Lisa Sorrell, cowboy boot maker

Hey everyone! The Malpass Brothers and I will be chatting with the Birthplace of Country Music Museum about cowboy boots and stage wear at 7pm EST on Tuesday, February 10. You should join us!

Many boot makers have strong feelings about using scissors; my mentor Jay Griffith wouldn’t allow scissors in his shop, not even to cut threads. I use scissors for some tasks and knives for others, but to demonstrate that I’m equally proficient with both I cut one of the flowers on the right with a knife and one with scissors. I will say that cutting the little inside flower-shaped hole with scissors is not ideal. For the larger pile I’ll do it as I normally do — I’ve cut out all the flowers shapes with scissors and I’ll cut the inside holes with the knife.

No one taught me to pattern so I developed this slightly obsessive method on my own. When I first started I would have used the large pattern on the left, laid it on the leather, rubbed a powder bag over it to transfer the design, cut out that flower, and repeat… over and over. What I hated most about it was how much leather is squandered because it’s impossible to accurately position each piece. To avoid accidentally getting close to the edge you leave too much space and waste leather. Cutting each individual pattern piece before I begin takes a bit more time, but using those poster board pattern pieces to trace around results in absolutely accurate patterning with very little waste.

I put the Karner Blue butterfly boots on the last this afternoon.

I had an appointment this afternoon and was scheduled to give a presentation about cowboy boots and their history this evening over Zoom to the Rhode Island Historical Society. During the appointment, while I couldn’t check my phone, I convinced myself that the presentation was actually scheduled for yesterday and I’d written the date down wrong, missed it, and completely ruined my reputation. Speaking is my favorite thing — it doesn’t make me nervous — but I regularly stress myself out worrying I have the date or time wrong. (I did get the time wrong once and missed my presentation slot. The organizer switched a couple of presentations and forgave me, but I still panic just remembering.)

Fortunately I had gotten the date correct and everyone seemed pleased with the presentation. NOW I can relax.

This was my closing screen.

Introducing: “Take Me Back To Tulsa”

I’m going to rough shape the heels before I go home so they don’t have to sit in my shop with ugly heels all night.

One boot is turned right-side-out and one hasn’t been turned yet.

Y’all want to know a really good feeling? It’s when you decide to get soles laid and stitched before you go home, so you lay the soles and you stitch them and everything goes great and you go home.