January Intensive Shoemaking Class - the Second Week

We are getting to grips with 2017 and have got back into the swing of work,and as such, have had a very busy week with our Intensive Shoe Making Course

If you are a shoemaker in the UK or a student of shoemaking, in February there will be the 19th Independent Shoemnakers' Conference to be held in the Isle of Wight. The Independent Shoemakers is a collective of shoemakers of all kinds from all over the UK - from bespoke makers like ourselves to clog makers; orthopaedic makers to sandal makers (and everything in between).
The conference is a great event where you can meet other shoemakers; attend interesting workshops on all aspects of the craft; and socialise with fellow shoemakers. It is a fun weekend.
It is very friendly and welcomes shoemakers of all standards from professionals to beginners and even those who just have an interest in the craft.

If you are interested in going, email us at cd@carreducker.com and we will forward you the application form.


Week two of the course has many and varied delights including stitching the soles; thread making; attaching bristles; gluing down the channel; smoothing the sole. And that is just day 7.

Lovely straight stitches - very nice work!

Day 8 saw us tackling heel building, starting with the split lift or rand. We make these from a strip of heel bend, skived on the side and hammered into a horse shoe shape.

Kaori attaching the split lift/rand

Two flat heel lifts followed the split lift, attached with paste and nails, and followed by shaping with the knife. Straight at the sides and slightly pitched at the back.

Akari shaping the heel

In case you were worried by the last pic, our workshop is toasty and warm, all year round.

Shaping the heel

On day 9, with the heel built and shaped, we cut the seat and the heel breast.

Cutting the heel breast

Cutting the heel breast

Cutting the seat

Checking the heel marks

 And we attached the heel top pieces.

Charles balancing the heel top piece

Balancing the heel on a glass board

Day 10 and we finished the heels and moved onto the finishing, starting with a bit of tidying with the knife.

Tidying up the sole edge

Lee rasping the heel

Rasping the heel breast

Unfortunately, Akari had to go back to Japan and so Day 10 was her last day so we did a group selfie to mark the end of her study with us. She will be back in February to finish her shoes

So two more days to go and one student less. At least she left happy and looking forward to coming back to finish.

We will show the final shoes in next week's post but they are all on their way to very nice shoes.

And on another note, for those of you in the UK, I will be presenting a section of the Inside Out show on BBC 1 South on Monday 23rd January. It can be seen nationwide on the HD channel I am told. Otherwise catch it on the iPlayer after the event. It's a nice piece about legendary shoemaker Ducker and Son in Oxford - worth a watch

Until next week, happy shoemaking!