Sewing the pieces together was a learning experience. I can tell at a glance which two seams I did first, and which two seams I did second. The good news is that I did improve. Bill, my teacher, told his wife that “Lisa is dealing with the fact that she’s not perfect.” I’m not dealing with it well, I might add.
Yesterday I cut out all of my shoe pieces and began sewing them together.
I’m in Ashland, Oregon, taking a shoemaking class with Bill Shanor. I watched Paige make shoes but I’ve never made a pair myself from start to finish. She took two classes with Bill, so this is kind of a pilgrimage for me–a chance to follow in her footsteps and feel her spirit.
Taping the last
Finding the center line
Drawing the design
Transferring design to paper
Bill gets to cut everything out because he’s the teacher and I’m the student.
I’ve never treed my boots until the very end; I wasn’t trained to tree them before lasting so it didn’t make sense to me. But recently someone explained that it straightens them up and makes them less likely to twist during lasting. That definitely makes it worth trying! I hope to last these boots tomorrow so we’ll see how it goes.
My old mentor Jay Griffith told me that a good top stitcher should be able to put one row on a set of boot tops (4 panels) every 30 minutes. This is a 4 row stitch design; I started it at 5pm and I finished all 4 rows on all 4 panels at 6:30pm.
I’m starting two pairs of boots this week. One is all black with four rows of black stitching, and one is bright and colorful.
Today I’m using a gift from Dale. It’s a pulley off his truck–he was doing repairs so when he replaced the pulley he cleaned it up and gave it to me for Christmas, to use as a paperweight. Romance isn’t dead, folks.
I am a big believer in writing thank-you notes, so today I designed three greeting cards that I can use for writing notes.
I’ve been at a last making class at Lastmaking House in Eastbourne, England. These are my classmates and we all look happy because we’ve successfully completed our lasts.
Last making class with (from left to right) Anna, Anne Marika, Lisa, Åsa, Carina, and Emilie.
If you’d like to see the boots I made for the Malpass Brothers on stage during a Country Family Reunion cruise, check out my YouTube video this month.
 | 118. Crafting Cowboy… on Jay Griffith |
 | customboots on Inspiration |
 | gleaming00e65375c7 on Inspiration |
 | Olivia Henson on All through sewing |
| customboots on So many rows |
Lisa Sorrell, cowboy boot maker 