Books and DVDs
Here you'll find the shoemaking books and dvds I have available for purchase. All the books and dvds - with the exception of the moccasin and sandal-making books - describe how to make shoes using the simple stitch-down process. These books are available on my etsy shop, both in the usual "hard copy" form that will arrive in the mail, and as PDFs that will arrive attached to an email sent to you.
Books and dvds:
Crafting Handmade Shoes is a book that I wrote ten years ago. It has instructions for making thirty styles of footwear for women, including boots, shoes, sandals, and a couple of styles of children's shoes as well. The art director assigned to the project did a beautiful job creating the book. It is out-of-print, but I am able to sell black and white photocopies of it. However, if you order this book in pdf format, it arrives in all its original glorious color! I think you'll greatly enjoy reading the book in this form.
When I wrote this book, I believed you could make perfectly-fine shoes using your feet as lasts. Since then I have realized how much more satisfactory the results are when shoes are made over lasts (plastic or wood shapes of feet, with toe-room and a pleasing shape). One of my blog posts, entitled "How to Make Shoes over Lasts", supplements the information in the book so you can adapt to making shoes over lasts.
Another issue with this book is that it doesn't have full-size patterns, and some of the pattern-making directions are challenging to comprehend. That's what inspired me to write How to Make Simple Shoes for Women, which has the full-size patterns - for most of the footwear in Crafting Handmade Shoes plus additional styles. However, I do think it's a helpful supplement to How to Make Simple Shoes for Women, especially since the newer book does not have color and photographs.
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How to Make Simple Sandals for the Family from Recycled Materials with your own two hands! Directions and patterns for making The Tuscan sandal the tab sandal from Crafting Handmade Shoes, the loop, slide and single strap sandal from How to Make Simple Sandals for Women, a modification of the sandal from How to Make Simple Shoes for Children, plus the Fisher sandal, as shown here, are included in this book. Flip-flops with ripped-out straps are recommended for soling, and faux or real leather from thrift store handbags, or recycled denim or other fabrics, can be used for the upper parts. Only a few simple tools are needed, so this book provides the perfect introduction to footwear-making.
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How to Make Simple Shoes for Women with your own two hands! has directions and full-size patterns (you have to do a bit of cutting and taping) for making over forty styles of shoes, boots, and sandals, in sizes six through ten. Most of the patterns offered individually below are found in this book - four styles of boots, umpteen (amazing - my spell-checker didn't balk at that number!) styles of tie shoes and flats, and a versatile sandal pattern. The book describes the earth-friendly materials that are recommended for making them, and how to obtain them.
For instance, I recommend using recycled-tire flooring for soling; I put these soles on my walking shoes, and have been walking in them for months, without any damage or deterioration. They’re nice and flexible too, which is so good for your feet. I love to use natural rubber soling because of its flexibility, but if you live in an area with hot sidewalks, the recycled tire soling would be the one to choose.
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DVD of the Derby-Making Process In this video I show how to make a child's derby shoe, but the same process is used for making shoes for an adult. It is the most-useful video for learning the basic shoemaking process on your own.
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How to Make Simple Moccasins for Women with your own two hands! is available, and not a minute too soon; I just saw a moccasin for sale on ebay for $145.00 - made by Prada - it's original cost was $400.00! This book has full-size patterns for making many styles of moccasins in women's sizes 6 - 10. Information on customizing is included. The styles in the book are: skimpy moccasin-flat, basic "loafer" moccasin with strap, t-strap and laced variations, a moccasin tie-shoe, and chukka and high-boot moccasins.
By moccasin, I mean that a piece of leather is cut out large enough for you to stand on, (I'll call is the "body") and the edges are pulled up around your foot. In the front of your foot the pulled-up edges are gathered around a "U"-shaped piece called the "plug". A moccasin can be made with no extra sole, or a sole can be cemented and stitched in place before the moccasin is stitched together. The sole can protect just the part of your foot that touches the ground, or it can extend up the sides of the foot a bit.
I believe the moccasin is the best-style of footwear to make for someone with challenging feet. perhaps wide or extra-wide, especially if made from soft leathers such as two layers of deer hide or elk. It will take some trial-and-error making mock-ups from felt or scrap leather, but once you have the pattern, you can use it for making any of the styles in the book.
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DVD of the process for making a chukka-boot moccasin.
This video provides all the information you need to know to make any of the styles of moccasins described in the How to Make Moccasins book. The photo below is of the chukka moccasin.
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How to Make Simple Sandals for Women with your own two hands! provides probably the quickest way that you can shod yourself - make sandals - strappy sandals! The book offers six sandal-styles: continuous strap gladiator sandals (I believe you could base a whole career on making just these sandals), continuous strap sandals, and flip-flops with an instep band so they hardly flip or flop at all. Then there's the loop sandal, another career-maker; just make a sandal sole with little loops on it, then thread whatever type of fabric, cord, ribbon you like through the loops and off you go. I can imagine little shops selling these sandals along all the coasts of the world (and why not inland?) with local fabrics providing the materials for the straps. There's a sandal that's not a strap sandal; instead it has a wide band over the ball of the foot. Lastly, a minimalist sandal is described, as worn by the running Tumahumara Indians of northern Mexico.
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DVD: How to Make Simple Sandals. This video is wide-ranging, showing you how to make many styles of sandals, including how to form an arch in sandal soles.
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How to Make Simple Shoes for Children with your own two hands! Do you realize how many different sizes of children's shoes there are?! A child's foot grows from being maybe two inches long at birth, up to - whatever, the patterns are for feet ranging in length from 3 1/2" to 8", in 1/2" increments. These shoes are great for kids - flexible soling (natural rubber preferred), lots of toe room, and no heels needed (why are they ever needed?) Plus they can be embellished so uniquely, and they always look adorable!
The book has patterns and directions for making four basic styles - the derby tie-shoe, a flat unisex one-piece shoe, an espadrille, and a sandal. There is also a pattern for making center-seam boots and shoes - which can also be used to create your own lasts in children's sizes! Of course you can improvise like crazy, so have a good time! Your child will be happy and healthy, you'll save lots of money, and the earth will thank you, for making children's shoes.
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DVD: How to make stitch-down Renaissance Faire boots: Custom "Ren-faire" boots (of course you can wear them anywhere!) are made by creating a duct-tape cast over the customer's foot. Using the pattern made from this cast, a "turn-shoe" is made. This dvd shows you how to make a standard-sized stitch-down-style boot. Of course you can customize your pattern, there is a video on my blog that describes how to make custom lasts. Being stitch-down, there will be a little edge around the boot where the upper gets stitched to the soling.
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DVD: How to make the Wellington Boot:The Wellington boot is a slip-on boot with a tab extending up from the vamp that becomes stitched to the front of the leg of the boot; this creates more room at the ankle without a wide leg, so the fit is tighter than in most slip-on boots. This DVD comes with written directions and patterns for these boots in women's sizes 6 - 10. The boot shown in the photo is a children's wellington boot.
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Below are photos and descriptions of footwear that can be made from patterns and instructions found in How to Make Simple Shoes for Women.
1. Bellows Tongue - The bellows-tongue-style is one in which the tongue is attached to the boot or shoe on both sides. There is a lot of flexibility in the foot and leg dimensions with this pattern - you can either draw the ties very tight, or leave them loose and your leg is still enclosed. (MAKE)
(coming soon)
2. Center-Seam - This is probably the pattern I have used most often in making footwear for myself; after adjusting the pattern by making a mock-up, you can size it so it fits close against your foot and leg. Since it has a seam down the front, it easily conforms to the contours of your foot. I usually close it with a zipper on the inside of the foot, but there are many possible ways for you to think up - I'll provide some ideas too - to get in and out of this boot. This pattern can also be used to make center-seam shoes and clogs. (MAKE)
3. Derby - The derby is a tie-shoe with a two-piece upper. From this pattern you can make a boot - kind of Doc Marten-like - a chukka boot, and the shoe. I advise you to make a simpler shoe first, but it's nice to know that you can graduate to making REAL shoes! (MAKE)
coming soon
4. Flat Shoe - The flat shoe can be made as a slip-on, a strapped shoe, and a T-strap shoe. But that's just the beginning; so many variations are possible in height of topline, materials used, embellishments, and design elements that you create are possible. (MAKE) (CHS)
5. Ghillie - Based on ancient shoemaking patterns, these are wonderful shoes for wearing to Renaissance Faires, but you might like to wear them just about anywhere. Especially the ghillie boot. (MAKE).
coming soon
6. Moc-moccasin - These aren't actually "mock" - there were many Native American tribes that wore moccasins made just like these - except they weren't turned-out and made into stitch-downs. But the moccasin we usually imagine is one where the leather you are standing on comes up and gathers around a piece of leather on top of the front of your foot. These aren't made that way. Again you will find great versatility in these patterns - a boot-top can easily -and rakishly - be attached, or a tab in the front of the topline can rather magically transform the "moc" into a great shoe. Shown is my husband's well-worn shoe - it has a thong "couched" across the seam attaching the tongue to the vamp of the shoe; the thong continues around the foot through the channel and ties at the back of the heel. His heel is narrow so a little gathering along the topline helps to keep the shoe on. His foot "bulges out" at the side of a shoe, so a shoe without a seam there is best for him. (MAKE) (CHS).
coming soon
7. Oxford- The oxford is a one-piece tie shoe. There are many ways that design and color can be added - perhaps a color-band around the topline, or a toe-box on the outside with a punched-pattern. (MAKE).
coming soon
8. Sneaker - You Can Even Make a Sneaker - or a high-top! The same goes for this tie-shoe as for the others - color-bands - appliques - even stars! can be added to customize your sneakers. (MAKE)
coming soon
9. Tugg/Snugg - Well, you all know what an "ugg" boot is - these are similar. The "tugg" is loose enough that you can slip them on and off without fiddling with any closures - but they can get rather "sloppy" after they are worn awhile. "Snugs" fit close to the foot, and need a closure, perhaps a zipper or whatever you can devise. (MAKE) The boot shown here is a "snug" made from hand-made felt, utilizing "Soles with an Edge".
coming soon
10. Two-piece casual - There are so many variations with this style; the two pieces can overlap creating sturdy shoes or can be separate and create a variety of sandal-like styles. (MAKE) and (CHS).
coming soon
11. Vamp sandal - Actually, this is the shoe that I have made the most of, for myself and for sale. I calI it a "vamp sandal' to differentiate it from a strappy sandal. These can be made with closed or open toe. I wish I could say that I painted the sandal shown here but I didn't; maybe you can paint something equally beautiful. (MAKE) and (CHS)
coming soon