Category: News
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Lasts and Sizing
This is a shoemaking workshop about lasts and their sizing, as well as feet and their sizing. To make shoes, you need a last. Getting the right last can be tricky. You can find lasts in second hand stores, on eBay, and from last manufacturers. Even once you have one, how do you know if…
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Footwear Design and Pattern Making
This is shoemaking workshop about shoe design and pattern making. You will learn the basics of drawing footwear designs and how to turn those designs into patterns. We’ll cover the names of shoe parts, elements of design, and techniques for creating designs based on lasts. Patterns for the upper are based on the last itself.…
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Lasts and Sizing
This is a shoemaking workshop about lasts and their sizing, as well as feet and their sizing. To make shoes, you need a last. Getting the right last can be tricky. You can find lasts in second hand stores, on eBay, and from last manufacturers. Even once you have one, how do you know if…
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We train professionals! Mentoring a student from Hout- en Meubileringscollege
Wij Leiden Vakmensen Op! We train professionals! I’m also a “recognized training company” (Erkend Leerbedrijf). From February until April, I provided an internship for Owen van den Berg. He is a student in his final year at Hout- en Meubileringscollege in Amsterdam. (HMC – The College of Woodworking and Furniture). The school also offers programs…
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All shoes are figureoutable, by René van den Berg
A review of 30 years of shoe making On February 20. 2024, I was very honored to host a presentation by René van den Berg at my shop in Union Station. René shared photos, shoes, patterns, uppers, and books on his work. He spoke about his process of making patterns, how his career developed, personal…
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3D Talk at NW Material Show
On January 31 from 1 – 2pm and on February 1 from 11:00 – noon, I gave presentations on 3D technologies in fitting custom footwear. Thank you to everyone who attended! The OCC AV technical team could not get the video working and we had to reschedule for 1pm. So sorry for the inconvenience all…
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3D technologies in fitting footwear: Perspectives from a custom shoe maker
A free talk as part of the NW Materials Show January 31 from 11:00am – noon. This presentation is about the experience of using various 3D scanning technologies and CAD programs to visualize the fit of custom shoes. Jeff Mandel will discuss how scans of feet can be compared with models of lasts in an…
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RACC Make|Learn|Build 2021-22
Since I started learning to make shoes in 2004, there has always been talk of the promise of 3D imaging – the scanning of feet – and how this would greatly simplify the work of making shoes, mainly by facilitating quick and easy last customization. The idea was that a scan of a foot could…
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Strobel sew by hand
If you’ve ever wanted to sew your uppers for sneakers like the pros, but don’t have access to a Strobel sewing machine, don’t give up. Sew your kicks by hand! How to hand sew “Strobel” construction. What exactly is a strobel stitch? Strobel sewing the insole to the upper is actually a chain stitch. In…
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Orthopedic Boots
My first pair of 100% orthopedic shoes. I’m not an orthopedic shoemaker, but many of the shoemakers I studied from in the Netherlands are. Why call these orthopedic? I’ve made lots of shoes for people who wear “orthotic inserts.” These boots different. They are a textbook case of how to handle hallux valgus – your…