Lisa Sorrell, cowboy boot maker

Trimming the shank area after laying the soles is one of my favorite things. It’s challenging to do accurately and get both boots to match, there are zero second chances, it’s difficult to explain and teach, and the curves are so beautiful when you get it right. 

Today I customized two pairs of lasts and worked on patterns for the next two pairs of boots I’ll be making. 

I made these boots in 2009. They’re a triad construction; the boot tops extend all the way to the sole. A triad is a three-piece boot — there’s the vamp (foot part), the front boot tops, and the back boot tops. There is a hard counter (heel) as normal but the counter cover (the part of the heel area that is on the outside and matches the vamp/foot) is purely decorative.

The boots are titled “T for Texas”

I made a pair of full alligator boots for a client one time and I named them “Amos Moses.”

Remember how I said that I enjoy inseaming (sewing on the welt) and that I look forward to doing it? 
This boot tested me. I pulled a bristle off, broke my awl, and discovered I’d gotten one stitch too high after I was already two stitches past it. But I fixed it all, successfully completed the job, and I still like inseaming.

See the pieces of heavy thread laying over each boot? The thread used to sew on the welt is tapered at each end so it can be attached to a bristle, and it’s waxed with a sticky wax first so the bristle will stay on and also so the stitches will lock tightly. Once the tapers are attached to the bristles, the thread is ready to use and it’s called a “waxed end.” 
I don’t like making waxed ends because it makes my fingers sticky. But I do enjoy inseaming (sewing on the welt) so I feel happy when the waxed ends are done!

“Honky Tonk Song”

Dale and I are flying to Chicago this weekend for the Shoe Service Institute of America (SSIA) show, and he decided the pair of boots he wanted to wear were the ones in desperate need of a shine and new rubber heel caps. 

Completed toes with the toe box now hidden inside.

I wanted to get the heels on these today but ran out of time. The first two layers are the ones that will give you problems, if any of them do, so the hard part is done and I should be able to finish them next week when I return. 

Celastic toe boxes, shaped

The “toe box” (or “toe puff” in Europe) is a stiffener that holds and reinforces the toe shape. It’s inserted between the lining leather and the upper leather.

Toe boxes can be made of:

Leather, which is molded while wet and then sanded to shape

Celastic, which is fiber/synthetic material that’s activated by solvent, which makes it pliable and moldable while activated but dries hard

Thermal, which is plastic that’s activated by heat, which makes it pliable until it cools

There are very strong opinions in the shoe and boot making community about the virtues, benefits, and traditions of each of these materials. My opinion is that if it holds the toe shape and the back edge blends seamlessly into the lining so you don’t have a ridge showing on the finished boot/shoe, you’ve done a good thing.

I personally use Celastic. I’ve seen boot makers activate their celastic in margarine tubs of solvent and then reach down with their bare fingers into the solvent to grab a snotty disgusting piece of celastic, but I don’t do it that way. I lay my celastic toe boxes on a cookie cooking rack, drizzle a blend of contact cement thinner/acetone over them, and don’t pick them up until they’re dry to the touch but still pliable. I do the rough shaping on my finisher and the final shaping by hand. You need a light touch with the sanding with celastic because you don’t want to sand it all away. A more accurate way to describe it would be “gently shaping.”