Boo! Hope i didn't scare you.

[CdK]

Very nice, you are much braver than I in taking on making your own footwear.

[Mablung]

How do you stitch on the half-soles? It appears they’re Blake stitched, but I’m not sure. I’m trying to figure out how to replicate that by hand, because that’s a neat design, but I only have hand tools and no plans to get a cylinder arm or dedicated Blake stitch machine. 

[AlZilla]

How would one make shoes with more supportive insoles?

I'd LOVE to be able to make my own shoes but I need a Nike-like insole. I recently wore some boat shoes or something for a few days and my low back went to crap for a month. It still aches.

[LeatherDoofus]

In response to your question Mablung, basically i make a turnshoe with a soft sole. After it is turned, i wiggle my hands inside, and do a blake stitch using the holes already in the soft sole, securing the hard half sole to the bottom. I will have already punched holes in the hard leather, because it is impossible for me to push a needle through 12oz leather. I do all my sewing by hand.

As i said, i have semi-retired those shoes in favor of another pair of shoes i recently made, addressing the issues of the first pair, mainly the exposed threads. A more complex and...er...interesting challenge where using the Hedeby turnshoe pattern greatly helped

In response to your question AIZilla, probably around age 10, perhaps a little before, i have only worn barefoot shoes (shoes that have flat soles). I had to look online to see what supportive insoles look like. But i can give my best advice based off of what i do know. If you need them my recommendation would be to make a shoe pattern with them under your feet. An easy pattern to follow is the Hedeby turnshoe pattern. You take the piece of leather, center it on the back of your heel, and bring the ends up to the front of your foot, keeping the edges overlapped slightly for the front seam allowance. From there you can mark the pattern.

Thank you very much CdK. I began making my own shoes, because at the age of about 15, in the middle of Indianapolis, there was nothing else i could think of that could immediately benefit me. Once i had made the first pair, which i liked, it was only natural for me to try and fix the problems. And that led me to what i make now.

This is meant as an encouragement for anyone interested. If something interests you, try it. You may very well find, as i did, that you like it enough to the point where you want to improve it, and continue doing so. And who knows where that will lead you?

I hope that you found this helpful and not confusing.

 

[Mablung]

37 minutes ago, LeatherDoofus said:

In response to your question Mablung, basically i make a turnshoe with a soft sole. After it is turned, i wiggle my hands inside, and do a blake stitch using the holes already in the soft sole, securing the hard half sole to the bottom. I will have already punched holes in the hard leather, because it is impossible for me to push a needle through 12oz leather. I do all my sewing by hand.

 

Okay, so it sounds like you pre-punch the holes and then stitch from the inside. Got it. That makes sense. I was proceeding on the assumption you were cementing the exterior half-soles, then punching, but I think I got that reversed. 
 

Again, appreciate your sharing your methods here. I like learning all this stuff and am always looking to learn from someone who has already gotten a good method in place, so I appreciate your answering my questions! And to the extent something is proprietary, since you want to make and sell your shoes around Nashville, feel free to keep some things back. This group is generally about sharing knowledge and methods, but that hardly obligates you to share all things, either. 

[LeatherDoofus]

I am very happy and willing to share what experience i have with anyone who is interested. I hope that all of my answers have been clear.

Thank you once again for your advice. There is so much that i have learned, i get excited and want to share it.

Thank you very much for welcoming me to the forum in this manner. It has been very pleasant. I will be moving on first to the shoe-making forum, but will certainly still be keeping an eye out here to answer any questions.

 

[Aven]

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.

[LeatherDoofus]

This is one hole i am not considering digging myself out of. I am not familiar with either the name or those sources, and will certainly take a look. I have learned that even though something may not be quite what i am looking for, i can combine it with other techniques to achieve a better design.

And it is just good to learn more about the trade.