero Rodriguez and I would like my first ever post on this wonderful forum to be a warm greeting to you all.

A little about myself. I grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and am currently just north of that in Salem.

Recently I've decided to go back to school to finish my biology and chemistry degrees that I first attempted 10 years ago. Since then I worked construction and various other jobs but I always had a nagging doubt about leaving school and told myself as soon as I had some money and could afford to work part time for a stretch I would return to school.

I wanted to work part time in an effort to pay way through school with a job that has flexible hours with enough time to spare to learn a craft.

I'm trying to live by a no regrets policy and one regret would be to live a whole lifetime and not learn a craft done with hands and tools.

I've done enough lurking on this site for the past year to know that I have a lot to learn, but I'm excited about the prospect of making fine bespoke shoes.

Another hobby of mine is photography and my experience with photography is what led me down the path of wanting to be a cordwainer.

I began shooting digital cameras only 5 years ago and after three years or so of shooting digital I began getting frustrated with a few aspects of the hobby.

First, the cameras themselves would sometimes need repair and unfortunately these repairs were often unfeasible due to the amount of labor required due to the electronics. This was particularly frustrating because it often meant that cameras needed to be constantly upgraded.

Another snag was the editing software used to edit files on a computer. This software also needed constant updates and there were times where the software no longer supported some of my "old" digital cameras.

I took a history of photography course in college to satisfy a creative expression requirement and in the course I learned a lot about film photography and the cameras they used. I became very interested in older film cameras because I've always appreciated the beauty in simplicity and picked up several old film cameras as they were also relatively inexpensive.

I took several apart, cleaned them and reassembled them as per the manufacturer's instruction and was delighted to see them work like new. It makes me very happy to know that I can repair most anything that goes wrong with my cameras and I do take some pride in knowing that I'm keeping these old cameras alive and in use today.

I began to use them for my everyday photography and this led me to shoot quite a bit of film which led me to developing my own film at home.

I found it was very exciting to not know exactly what image I captured until I developed my film and that same feeling I get today despite having developed hundreds of rolls.

Film also introduced me to the world of darkrooms and making prints and enlargements. After making my first couple of prints and seeing how much better they looked to me I began to wonder if my digital images were truly my own doing or if they were only partially my own due to the amount of influence that software has on them. Software that was developed by somebody else.

Currently I have a small makeshift darkroom where I spend some of my time whenever I get an image that I think is worthy.

I tell you all this because doing photography the old, traditional ways has led me to want to make shoes in the same manner.

I wish to be able to make shoes while being able to shun machines to do so.

Currently I have no experience making shoes but I have been on this site for a year lurking and have done a lot of reading on the forums.

I wish to be able to watch more videos and see the pictures on this site. Now that I am a member I can view links and pictures.

I have been working with leather since last summer and have made a few leather messenger bags, wallets and camera cases. Leather has always been my favorite material.

I have a few basic tools but I have set aside a budget to purchase those needed for shoemaking. My plan is to learn as much as possible, build a collection of tools and over the summer sign up for an apprenticeship. I've seen a few places that offer 10 to 14 day courses but I have yet to decide which one will be best. I understand I need to make my own shoes soon after the training in an attempt to not forget anything learned.

Of course I am always open to learning the traditional way by finding an experienced mentor as was done in the past.

I understand the North Shore of Massachusetts was once a major player in the world of shoemaking and perhaps there are a disproportionately large number of shoemakers in my area I hope.

My favorite shoes are the derby and oxfords but I am also a fan of boots of all types such as cowboy, wingtips, workbooks and dressboots.

If anyone has any advice or can point me in the direction of people or business in my area I would be grateful.

I think it is great there is a community of people looking to keep traditional methods and traditional vernacular alive and I wish to help in their preservation.

I am a member of a few other online forums but this is by far the smallest forum in terms of members and yet will be the most important to me.

[homeboy]

Welcome Romero! Nice to have ya!

[ArborCW]

I regret to post that a member of this forum has recent passed away -- Von Allen of Austin, Texas.

Last July I reached out to him as I searched for a pattern making book that he had mentioned in a forum post long ago. The post was old and I wasn’t sure the author would reply, but he did and we struck up a correspondence, exchanging many delightful emails.

He was so kind that at one point he even made me a short video to show me how to use graphics software to shrink the files of some very old shoemaking books I had scanned. He told me how he had moved on from shoemaking because of the physical demands of the work and that although he was sad that his shoemaking journey had ended he still loved the process of shoemaking and techniques that went into it. He shared with me his most recent endeavors to publish a calligraphy book, and though he did indeed mention the difficult time he was having with his illness, I had no idea it was so severe.

Though I never met Von, I have been touched by his generosity and kindness. I am grateful to have had the chance to interact with him, and many others in this community who have indulged my silly beginner questions.

[paul]

That's a wonderful tribute ArborCW.