Daddy Needs A New Pair Of Shoes
The first pair of turnshoes I made wore out a year or so ago, and I've been muddling along with cheap Wal-Mart shoes since. I wasn't really happy with the old shoes, and remembered them being a pain to make. I've been shopping for a new pair, but I'm just too cheap to actually buy them. I finally got motivated enough today to make a new pair. Following the success of my hose pattern, I got out the paper towels and duct tape to make a new pattern. I wanted to make an ankle boot this time, as I was always worried that the old shoes would fall off my heels. I added a rather generous seam allowance in all the appropriate places and cut out the leather. I used the same leather I had from the first pair of shoes, 8 oz. for the sole and 4 oz. for the uppers, both a nice burgundy color. The first time around I hand-stitched everything, which was the primary reason I hadn't tried making another pair for so long. After looking around for new shoes, I saw many that had lapped seams (rather than the fancy butted flesh-edge seams I would have preferred to have), so I figured that would be good enough for me. Since I wasn't supremely confident in my pattern, I did it all by machine so I wouldn't waste a lot of time on another disappointment. Much to my surprise, the shoes turned out just fine, and the rather ugly machine stitching doesn't look all that bad from normal viewing distance. I need to put insoles in them to keep my feet from complaining, and may glue on an extra sole to help them last a while longer.I also still have my old pattens that I can wear to keep them from getting torn up (I mostly worry about the heels, which is where my first pair died at). I didn't do any fancy closures, just a few pairs of slits with leather laces. I may whip out another pair later, and at least take the time to do the visible seams by hand, but for the most part I'm quite pleased with these.
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