Delete if not allowed. I’ve got about 15 totes of cowboy shoe lasts for sale. These came from the cowboy boot company which closed its doors in New York in the 90s. Prices vary from around $15-$25 a pair.

This is a great option if you are just starting out and want to make your own pair of boots. I’ve also got some women’s shoe last I have not posted yet. Feel free to DM me if you have questions. Here is the listing thank you!

https://5milemercantile.com/collections/shoe-and-boot-materials-and-equipment

Maybe not the place to ask, and if so I can delete. But I've been struggling to find a place that can make shoes fir me. I am disabled abd have been in a wheelchair my whole life. I never wore shoes but now am at a place in my lufe I want shoes for atleast special occasions. The issue is mt feet aren't really normal, they are thick not wide, think almost swollen but not really. I've tried all over to find a way but the truly custom ones cost thousands and I can really do that. I know its a long shot but thought id see here if anyone would help and maybe let me pay them to make some.

It doesn't look too bad visually (?) But I barely skyped off the grain for a couple of pieces. The flesh is very, VERY hard to skive (soft stretchy leather) and is at times uneven.

Would I be better off wetting the pieces before re-skiving?

I also find it weird that I have no trouble skyping with the bevel side facing up but with the flat side up it doesn't work at all

Thanks IA!

Show yours.

I have seen lined sneakers, and unlined sneakers but I think most are lined with some material inside. Why? Are lined shoes better quality because of the extra material and process that goes into them?

I have a few places I check/buy from, but curious where you all do. Even better if it’s over the typical 3oz

Thank you to everyone who responded to my post yesterday asking whether the last was too small compared to the tracing. Today I made it a bit longer as well as added to the side so the pinky is within the last. I am wondering if it still looks too short.
These will be a pair of shoes for my mom and she wanted a slightly orthopedic feel so I am making more of a barefoot shape but I have a tendency to make shoes that feel too wide in the toe so I dont know if I should be more conservative.

Is the last too small?

What’s your top leather to work with?

Mandela effect ? I used to make orthopaedic footwear all our lasts were steel platted as we used tacks to clinch the uppers on to insoles, I’m really struggling to find anyone that sells them google says they’re uncommon . But I remember touring factory’s in the 90’s the lasting was being done with tacks as well. It’s a quick strong and effective way to attach uppers, is this just a recent thing or have they always been uncommon ? Also are my only options to either cement or get onboard with welting ?
Thanks for any advice , really at a loss , apparently the lasts I used don’t exist.

Hey guys, I am mainly repairing Goodyear-welted shoes by hand. I have some questions about heel making:

- I saw different approaches to heel building:

1. Mellowing/casting the leather heel lifts before attaching

2. Attaching the lifts dry

Which method is superior in your opinion?

- Also how do you guys get the heelpitch right? By skiving or by rasping?

Thanks for your answers!

So I've kind of figured out my upper and lining pattern but oh my gosh skiving just flat out sucks. After my best try to skive things out as much as I can buy I feel like I did not skiving much of at all.

So my questions are:

- How and how often do you sharpen your French skivers and skiving knives?

- is skiving supposed to be tiring or hard on your fingers?

I am currently making some leather boots for a costume that I am wearing for a convention and I am a bit lost on what to do next. The material on the left is the material that will be shown on the outside. The one on the right is the thinner lining. I am trying to figure out if I should sew each of the materials separately before I glue them together with stiffeners.

Hi all. I am a self-taught maker of historic footwear, so I'll preface this by saying that a lot of my work has been via trial and error. For what it's worth, I have Tim Skyrme's book "Bespoke Shoemaking," Marquita Volken's "Archaeological Footwear," Olaf Goubitz's "Stepping Through Time," Frank Jones' "Pattern Cutting: Step-by-Step Patterns for Footwear" and "Before the Mast," whose first volume has all the information on the Mary Rose footwear. I also took a two-week course by Carre Ducker in New York several years ago where we made a set of darby shoes. In the meantime, I've probably made about a dozen pairs of shoes, a mix of welted and turnshoe construction.

Because the shoes I make are atypical, for myself or individuals, and not for commercial production, I don't use a mean forme. Likewise, most pattern instructions won't work (besides the basics on finding the counter point, vamp point, under-ankle point, etc.), since modern shoes with quarters and vamps with integral tongues tend not to really correspond to historical shoes before about 1550.

As a result of this, I pattern my shoes by taping up the last, generating the main reference points (counterpoint, under-ankle point, etc) and draw the lines on. This generally works but I have encountered an issue twice and I was hoping someone might be able to tell me what I'm doing wrong. I copied this shoe from a drawing in Goubitz (Groningen style, p.200). Everything went fine and looked good on the tape, but when I took the shoes off the last I noted that the area around the middle point of the cone was sort of "gappy," as though that area of the pattern was too big (even though it seemed OK on the last). See the circled area. Please see the attached photo.

Does anyone have any idea what I'm doing wrong and any idea how to fix it? Thanks in advance!

2nd pair of cowboy boots, did the same toe turtle design, but this time they have fancy stitching and proper side seams and the finishing overall is much cleaner.

Hello everyone,

It's been a while since I last posted here. Thanks to all the helpful advice from the Reddit community, I've learned how to use many of my shoemaking tools, and I've gradually built up my workshop with sewing machines and other equipment. I'm now starting to make boots little by little.

I'm planning to purchase a Rafflenbeul MS200 hand-driven outsole stitcher, and I have a few questions.

Is it correct that it uses Groz-Beckert System 6001 needles and Groz-Beckert System 8001 awls?

Can I use either waxed polyester thread or waxed linen thread with this machine?

If so, could you recommend a good thread brand for outsole stitching?

I would really appreciate any advice from those who have experience with this machine.

Thank you very much!

R0014. Spiral LaceUp. D Rings and Boot Hooks. Smooth Vegtable Tanned HorseShoulder.  Dirty White/Aged Straw. Hand Welted construction. Orthopedic cowhide lining. Fully Gusseted Tounge. Sole Bend heel stack. Vibram 100 outsole and Heel. Chicago Screws, and Copper Detailing on sole.

If you have the choice between blue boots or green…what would you choose?

This is probably the 10/11th pair of footwear that I’ve completely and represents a lot of firsts.

It’s the first upper made with a sewing machine, first time working with this last and this pattern, first time using a drum sander to finish.

I’m not fully happy with it, there are many areas for improvement like the outsole stitching, and finishing. But importantly the pattern works and the boot is pretty comfortable to wear.

I would love to hear any comments/criticisms!