Lisa Sorrell, cowboy boot maker

Here’s another tip for creating precise inlay: Lay the leather directly onto the pattern before placing any of the inlay pieces. This way you can be sure you’re positioning them in exactly the right spot.

My client chose this design…

…in these colors.

I’m torn between admiring it and being super annoyed that I didn’t think of it myself. Isn’t it going to be lovely?

The secret to creating flawless inlay is planning the order in which the pieces will be placed.

I’ve chosen to put the flower pieces in last so they can just be a circle, with no worry that they’ll extend into another inlaid shape.

I’ll stitch the design before I rub off the light coat of glue that held my pattern markings in place. It’s a lot easier to rub it off once everything is firmly stitched down. If not, rubbing the glue off pulls the pieces out of place.

I decided to fit up a new last for myself. It really is a brand new last–it’s never been used! It’s an old Western last from 1948.

My husband Dale taught Paige how to replace the ballast in a light fixture today.

She says her arms are going to be sore tomorrow!

As you can see from the expression on our faces, I’m goofy about her and she’s just goofy.

Here’s a link to my December newsletter.

December 2014

If you should visit my shop right now, here’s what you would see in the front room. Two pallets of silk thread have been unloaded and sorted by thread size. Shelves have been ordered and my oldest daughter Morgan has accepted the job of sorting it by color and placing it on shelves when they arrive.

This is the next pair of boots I’m starting.

First, isn’t this a cool photo?

Second, notice how I’m cutting just inside the dotted lines? I do that on purpose because after the inlay is done I’ll need to stitch around it. The dotted line is my stitching line, NOT my cutting line. If I cut directly on the dotted line and then stitch on the edge, the entire design “grows” a little. This can be fatal for a design with multiple small elements close together or one that’s very close to the side seam.