I’ll be offering CORE patterns for six styles of shoes – center-seams, flat/skimmers, derbies, sneakers, oxfords, and wallabys.
Center-seam shoes have a nice fit, and are simple to make because the distance around the upper is the same as the distance around the sole. This means that you don’t have to do any gathering of the upper in the toe area. Also, the toe seam is stitched after you have stitched the upper to the sole, so the inside of the shoe is accessible while you are doing the upper-to-sole stitching. Center seam shoe patterns, as are all the patterns in this series, can be made as either “stitch-downs”, with the bottom edge of the upper turned out, then stitched to the sole, or it can be turned in, leaving a smooth edge where the upper meets the sole. Most of my youtube videos are about making stitch-downs, but this video shows you how to make stitch-ins: https://youtu.be/SMTjSkBM1V8
BONUS PATTERNS:
Toplines for turning your center-seam shoes into ghillies and a sweet “tie-tab” slip-on are included! Plus, there are other toplines in my free book How to Make Ecological Simple Shoes for Women – available under Resources.
INFORMATION ON USING THESE PATTERNS
If your feet are fairly standard, you might begin by making a mock-up shoe using these patterns. Make it with a felt or sturdy fabric upper and cardboard sole. If the fit is good, there’s no reason to use the frame process.
But, if your shoe needs customization, use these upper patterns, but not the sole pattern. Instead, make your own sole pattern by having someone trace your foot. Then, follow the process shown in videos from this youtube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUQRmZEE7ERw
You might prefer to use the patterns from the free book How to Make Ecological Simple Shoes for Women.The patterns won’t match up with the CORE patterns but they do provide a useful introduction to shoe and sandalmaking, just send your request by email.
This pdf will be emailed to you once payment is made!
