Learning Pump Stitch

Hello once more, dear friends, shoemakers and shoe nerds of the world. We welcome you back to our blog and thank you for returning. And for those of you finding us for the first time, we hope you enjoy the read.

This week we had an experienced Japanese student in to learn a very specific and little used construction, the pump stitch.

This is the construction we use for dress pumps and house shoes (slippers). It is not as strong a construction as a welted shoe but is plenty strong enough for the purpose. The stitching is invisible inside the shoe and so makes for a very clean look which looks cemented but is, in fact, stitched.

This has been covered before on the blog and you can get close up details on how to make them with the following links

http://carreducker.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=velvet+slipper

http://carreducker.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/velvet-slippers-2.html

http://carreducker.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/velvet-slippers-3.html

These were the pumps he wanted to make.

And here he is making the holes in the sole before attaching it and stitching.

Making the holes in the sole prior to stitching

Making the holes

To make these holes we used a specially curved awl which got into and out of the sole quickly so that the holes were relatively short. This is good because you get a stronger construction. If you use your regular welting awl, the stitch length is too long.

These are the awls which we are now selling on the Tool Shed

Yusuke went home with one shoe stitched and the other one left to do. He will then build the heels and do the finishing. We look forward to seeing the results

We offer a wide range of masterclasses for more experienced shoemakers which you can see on our website. This includes skills like bevelled waist; storm welt; Norwegian welt; fiddle waist - the choice is yours. Please email us if you are interested

courses@carreducker.com

And that is it for this week. Until next time, happy shoemaking!