NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/rec/org/sca/15868

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From: [e-mail] (Tom Perigrin)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Shoe Biz
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 16 Nov 92 20:38:02 GMT
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Organization: University of Arizona UNIX Users Group
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Unto the Rialto, doth Thomas Ignatius Perigrinus send his humble greetings,

Good Gentles all,

    Making good period reproduction shoes seems to be a tremendous problem.
I recently obtained a book from the UK entitled "Shoes and Pattens", and the
methods of construction are amazingly sophisticated and complex,   in most
cases.   The shoe was often sewn inside out, utilizing sewing methods which
frankly are beyond me (sewing into the edge of fairly light leather rather
than through the thickness), turned right side out and finished.

    But note the phrase "in most cases" above.   One of the simplest types
of sewing methods (type D in the book) is very simple.   Cut a vamp (the upper)
and a simple sole, and stich them together to form a simple shoe.  You
can attach a thick leather sole with nails, and then cover the turned nails
on the inside with an insole.

    All of this is quite simple to do.  This weekend I spent about 5 to 6
hours and made myself a simple pair of late 1500's shoes.   The total cost
(so far) is about $10 - $15 (depending on how many I get out of the leather
I bought).    The pattern for the vamp was obtained by draping cloth over
my foot, and cutting it and tucking it until it hung "more or less right".
The sole was made by tracing around my foot, and adding about 1/4" on each
and every side.   I used a lacing fork to punch holes in each, and a stitching
awl to stitch them together.   The vamp is left with longish heel pieces, and
as I sewed from the toe backwards, the heel cheeks overlapped...   I trimmed
them to size, punched holes with an awl, and sewed up the back of the heel.
An inside heel stiffener was attached with barge cement, and a 1 1/2 wide
strap was attached to teh back to protect the heel stiching.   The thing
is held on by a simple strap that passes through several slits, and buckles
in the front.

    The only thing that is difficult is nailing the thick sole to the
mid sole.   I do this by attaching the thick (1/4" thick butt leather) to
the shoe with Barge cement, and then taking it down to a cobbler and paying
him $5 to do the nailing on his last.

    I have made boots this way too.   My last pair of boots have finally
gotten worn out enough that they will need a repair ont eh vamp and new soles,
but considering that I made them in 1978 I am not displeased with them. I
figure about 5 hours worth of repair work and they will be good enough to last
another decade.

    There is no reason that these techniques can't be adopted to poulains,
or other shoes.  One can obtain fairly elegant court shoes by making the
shoe with sevral layers... first, slash the vamp before one sews it together.
Then put a layer of lining cloth and a layer of fine cloth between teh vamp
and the sole.   When you are done sewing, you puff the fine cloth out through
the slashes to give a nice "puffed" effect.  I use this technique for my
high Elizabethan clothing.

    I learned to do this by going to my library, and reading a dozen books
on leather working, shoe making, and such.  There was a real explosion of
alternative culture books in the late 70's that told eco-hippies how to
make everything from shoes to shelters... these books are valuable.

    This method does NOT produce the most sophisticated manufacture of
shoes made by mediaeval cobblers.  But it can give a good "look and feel",
for far less than the $100 or more that one pays for psuedo-mediaevaloid
moccasins made by most renn fest type shoes makers.

    One comment people have made is the lack on instep support.  One of
our people utilized this method of making her shoes, but hid a complete
modern tennis shoe inside of the made shoe...   She cut out the tounge
and trimmed the vamp back,  but then built the rest of the shoe around the
remainders of the tennish shoe.   The result seems to be a fairly
comfortable shoe,  which is good since she spends 6 hours/day on her feet
doing cooking demonstrations during Renn Fest.

    I'm sorry I don't have any patterns or more explicit instructions,
but our group has never really needed it.  We just get together, make simple
patterns, and start punching a sewing.   Although results range from mediochre
to gorgeous, we have never made an unwearable shoe by this method.


Yours in Service to the Society
Thomas Ignatius Perigrinus