Lisa Sorrell, cowboy boot maker

Today I’ll build the heels, one layer at a time, on this pair of boots.

It’s the final episode of speed boot making on “It’s a Boot Life” and there are pictures from my museum exhibit in Ohio.

It’s a Boot Life

Mother and I are in a hotel in Indianapolis, on our way to the opening of my cowboy boot exhibit at the Canton Museum of Art. I wanted to make it to Dayton, Ohio, but an unplanned detour because of an interstate accident closure added a couple of hours to the drive time. We’ll have to get up early tomorrow; we’re driving to Cleveland to visit the talented Jacob Ferrato at JBF Customs. 

Here’s a short video of me stitching soles. If you watch carefully there’s a terrifying millisecond when the boot wiggles. I’d just washed my lunch dishes, my hands were damp, and the boot stuck to me when I repositioned my hand.

I have this up on my shop wall and it never fails to amuse me.

The shanks are shaped and laced into place and now it’s time to add the counter cover, which gives the cowboy boot shank its distinctive rounded shape.

The “toe box” is a stiff piece of leather or synthetic that’s sandwiched between the foot leather and the lining, so the the toe will hold its shape. I have the toe box in these boots now!

I like the insides of my boots to be as pretty and neat as the outsides, even if it will never be seen again.