Fortunate wet-felt bootmakers
I am making “Soles with an Edge” for students in two workshops right now, here’s a photo of boots made last year by instructor Carin Engen. I love providing this soling, because these beautiful boots were worn outside all last winter! No more little circles of suede as soling! Of course the felt boots are […]
“Shoes are boring; wear sneakers”
Converse “design it yourself” ads are all over web pages I go to: I say, “shoes somebody else makes are boring, make your own!” Why be stuck with choosing colors and maybe the location of a rivet or two? Start with my book, How to make the simplest sandals for everyone with your own two […]
Marfa sandals
Sandals purchased in marfa, texas
Tweaking the loop sandal
For those of you who have purchased either How to Make Simple Sandals, or How to Make the Simplest Sandals, I just made a pair of loop sandals and offer these improved directions: (1) On the pattern, two holes are shown so the loop can pass up through one and down through the other, I […]
a new pair of shoes from Sarah Shields
A neighbor and her daughter are dedicated shoemakers, and are always creating something lovely.Here are Sarah’s latest, embellished with branches and leaves.
How I modified a strap that had become too loose
Several years ago I made a pair of sandals for my friend Karen that had a fixed strap across the ball of the foot. As time went on the strap stretched, until her feet slid forward uncomfortably as she walked. I thought a while about how to solve the problem; it might be best to […]
One-strap sandal found from Northern Mexico to Guatemala – at least!
I have greatly enjoyed making and wearing the one-strap sandal, which became known to the Northern Hemisphere through the book Born to Run (highly-recommended!) Checking out websites about the “invisible sandal”, I realized that a mystery had been solved for me: for years I have had a delightful photo from a calendar hanging on my […]
Fisher sandal variation
I am finishing up a small book on the “fisher” sandal for all lengths of feet from 3 1/2″ to 12″. I believe it’s a sandal that can be made to fit everyone, providing lots of openings for cooling breezes to waft through, but also providing quite a bit of protection for the foot. I […]
“Meander” by Trippen
I am so happy that I have shoemaking students coming to my home to learn – it gives me a great reason to purchase materials – and books! that if they were only for me – well, I have so many design ideas already that I don’t think I have enough years left to experiment […]
www.lunaboots.com
If you’re ever in Tasmania….look up Luna. I had the good fortune to have a 3-day individual workshop with Luna perhaps 15 years ago,when she was in New England visiting her brother. I still find patterns with her name on them that I have not tried to make footwear from – but this one that […]