Crafting Handmade Shoes: Great-Looking Shoes, Sandals, Slippers & Boots

by Sharon Raymond

Make shoes that look stylish and feel great! Once you create your first beautiful pair, it won't be your last. The basic techniques are simple enough for beginners. And it's fun to make shoes distinctively yours--through your choice of materials and the many ways you can decorate them. A silk brocade scruff hints of silver-screen glamour and sheer luxury, while polar fleece slippers are cozy at-home footwear. In the warm weather, you'll want the Mediterranean T-strap sandal with a vamp that's woven in warm, bright-colored leather--it evokes sunny climes. Even little feet will be well dress them up in fancy punched-design shoes in the softest leathers. Once you know the secrets of pattern-making, every pair can be custom-tailored to your feet so they fit perfectly. Now, how many store-bought shoes can you say that about?

128 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 2001

Reviews

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

My interest in self-sufficiency (and paranoid fear of "What will I do should the apocalypse come?) includes growing my own food, "gleaning", spinning, weaving, knitting, sewing clothes, and now shoemaking. This is a good overview on the shoemaking process, and I will definitely attempt to make a pair in the future, when I have gotten over my sewing obsession. My only complaint about this book is that I don't particularly care for any of the hippy-ish shoes the author has created. However, in the end section the author has included photos of shoes that people have created using the principles outlined in this book, so I have hope that I can make a pair to my taste and not look like some commune-living hygienically-challenged relic from the late sixties. This book is now out of print and over $100 to purchase through Amazon, so borrowed it from the library and will do so again when I am ready to attempt cobblerdom.