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send credit card information, name and address via telephone or fax or send check to address below:
Simple Shoemaking
145 Baker Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Tel: 413.259.1748
Fax: 413.259.3773
How to Make A Duct-Tape Shoe Pattern
Materials:
old sock - it will be destroyed
US Postal Service fixed-rate mailing box (used, of course) preferred, any stiff cardboard will do
duct tape
blunt scissors
permanent marker
2 pieces of typing paper
assistant
To make a duct-tape pattern, first determine if one foot is larger than the other, as you need only make the pattern for the larger foot, unless you choose to have two different patterns. Stand with each foot on a piece of paper, and have the assistant draw around both feet with a pencil held upright. Measure the length of both patterns from heel to toe to determine which is longer, then make the duct-tape pattern over the longer foot.
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Using your sole pattern, make a copy of it out of the USPS fixed-rate box cardboard - nice, thin and rigid. Put the cardboard sole inside your sock, then slip your foot in. Place another piece of cardboard - I'll call it the "base", several inches wider and longer than your sole under the sock, in the location where you are going to stand to have the duct-tape pattern made. Standing on a table or stool makes this process much easier for the assistant. Align your foot directly over the cardboard sole. MAKE SURE THAT THE HEEL END OF THE CARDBOARD SOLE IS PLACED UNDER YOUR FOOT AT THE POINT WHERE YOUR HEEL LEAVES THE GROUND. The front edge of the cardboard sole will move forward about 1/4", creating some toe room. Make sure your weight is evenly balanced between your two feet.
Your assistant will begin by adhering a strip of duct tape diagonally across the foot. Press it in firmly against the edge of the cardboard sole, and let any excess tape extend onto the the base. Continue covering the foot with the tape, overlapping strips about 1/2 inch. BE SURE TO FIRMLY PRESS EACH PIECE OF DUCT TAPE AGAINST THE CARDBOARD SOLE. Cover the toe with small strips radiating out across the foot. Adhere the strips horizontally around the heel area, then vertically around the base of the heel, molded to the shape in that area. GETTING SHAPING TIGHT AND NEAT AROUND THE HEEL AREA IS CRUCIAL TO THE FIT OF THE SHOE. You only need tape in the area that the shoe will cover.
When taping is complete, have the assistant mark the center of the front of the boot with the marker, down the center of the back of the boot, and along the line where the strips adhere to the sole edge. Once these lines are drawn, the duct tape boot can be removed. Cut through the sock and tape with blunt scissors down the outside of the leg.
Fold up the whole apparatus - duct tape w/ sock inside, with the base still attached. You can cut the excess base off to make mailing easier, please leave about an inch of base extending out from the line where foot meets sole. Mail it in a mailing envelope to: Sharon Raymond, 145 Baker Road, Shutesbury, Ma. 01072
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