Description
The shoes that you make from this kit will be flexible, minimalist, and ecological – in other words, they will be “a step in the right direction”.
Imagine – they aren’t made 10,000 miles away in a factory that is unhealthy for its exploited workers, from materials that are toxic and that will never biodegrade. Instead they’ll be locally and happily made by you.
You will make felt mock-ups until you get the fit right, then neatly cut out the leather, punch out about 250 holes with a punch, then stitch the shoe upper parts together. Finally, when stitching the uppers to the soles, you will need to have the strength to pull the stitches tight.
These are center-seam shoes in women’s sizes 6-10, meaning that there’s a seam down the front (vamp) of the shoe; they also have a seam down the heel. You can make them in a standard size using the patterns in this kit, or you can custom-make your patterns, using the directions that are also included.
These shoes have a sole that I call the “basic nomoc”. (Nomocs are similar to moccasins in their construction, but they’re not moccasins.) The sole has holes punched around its edge to which the upper gets stitched. The sole consists of two layers – the bottom layer is tractor tire inner tube (not biodegradable of course, but it keeps you from needing new materials, and we’re giving the inner tube another use before it heads to the landfill).
The top sole and the upper part of the shoe are made of discontinued upholstery leather samples and remnants. The upper is lined, since upholstery leather is usually somewhat thin.
The upper leather will be in natural colors – brown or tan, please email me at: if you have a request for a specific color.
You can see from the following materials list that you can re-create this shoemaking kit so you can continue making shoes for your family and friends – and even as a business venture. However, I ask that you not share the patterns.
Materials in the kit:
upholstery leather for making the topsole and the shoe uppers
8″ x 12″ piece of tractor tire inner tube for soling
leather for lining the shoe upper
waxed, braided thread
non-toxic contact cement
felt for making mock-up uppers, and Peltex for mock-up soling
Tools in the kit
cement brush
00 drive punch
2 blunt-tipped needles
Additional things you need
leather-cutting scissors
a thick plastic cutting board, the round end of a log or an end-cut wood cutting board to place below the leather piece you are punching holes in
a rubber or other mallet to hit the drive punch with
silver gel pen
pliers – for pulling thread through the small holes
