Aven

Thanks for the link @jcuk. That is an interesting shop. Such a cool mixture of vintage and new. For those that are looking, they carry boar bristle as well as steel bristles. They have a couple options for linen thread and they have a hand wax (coad). I wish my German was better, I would love to read through those Der Schuhmacher journals.

Thanks for the link rmdorman. I picked up some similar to those

Outlands!

@fredk See if you have an option to print to a PDF instead of a physical printer. I misspoke. I have Stepping through Time by Olaf Goubitz and Shoes and Pattens by Francis Grew and Margrethe de Neergaard. I agree with Fredk, Goubitz' book is much more rounded. He explains various stitches and techniques in more detail than you will find in Shoes and Pattens. He also goes into much more detail regarding decorations and closures. Neither book explains how to create patterns, but Goubitz shows more styles and what the cut pieces look like. Once you understand how a pattern a simple turn shoe and put it together, I feel that Stepping through Time will be a good reference for other styles. This is all predicated on you wanting to make period correct footwear. If you are looking for a shoe making book, I know of several that would better serve you.

Which book? She has several. You can find 2 on Etsy. The others I think are out of print and will have to hunt for them. Somewhere in the shoe making section there is a thread about books and authors

I have both books. Unfortunately I won't be home for a few days and will have limited mobility when I get there. So I will take me a few days before I can answer your question.

Here's a short video of Jason's turnshoe process. It takes you through all the steps so you get an idea of what making a turn shoe looks like

Northmount, would you mind sticking this back into shoe making? Thanks

Skiving knife - Sorry, I'm not going to be helpful here. I have several skiving knives and a couple of safety skivers. I'm a neurodivergent lefty made to be a righty with hand damage. My thought process is my own and my physical dexterity is different from yours. So.. what works for me might not work for you. I like the safety skivers (the stick shaped ones with a triangle formed end) because they use a razor blade so they are sharp. I dislike them because the blade cost adds up over time. And its easy to cut yourself getting a blade in or out. They dull quickly, but when they are sharp they work a treat. I found they work best if they are held at an angle, not perpendicular to the edge of the leather, closer to 45° so you are doing more of a slicing motion. I have two Japanese style knives I got at Sorrel Notions, a 3/4" and a 1". They are about 10" long and about 5mm thick. I tend to use both equally. Learning how to sharpen them takes more than a minute. You will need a couple of high grit water stones or wet and dry paper and a strop. One of the things that I saw in a basics class that I thought was really brilliant was to sharpen your knife and then cut thick scrap leather with it until it wasn't sharp any longer then hone the knife and start cutting again. This taught you what really sharp feels like when you cut and you got to figure out a technique for honing that works for you. And it gives you practice cutting leather free hand if you marked cutting lines before hand. There are numerous styles, custom and factory made. Pick one and learn how to use it. Draw a margin line and learn to skive to it and not taking chunks out of the edge. Practice on scrap until you feel confident using it. No. The only thing that changes is the angle of the blade. You lift the handle higher for a thick leather than you would for a thin leather. Use something thickish for your thread. 0.8, 1, 1.2mm. You need something that will hold up to the stress of you walking in the shoes. If you are going to use linen you will most likely have to make it up from smaller diameter strings. You will have to twist them together and taper the ends. And wax it. Its a whole nother process to master. While I respect those that use linen threads for shoe making and take them to their A&S for review, its more than I want to do. There a couple of videos out there on loading a boar bristle. Search the forum for boar bristle. I know I linked a couple for someone interested in going that route. Stitch length - 1 cm works. Its not too close to cause your leather to tear. Its not too far apart to leave space that your finger will fit in. Practice doing a butt seam and using an awl. The upper is stitched to the sole by using the inseaming awl to go from the top of the sole (the side your foot will be on) to the middle of the edge of the leather. This way you aren't walking on any stitches.

Aventurine, check out podohub.com for lasts. I'm pretty sure that you can find what you are looking for in a last there.

Thanks Mablung. That was kind of you. Aventurine, the first shoes I ever made were turn shoes at a workshop with Jason Horvatter in Portland OR. It was an awesome class. I don't think he does group classes any longer, but he does have a book and a DVD on making turn shoes. If you enjoy reading and experimenting on your own, a copy of Stepping Through Time will serve you well. If you want a bit more guidance, you can't go wrong with Jason's DVD and/or book. Now let me say first, I have the upmost respect for Jason. I believe his classes are worth every penny he asks for them. I would take another one is a heart beat if I could swing it, but do not buy your tools from him. The mark up is just too much for what you getting. We did not use stitching chisels to put the uppers together or attach them to the soles. We used straight and curved (inseaming) awls. A lacing chisel was used to punch holes along the raw edges so they can be reinforced with lace. The leather was about 8oz for the uppers and the sole was 12/14 oz latigo for the soles. Jason lays out how to make a pattern to fit your foot with duct tape and registration marks. It makes putting the shoes together relatively easy. The basic tools you will need doing it Jason's way: A cutting mat. Means of cutting the heavy leather - leather scissors or a utility knife or both. Learn how to hone your knife blade. Your sanity might just depend on developing this skill. Flat surface for skiving, a granite slab, a 12" x 12" piece of temper glass. A skiving knife or safety skiver. Get a bunch of extra blades for the safety skiver. Using the skiver for just one more pass when the blade is dulled is a recipe for a disaster. Your leather or your skin will be the cost. Oh, yeah, get a box of band aides/plasters for the shop. Bleeding on a project will just add insult to injury. Lisa Sorrel has a great video on Youtube on using a skiving knife. Definitely worth the time to watch. A silver gel pen. 99% of the time it will wipe off the leather. A jerk needle. This is a McKay needle in a handle that has a brass nut that tightens down. You can find one on etsy. Search for jerk needle. Straight and curved (inseaming) awls and a stabbing awl. If you are going to use linen thread, you really ought to do some research into preparing and using linen thread. You'll need to track down some hand wax (coad) for the thread. I'd recommend black Nyltex thread for attaching the uppers to the sole. 2 harness needles and a lacing needle. If you are using Jason's pattern making process you will need poster board, duct tape, permanent markers and shaped punches. That's my short list for making turn shoes. There are other tools that might make some processes easier, but they aren't necessary. These shoes were made by hand with minimal tools for a long time. Jason wrote up how he does turn shoes for Leather Crafters Jul/Aug 2017. Its on seven pages. The book is 59 pages. The DVD is 274 minutes long.

Mablung, have you seen this youtube video. Their pattern is free, but its just one size, so you might have to scale it. A Baby Moccasin Free PDF Pattern

Thanks for the link Mablung. The very first class I took for shoe making was with Jason Horvattor making turn shoes. They turned out great. I ended up taking another class with Jason because I really enjoyed making my own shoes and he's a great teacher. While I was there they were filming for his video on making turn shoes. I picked up a copy and I have to say that it's just like being in class with Jason. He has also produces a spiral bound book on making turn shoes. Its a good companion to the video but you can definitely make a pair with just the book. Turn Shoes book and DVD Another source of great information is Stepping Through Time. It's out of print and hard to find, but its a wealth of information if you can get your hands on it. Looks like Amazon has it in stock as well as Shoes and Pattens (Medieval Finds from Excavations in London, 2) These are definitely more reference than tutorial. Still a good read. I don't know if you can get a hold of them through an inter-library loan, but worth a try if you want to look at them before you purchase.

Nicely done.

LeatherDoofus, welcome to the rabbit hole of shoe/boot making. You've made a great start. If you are not familiar with Jason Horvattor, I think you ought to check out his DVD on boot making. Internal stitch down isn't quite a turn shoe, but it does have that appearance. I think you'll find a lot of information in there very useful. And if you want to explore stitch down shoes, check out Healthy Handmade Shoes. He walks you through a different process, but its easy to follow.