And so it began, aprons on, heads down and the autumn intensive shoemaking course got under way. This October we have students from America, Belgium, Italy, Argentina and Taiwan - truly international!
Another selection of beautiful aprons are being given a workout from the daily leather dust, paste, steel burrs, tar, wax, talc, blood and sweat - and some are working better than others. The Codonnerie Anglaise apron sported by Alexandre (above) is a beauty, but sadly a little too slippery for shoemaking; better suited were Riccardo's suede apron which had surface grip and Gerardo's long line pinstripe denim (glimpsed below); and our Irish linen aprons are still a hard-wearing favourite.
 |
| Insoles blocked |
 |
| ...trimmed |
 |
| Holdfasts being prepared |
 |
| Awl holes made |
 |
| and knives constantly being sharpened on the strop |
 |
| Lasting in earnest |
 |
| More lasting... |
 |
| And a bit more... |
 |
| Checking the toe puffs are a pair |
 |
| Shaping the toe puffs |
 |
| Tidying up the feather edge |
 |
| Lasting the fore part over the puffs |
 |
| Artistic portrait of a shoemaker at work... |
 |
| And another - loving the new smart phone filters |
Today is Friday and the boys (no women this time, most unusual!) will be finishing the welting and getting the shanks in. Soles on tomorrow and some more stitching. A good start by everyone. Well done, guys.
And if this piques your interest, we are now booking for all our courses for next year, starting with the January intensive and the two evening classes in January.
Please email us courses@carreducker.com for details on dates and prices
And look out for our new e-commerce site for tools and materials - it is almost ready to go live. Very exciting!!!
Until next week, happy shoemaking!
Great!
ReplyDelete