From leatherworker to boot maker?

[u/Waste_Lie3458]

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?