New York - Pattern Making for Bespoke Shoes class; Days 9 - 12

How did day 12 come about so quickly? Here they are split lifts on, heels built straight and sole edges sharp and square. The past two days have been focused on finishing. It's been great to have time to really focus in on this, as it can make or break a shoe! The class have really enjoyed experimenting with different colours and polish combinations and then choosing their favourite.

There's been a lot of rasping, glassing and sanding...and then some more sanding

Roughly shaped heels

Straight and true

Rasping first

Then glassing



and sanding

then a bit more sanding

then dyeing, waxing, burnishing and buffing for some

or polishing, burnishing and buffing for others

and then time to start polishing the uppers.

So this morning we've got to finish finishing (!), pull lasts, sock shoes and shine the uppers. Then the class is going to take each others measurements and we'll be talking about a good shoe fit and different styles of shoe. A busy last day and back to England tonight.

Until next week, when we'll share the results of all their efforts...happy shoemaking!