Members KenJWan Posted March 14, 2021 Members Report Posted March 14, 2021 So, this is the fifth pair of boots I am making. The previous four pairs were an evolution of engineer boots and so I decided to make some harness boots this time. They are ready for the midsole, soles, and heels! Quote
Members Aven Posted March 14, 2021 Members Report Posted March 14, 2021 Ken, I'd say you are getting really good at this. Those are going to turn out very nice. Are you hand sewing the uppers or have you started collecting machines? Quote
Members KenJWan Posted March 14, 2021 Author Members Report Posted March 14, 2021 Thanks! It’s been a fun learning process. the uppers are machine stitched with a post-bed Adler machine I have access to. excited to finish them! Quote
Members Hags Posted March 17, 2021 Members Report Posted March 17, 2021 Very nice! And I have to say very ambitious. Holsters were a stretch for me. Great job! Quote Not so retired RN. Living on the Washington Peninsula.
Members KenJWan Posted March 19, 2021 Author Members Report Posted March 19, 2021 Thanks! Yeah, my first leather project and I decided to make boots. LOL! On 3/16/2021 at 8:33 PM, Hags said: Very nice! And I have to say very ambitious. Holsters were a stretch for me. Great job! And now they're done! Quote
Members ThatTallChick Posted March 23, 2021 Members Report Posted March 23, 2021 WOW! This is amazing! I have so many questions but I don't know where to begin-- how did you start making shoes, and how did you learn? This is so cool! Are there special types of tools that you need to make these outside of the normal leatherworking set? Do you wet the leather and shape it into the boot shape before working with it, or does the shape just come as you build it? Is the opening at the top burnished? What kind of leather did you use for these? Sorry for all the questions I just... I'm just in awe honestly this is so cool! Quote
toxo Posted March 23, 2021 Report Posted March 23, 2021 Awesome work. They're certainly not gonna wear out any time soon. Quote
MikeRock Posted March 24, 2021 Report Posted March 24, 2021 Nice! They look like Lara Croft boots with Angelina Jolie~~ God bless Quote
Members KenJWan Posted March 24, 2021 Author Members Report Posted March 24, 2021 On 3/23/2021 at 7:59 AM, ThatTallChick said: WOW! This is amazing! I have so many questions but I don't know where to begin-- how did you start making shoes, and how did you learn? This is so cool! Are there special types of tools that you need to make these outside of the normal leatherworking set? Do you wet the leather and shape it into the boot shape before working with it, or does the shape just come as you build it? Is the opening at the top burnished? What kind of leather did you use for these? Sorry for all the questions I just... I'm just in awe honestly this is so cool! I actually started because I realized how much I was willing to spend on decent boots and thought, "I'm handy! I wonder what it would take to make my own?" I then looked for some resources online to understand the process and once I understood the basics from start to finish, I just decided to try it. There was one decent post I found on Imgur https://imgur.com/a/VGPyZ where a guy basically did something similar that I found very helpful in understanding the process. I basically looked at the nicer boots I owned (the style I wanted to tackle) and mentally dissected the components, figuring out how the parts were put together. I got a few basic tools to get started. Hand cut the pieces and just started assembling. A must-have tool would be lasting pinchers. You'd also need a leather sewing machine (most importantly, a post bed machine... which I had access to). You don't need to wet the leather for lasting (shaping on the last). The top is a skived strip of leather, sewn and then rolled over the top. These are Horween CXL but with a bit of research, you can find out what types of leather are typically used for good boots. Weight would be 5-6oz (or a bit lighter or heavier, depending on the type of boots you are making (dressier vs work). Hope that helps. By the way, these are the second boots I made. Each time, I've refined a bit more. 20 hours ago, MikeRock said: Nice! They look like Lara Croft boots with Angelina Jolie~~ God bless Thanks! But I'm pretty sure Angelina Jolie wore different boots. LOL! Quote
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