Monthly Archives: August 2020

Have you ever had a project that glared at you with accusation and judgement every time you walked past? This pair of boots has spent the last three weeks doing their best to make me feel guilty and irresponsible, but … Continue reading →

This is the machine that’s made my life miserable for the past three weeks, and the pair of boots I’ve been trying to side seam for the same amount of time. Prepare for a long post, because I have things … Continue reading →

Test last for the cowboy boot shoes. I’ve always had some sort of innate ability to visualize how pattern pieces should be shaped and how they fit together–until I began making shoes. Shoe linings confound me. I am pleased to … Continue reading →

This is a demonstration of why a machine cannot duplicate what I do with leather, and why I have little use for a Bell Skiver or a computerized sewing machine. Work this fine can only be done by hand. That … Continue reading →

The easy part’s over nowAnd the hard part begins… Assuming my patterning is OK, because I don’t have much experience with patterning for shoes, this project will be an inlaid/overlaid pair of Oxfords made on a cowboy boot last.

My new printer printed three double-sided color copies of my catalog in a row without eating any paper AND stapled the edges too!

In the pursuit of plugging everything in using the two outlets my 1967 building has graced my office area with, I spent most of the morning trying to run an extension cord behind my huge, heavy, not-going-move-it leather rack. This … Continue reading →