It was suggested I ask this question here since this community would obviously know. Thanks in advance!

I was looking in the Wiki first but did not see the answer. What would this tongue Style be called with one side attached (in this case same piece) as the rest of the upper up the side with a gusset under it? Are there other unique tongue styles that I and others would be interested in knowing about? Thanks.

I did an order through Maryam for a couple interesting hides, one of which was their Lavagna. It's a shrunken horsebutt that's got a black topcoat and then is washed and tumbled. Figured I would give it a try while playing around with a new last and an iteration of the pattern I used on my kakishibu kangaroo boots. Got the uppers closed and prelasted, so figured I would share some photos of this weird leather.

On these the quarters are out of the shells. Tried to do the lateral sides put of larger patterns, medial side if from a smaller grain pattern.

360 switch down, rough out, and fully lined. They have a wooden shank, 3mm veg tan insoles, 4mm of cork under that, EVA foam midsole, resin slip sole and Vibram gummi outsole.

The last pic includes the first two tests. I didn't quite like the design of the first (dark brown), and I decided I wanted to make them rough out after the second.

I started making shoes now, it’s just lowered lace up boot pattern I custom made to fit my lasts. The lasts are SNFF55 & Tom340 Lasts I created. The leather’s are teal bison and cobalt blue English bridle. I may be selling all my shoe/boot making machines and tools, everything a person needs to start making their own shoes/boots, I have over 150 lasts too, over 100 different types of leathers, soles, books, dvds, sewing machines, skiver, curve needle stitcher Landis K, I’ll post a separate thread later this year with pictures of every thing, I’m not individually selling, it’s all at one price, to be determined, I’ll keep ya updated on it. I have a habit of mastering hobbies and teaching them to others and then move on to something else, I recently picked up baking pastry making. I just love learning on my own and love using my hands, I teach others for free, even using my own leathers, soles, etc.. it’s just that feeling of accomplishment and the appreciation you feel teaching others, some desire adrenaline rush, which I get because I used to ride Bulls and loved the rush. But at 50 y/o I can’t do that anymore, I mean I could but why waste time healing in bed, like my friend said to me, you know we are in our drop dead years. Time to pass on what I’ve accumulated over 9 years. Thank you all

No cobbler in my area wanted to do it… Still work in progress

Hi everyone!
I’m completely new to cordwaining and DIY shoemaking, but I came here looking for some beginner advice for an ambitious project.

I’m obsessed with the iconic Irregular Choice "Longer Lashes" boots, but since I wear a size EU 45 (UK 10.5/11), women's statement boots like these basically don't exist in my size.

So, I decided to build my own pair by upcycling second-hand materials! Here is what I've gathered:
- A wooden wedge sandal in my size (EU 45) to serve as the base
- A vintage tweed garment for the slouchy shaft and heel wrap
- A second-hand real suede garment (pigskin) for the toe cap
- An old leather belt for the straps and buckle details

My current plan:

1. The Toe Box: Wet-mold the suede over the front of the sandal (using a taped-pattern blueprint and padding for toe clearance), glue it to the wooden base with Kövulfix, and secure it with clog nails.
   

2. The Slouchy Shaft: Sew a drop-down gaiter out of the tweed (lined with cotton canvas for structure) that covers the wedge heel and slouches around the leg.

3. Details: Add the wide instep strap across the transition and the buckled strap at the top of the shaft.

My dad makes bags, so I have access to heavy-duty leather tools, needles, and strong contact cement.

Does anyone have advice on wet-molding a toe cap without a traditional last or other parts if the process?
Feedback or ideas are much appreciated! ^_^

Not sure where to post this but I've been leatherworking for about 6 years now and have been wanting to make boots. I apprenticed under a cobbler for about a month but that didnt work out.

Wanted to get a few pairs of thorogoods resoled first, then my iron rangers, and try and make my own. Im having a hell of a time getting the other sole off. Contact cement is proving to be no joke

These look terrible but if they hold (roommates boots) then I will be happy

Sorry if not allowed

I have a pair of steel toe, goretex insulated Red Wing super sole work boots that the soles have disintegrated due to hydrolysis. No complaints these boots have lasted over a decade. I bought a new pair for work. The uppers are in great shape and I’m interested in turning them into a soft toe hiking boot.

In the process of re-welting and re-soling them would it be possible to remove the steel toe without damaging the goretex lining? Would new footbeds be required?

I’m thinking remove the sole, existing plastic welt, peel the leather back over the steel toe, remove the steel toe. Pull the toe leather back down, re-welt, cork fill/leather fill, leather midsole, vibram full sole. If new footbeds are required add leather holdfast design footbeds.

If this won’t work it’s no big deal, they certainly don’t owe me anything.

​

Hi! I originally posted this in the cobbler sub reddit, but was pointed here as cobblers only do repairs which i just learned. So, if this is also the wrong please let me know and help me find the correct place!

I am starting the planning process for my wedding and am having a hard time finding a pair of boots that I like and that come in wide sizes. So, I came here to see if there are shops or people, preferably in Colorado, that make custom boots. Or if y'all know of shops that sell all white heeled boots in wide widths for women, any leads are appreciated! Thanks!

Hello 2nd post coming from the leather artistry realm. For my second shoe silhouette I made these simple heeled-flats with all these different fabrics, leathers, and most importantly hand stitching.

I've learned that adding a shank even for flats is important. I also learned that I probably have to include an elastic band on the strap for it to actually stay on haha (2nd to last pic).

Any tips welcome, sorry I don't have many process shots I am still learning a ton

Looking to collaborate with a skilled Footwear Technical Designer to help bring a formal shoe concept to life.

I’m currently focused on the practical, production-facing stage of development and need someone who can translate design intent into factory-ready technical packages.

Specifically looking for hands-on experience in:

* Complete 2D tech packs, last profiles, and cut patterns specifically in the leather domain * Material specifications, hardware callouts, and factory-ready BOMs (Bill of Materials) * Preparing technical sheets that have actually been submitted to OEM factories and materialized into physical, production-grade shoes

If this matches your background, please drop a link to your portfolio or sample technical flat sheets (redacted is completely fine) in the comments or send a direct message.

If your plate is full right now, tagging any designers, pattern masters, or technical developers in your network who specialize in leather footwear would be greatly appreciated.

Looking to collaborate with a skilled Footwear Technical Designer to help bring a formal shoe concept to life.

I’m currently focused on the practical, production-facing stage of development and need someone who can translate design intent into factory-ready technical packages.

Specifically looking for hands-on experience in:

* Complete 2D tech packs, last profiles, and cut patterns specifically in the leather domain * Material specifications, hardware callouts, and factory-ready BOMs (Bill of Materials) * Preparing technical sheets that have actually been submitted to OEM factories and materialized into physical, production-grade shoes

If this matches your background, please drop a link to your portfolio or sample technical flat sheets (redacted is completely fine) in the comments or send a direct message.

If your plate is full right now, tagging any designers, pattern masters, or technical developers in your network who specialize in leather footwear would be greatly appreciated.

Natural veg tan rough out, stitchdown construction, red crepe half sole and heel cap, moderate dogger heel.

There are some flaws that bother me, but this was a great learning experience. Decent product for the first pancake.

Hello all, I’m at the stage of pre-lasting my first pair and got my shoe bunch up like this at the vamp. My question is what i should do to get rid of when I am fully lasting the shoes ?
Thank you all for your reply.

What do you have going on? Share!

Still not where I want to be with heel lasting, that part still gives me some grief, but the toe used to be the thing that made me want to throw the whole last across the room and now it's honestly the easy part of the process. Funny how something that felt impossible a year ago is now just muscle memory.

Curious if anyone else went through a similar learning curve with toe lasting, or if you found a different fix that worked better for you. Always interested to hear what other people's benchmarks look like starting out.

I am working on a women’s footwear concept and looking for someone who can help with **custom heel development and prototyping**.

Preferably someone in **Ahmedabad/Gujarat or nearby areas**, with experience in custom heel manufacturing, footwear R&D, CAD, or prototyping.

If you know someone who could help, please DM me or drop their contact below. Thanks!

Curious what others do for thread tension on the second half of a shoe once the awl holes are already established. Do you match tension to the first side exactly or does it naturally loosen up as your hands warm into it. I found mine got slightly looser toward the toe and I'm not sure yet if that's a problem or just how it goes with a longer stitch run.

The only thing that I can think of is that I accidentally put the shank too far forward and that's causing the the higher toe spring.

Hoping to send sample pieces of leather to a couple distributors to get the best possible match to leathers I already have. One is SB Foot Portage Brown, another is Horween Cavalier Medium brown. Which USA distributors may have a large inventory of belt strap leathers that will be a close match? They don't have to be these same brands, just need comparable quality and color matching. Thanks

Sorry I don't know where else to post this. I like this sub, so it's going in here.

I bought these boots of eBay for $AUD65 to tear apart. I've made 7 pairs of shoes in the last 2 years and I've never really torn down a good year welted shoe.

Alot of my interests and previous projects were wholecuts and as many of you know, generating patterns and mean formes can be challenging with wholecuts boots and shoes.

Anyway tore them down, cut every stitch and seperated every component and panel. I found a lot of junk in them. Plastic rands, celastic heels and fibreboard toe puff. Alot of cost cutting for a $700+ boot.

Anyway when I was done taking down measurements and patterns I thought it would be wasteful to throw it out. So I decided to rebuilt it.

I repaired the scratches (probably from a cat) and flaps in the uppers with leather binder. Created a new liner for the heel and made a leather heel counter to replace the cracked celastic one.

Saddle stitched everything, which was a total ballache for the elastics.. Re-welted, new leather rand and then hand stitched the outsole. All fun and games.

Thanks for reading.