Lisa Sorrell, cowboy boot maker

Several years ago a potential customer brought in a pair of boots made for him by a Texas boot maker named Don Atkinson. The boots were beautiful; I particularly noticed how smoothly they joined at the sole and I realized I needed to do a better job in that respect. Since that day I’ve been much more careful in preparing the boots for the sole, making sure there are no bumps or wrinkles and the leather is carefully sanded so the sole will adhere, and I often think of him when I’m doing that process.

As far as I can remember I never met Don Atkinson, but a few days later I sent him a note telling him how much I had admired his work and how it inspired me to do better. I didn’t hear back from him but several months later his widow called. She said he’d died not long after my note arrived but she was calling to let me know that my words had meant a lot to him.

There are a few steps to be done before I lay the soles on these boots, but the foundation for the sole is smooth and clean, as Don would have wanted.

No more lessons, only… aren’t these beautiful?

Here’s another little lesson. It’s tough to accurately cut and lay in a narrow border; it’s easier to add a big piece of leather and then cut the border.

There’s a whole lesson in patterning complex inlay in this image.

A few days ago I decided to at least try to improve my diet; Depression and its sly sibling Apathy make it easy to just not care. Today I lasted these boots and my hands are only gently whispering to me instead of screaming, so perhaps it’s helped a little.

The side seams on cowboy boots are sewn with the right sides of the boots together so they’re inside-out. They’re turned (or wrestled) the right way out and then they’re ready to be put on the last, or boot form.

Seven hundred and four tiny little holes, punched one at a time along the edges. I used to have a gimping and brogueing machine — gimping is cutting a scalloped, shaped edge and brogueing is punching holes along the edge, but only for shoes. In cowboy boot making punching these holes is called perforating, and because cowboy boots are extra, the shapes are so complicated that no machine could accurately follow the edges.

I wanted to keep the gimping and brogueing machine just because it was cool. I never did use it and finally I sold it because I needed the space for a machine I actually would use.

I have all the pieces cut for the Karner blue butterfly boot tops. I love the rich earthiness of the colors.

Earlier I posted a scan of the design; now it’s a pattern. It’s not possible to accurately create complex designs without taking all the time needed for precise patterns. Next I need to carefully cut either four or eight identical pieces of leather (depending on if they’re in the center of the boot top or a mirror image on each side) and then skive each tiny piece without stretching it out of shape or nicking a chunk out of it.

New boot top design, and this one’s already been approved! The butterfly is supposed to be a Karner blue Butterly, so a bit more realism is desired. True photographic realism is impossible in this medium but we want to at least do an inlaid butterfly that will remind one of a Karner blue.