I haven’t posted pictures of these boots for a while but I have been working on them. The soles are on and I’m building the heels now. I am so proud to say that these are the first two pairs of boots that I’ve built using exclusively Renia Aquilim water-based, non-toxic glues with the exception of the soles. Cowboy boot soles are applied while wet and the Aquilim glues work best for applications where the leather is dry.
I’m not usually sad when I’m finally through stitching a boot top, especially not on a Sunday afternoon when I didn’t want to work anyway. But this design was really fun!
A couple of weeks ago I was visited by an interesting couple who are traveling north from Antarctica to Alaska. They stopped by my shop while they were in Guthrie and wrote about it in their blog, North via South.
This week I host the annual general meeting for the Honourable Cordwainer’s Company, interview Frank Jones of Noble Footwear, demonstrate dyeing the edge of leather that’s not “struck through,” and talk about the new book “Portraits of the American Craftsman” that features my work.
It’s done. The beautiful alligator skin is now a small pile of boot pieces.
It’s Halloween so I decided to do something scary. I’m cutting into this huge alligator skin and the possibility of making a mistake is terrifying.
Janne from Sweden and Frank from England worked on my ancient perfing and gimping machine and got it working! This machine makes the little series of holes and/or the serrated edges that’s commonly seen on men’s dress shoes. And no, I don’t make men’s dress shoes but when I found this machine I realized I didn’t have one and therefore I must need it!
The Daily Oklahoman came by my shop because I called and told them about the shoemakers gathering. Instead of writing an article about the gathering they wrote an article about me. So far I’ve had two people call and ask if I could stretch their boots, two people call about having special diabetic shoes made, and one guy asking if I could make him sheepskin-lined house shoes.
Marika, on the right, is from New York City. She came early to the gathering so she could take an inlay/overlay class. Here she’s teaching inlay/overlay to another attendee who’s from Oregon.
I have a look of surprise and delight on the my face because Janne fixed my machine. The photographer looks like he’s wondering what in the world the machine does.
Carina, master Swedish shoemaker, had lots of fun playing in my alligator scraps.
Paige is listening intently to Frank, shoemaker from England. Whatever he’s telling her obviously involved much hand-waving.
This is the new toolbox my husband bought for me. I had such fun filling it up with boot making tools and supplies.
Here’s a better view of the boots sitting on the workbench in the middle of my shop. I put them on the lasts this morning.
This coming weekend I’ll be hosting a gathering for boot and shoemakers and the festivities have already started for me. Marika from NYC is here taking an inlay/overlay class and Carina from Sweden is here because my shop is a fun place!
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Lisa Sorrell, cowboy boot maker 