Category Archives: Learned

Quick Black Waxed Calf

In the 18th century, leather was often dyed on the flesh (the slightly rough side), impregnated with wax, and then polished to get a sheen on it. When done correctly, it can look very similar to the grain (the smooth side), but nicks and scratches can more easily be buffed out. The last (to my knowledge) source of black waxed calf was Dickens Bros., who have since retired and are no longer producing. I recently made an attempt to make something that looks similar from regular vegetable tanned leather, though it certainly doesn’t have the hand and scent of the Dickens Bros. material. The test scrap is on the right, with the true waxed calf on the left. But, I am optimistic it will do until a new source can be found.

Making this was rather straightforward, though it remains to be seen how well it will react when having a pair of shoes made up in it.
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Lesson 12: 1550s Spanish Chopines and Shoes (Cork)

Let me start this off by saying that I’ve wanted to make a pair of these chopines for a long time. However, the construction (and the outsole in particular) has daunted me so, not to mention that I’ve never had a request, so they remained on the list to tackle at some point. Leave it to Amanda L.P. to give me one heck of a challenge. The shoes are just a simple pair of turn-shoes, although sewing such lightweight leather proved more of a challenge than expected. The chopines are bulk cork, surrounded with velvet and with silk ribbons for laces.

This pair took longer than expected, through trials and tribulations, through sewing and re-sewing (none of which you will see here, of course!), and with some helpful hand-holding by Dr. Volken. In the end, I can say that I’m reasonably pleased with these, though if you squint your eyes, they do look a bit like a pair of shoes that a bad movie rendition of Frankenstein’s monster might have worn, all dolled up with velvet and silk, of course…perhaps his bride. 😉

You simply have to see how these things were created. Grab some coffee, tea, or a cocktail, and follow along with me, as I give you the whole story.
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Double Wars – Shoemaking and More!

I was recently honored to have been invited to Sweden, to teach shoemaking at a yearly event called Double Wars. I cannot even begin to tell you how wonderful and fantastic an experience this was, meeting so many new people, enjoying the time in the wilderness with absolutely marvelous weather, and getting to share the time with people who were so interested in shoemaking. And, as it turns out, the Fêtes Galantes 2017 in Versailles was being held the Monday directly after the event ended! I had no choice but to make plans to attend the gala as well (you’ll see more in the next post). I could not answer for you how delightful the trip was in ten thousand words, let alone one thousand, but the thousand will have to do:

At Double Wars (hereafter referred as DW), the primary point of the war was to decide upon which side the knäckebröd should be buttered, the hole-y side or the flat side. As a staunch holey-side-butterer, I was dismayed that the flat siders won the war (again), but there will be other years! Now, onto shoemaking discussions and details.
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Europe Part I: London, Oxford, Northampton

I’m a bit behind on posting about my recent travels to Europe, but I hope that the scope and content of this do end up making up for it. My original plan was to visit four museums, both the V&A and Museum of London, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, and the Northampton Museum. Unfortunately, the MoL was unable to accommodate my visit due to a last minute project, but I still was able to get in quite a bit of work. Unfortunately, I’m unable to post/publish my photos of the work specifically, as I had promised that I would not publish them in any real way, but I don’t think that the Ashmolean will object to me posting a selfie of myself with a shoe that I’d been lusting to see for many years. =) This is the 1600s shoe after which the “Stratfords” were designed.

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