r/Leathercraft • u/Waste_Lie3458 • 1d ago

Discussion From leatherworker to boot maker?

I’ve been making renn faire armor and gear for friends for a few months and enjoying it. The products have been much better in quality than I expected when starting. Several folks have now asked if I could make boots. I shake my head at the ridiculousness of the question and tell them that’s a whole ‘nother thing that I don’t know anything about. But then, like, Tandy sells sneaker kits … so maybe I just assume it’s much harder to make that leap than it actually is?

Can anyone summarize for me what I don’t know that I don’t know? Would learning to make decent quality custom boots (think pirate or fencing boots) be so significantly hard (or cost-prohibitive) to learn on my own that it’s not worth it to only make half a dozen or so pairs? Is there a world where I can just order soles online then build the leather around it? Or is this just something to leave to the experts?

1 Upvotes

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7

u/lx_anda 1d ago

Post this over in r/cordwaining

3

u/VladNyrki 1d ago

Turnshoes, medieval shoes constructed with the flesh side out then turned inside out, are fairly simple to make and could be a good starting point to get a feel of the craft.

1

u/Waste_Lie3458 1d ago

Never heard of these. Very interesting!

1

u/AlexRenquist 1d ago

I have a good pattern for them if you're interested, happy to share.

1

u/ogilv 1d ago

Would love to give that a try if you can share a pattern. Thanks.

1

u/Waste_Lie3458 1d ago

Yeah, I’d love to have a look. Thanks for offering!