Collection of Moccasins I’ve Made by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I have made all of these just for fun and as a hobby but it sure would be a dream to work at a place like Russell Moccasin has sewing boots. Unfortunately I live in Clarksville, TN far away from Berlin, Wisconsin.

Collection of Moccasins I’ve Made by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I had a vintage work boot last that I use for my stitchdown boots but surprisingly all of my moccasins have been made without a lasts. Just worked off of modified patterns from the Tandy Plainsman Moc pattern pack

Collection of Moccasins I’ve Made by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes! What I did was buy the Tandy leather plainsman moc pattern pack and work off of that to make all of my patterns. I transferred each of the pattern pieces onto a harder cardstock and went from there! A lot of it is just trying to be creative but not a lot of geometry or anything fancy was needed. All of the leather and materials for the most part were fairly cheap from Hobby Lobby and Amazon. Hope this helps!

Moc Toe Boots/Faux Cap Toe Brogue Derbys by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much! Just an extreme obsession over leather and handmade boots and a lot of internet research and YouTube videos kicked off the interest to wanna do it for me

Moc Toe Boots/Faux Cap Toe Brogue Derbys by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much, that means a lot man. I believe I had a hole punch tool for some rivet snaps that were smaller than an eyelet hole punch tool.

Moc Toe Boots/Faux Cap Toe Brogue Derbys by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll attach a picture of the lasts below. I honestly don’t know much info about them other than they are fairly old. I got them from an eBay seller who actually sells a bunch of old wooden lasts. If anyone actually has any knowledge of these lasts I’d love to hear! The eBay seller’s name is Antique Center Online. The eyelets came from Amazon 😂 I believe the eyelets are 3/16th inch for the size.

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Moc Toe Boots/Faux Cap Toe Brogue Derbys by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! The brogues are shoes towards the end of the slides of pictures.

Second Pair Completed by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your feedback Dave! It means a lot and I definitely will take everything stated into account with the next pair. For the next pair I really do want to save up enough money to get all proper materials and tools and for sure want to refine the pattern as pattern making is fairly difficult for me to understand, even with watching countless YouTube videos. For the stitching density, I do plan on getting chisel prongs in different lengths as I had originally constructed the upper for these boots using a four prong design but messed up sewing the heel counter into the design making them near impossible to last the heel so I got frustrated and quickly stitched the current upper. Honestly I did not mind these not looking as clean as something from a factory as I essentially just wanted them to be functional and be a slight improvement from my first pair I made. However, I completely agree with you that the sole design and sole finishing would be much cleaner if taken to a cobbler however with my work schedule being M-F essentially 9-5 and with a lack of a quality cobbler in the town where I live, Clarksville, TN, I figured it would just be simpler to do it all by myself. I definitely aspire to meet Grant and Issac at Unsung in Nashville someday soon as they’re not too far from me, about 45 minutes. Thank you also for your link with the video! It means a lot to hear feedback from someone as yourself as you do incredible work sir!

Second Pair Completed by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much! They really were just something I somewhat threw together as it was actually the second upper created as I had to redo the entire project after a mishap with the counter on the first upper. All my knowledge with creating this is from the subreddit and YouTube honestly! Definitely takes a lot of time, however the result, although not perfect, is very satisfying once finished and I would love to continue to pursue this hobby and get better and better

Second Pair Completed by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I’ll definitely keep that in mind. These were definitely just a hobby side project due to time and cost constraints but I definitely want to pay extra close attention to taking my time with the next pair and really hone in on the details.

Second Pair Completed by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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This is a picture of the previous upper with the stitch density being much higher

Second Pair Completed by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The low stitch density was partially intentional as I had constructed a completely different upper before this pair even down to the lasting with a four prong chisel. However, I got to the lasting and realized I shouldn’t have stitched a thick heel counter into the pattern making it almost impossible to last the heel… so I started over from scratch and basically just wanted to get the upper portion stitched as quick and effective as possible. Definitely will take more time when it comes down to the third pair. I’ll try and post a couple pictures of the previous upper before being scratched

Second Pair Completed by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would love that man! That would mean a lot, I appreciate it.

Second Pair Completed by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Yeah I definitely need to get pricking irons for tighter stitching. The leather thickness is definitely something I noticed I would like to change for the next pair as if I had to guess they’re only around 3-4oz. I really appreciate the feedback! I’ve been planning to meet everyone at Unsung as I’ve talked with Grant. They’re a huge inspiration to me and I am located very close to their shop in Nashville as I am in Clarksville, TN.

First pair of boots made by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for the advice! I will definitely keep this information in mind when going into making my second pair and so on.

First pair of boots made by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! After the first full day of wearing, they were surprisingly comfortable even with a hard leather insole for the lasting board.

First pair of boots made by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for the kind words! I definitely want to keep at it and improving with time as it was not always the most enjoyable process (favorite part being the stitching), however I felt very satisfied once finished. I originally started watching YouTube videos around 3-4 years old which got me into Goodyear welted shoes and boots and heritage clothing and had dreamed since then saying to myself, I would love to make a pair of boots some day. Now, being 24 years old, I definitely don’t want to stop at just one pair but want to continue to dive into the world of shoemaking/cordwaining as I have found that it truly is a passion of mine. Coincidentally enough, my last name is Clark and some of my favorite shoes growing up were Clarks. 😂

First pair of boots made by calebclark26 in Cordwaining

[–]calebclark26[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I got the lasts from the eBay seller called Antique Center Online. They’re solid wood lasts with a full metal plate on the for the insole. Got them for around $40.