Blue. These shoes were made on the Canadian low lasts that are of unknown origin. Low heel, big toe box. Maybe it was made for a casual work boot. These are stitched entirely by hand. Leather heels, Italian soling leather. Heels and sole edge finished with clear Yankee wax. Size 51/2-6M
Green. I got some free green leather from a friend. He got it at a garage sale. The folks selling had ordered replacement leather for their couch. By phone, they said the color was cream. What was delivered was green. After lingering for years in the garage before being sold, it lingered for years in his garage before giving it to me. The lining is machine tooled, same as the quarters on pair number 9. Size 43, width 9. The last for this pair was a gift from a new friend I met in the Netherlands. Later, he setup a workshop for me that created pair 8. Heel and sole edge finished with clear Yankee wax.
Red. This was the second attempt to make a pair of shoes for my wife. I was so certain the first pair would fit, and there were so many things I overlooked. This is the cement construction that I learned at shoeschool.com. Made on the Canadian lasts that I bought. Origin unknown. Hand stitched upper, low heel of vibram rubber soling material. Size 41/2-5N. They fit, thank God. There can now be more shoes.
Shoes in hand from shoeschool, of course I wanted some support at home. Naturally, I made a pair of shoes for my wife. She wears a size 7. See it printed there on the last? It’s plain for all to see. “These shoes look a bit big,” she said, as I was making them. Hmmph. I went to school to learn this trade, don’t you worry your pretty little head, I thought to myself. I had measured her foot, after all. And she said she’s a size 7. See the 7 printed on the last. I didn’t want to get too carried away with the expenses after all I’d spent at shoeschool, so I bought a leather jacket for $5 at Goodwill and cut it to pieces for the upper. I did buy some veg tan lining leather. With a friend, I bought some lasts that looked pretty good on the internet. Nice roomy toe box, low heel. Really low heel. I used a piece of vibram rubber soling for the heel. It was so low, I only needed one piece. It was so easy. Hand stitched upper, cement construction like we learned in shoeschool. There was that nagging issue of size, however. Sure enough, my wife was right! I had overlooked a few measurements, like length. The shoes were only slightly smaller than my size. It turns out these Canadian lasts were marked with something like UK shoe sizes. Men’s size 7. I wear a UK men’s 8, or 8 1/2. Welcome to the big world of shoes. We had a little Cinderella thing here with all of our friends to find someone who could fit this shoe. Luckily we found someone and the shoes found a good home. Whew. On to pair number 2.
Hello shoe world. This is where it all began. When I became interested in shoemaking after reading Handmade Shoes for Men, I tried to find somewhere to learn. I found shoeschool.com and signed up for the 5 day workshop. I was so excited. My wife was so dubious. When I returned with shoes in hand, everyone I knew was quite surprised and impressed. It was the start of my long journey towards becoming a master shoe maker.