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What height options are there?

The kit comes in either low top (shoe ankle height) or high top (boot ankle height).  The paper pattern supplied with your kit shows you exactly where to cut for each option.  You will choose whether you want to make shoes or boots as they are different prices.  

How much does it cost?

The Shoe Kit (with low top ankle height) costs £175 / $235 / 335AUD / 330CAD

The Boot Kit (with high top ankle height) costs £185 / $250 / 350AUD / 350CAD

What if you want to make 2 pairs?!

As with my clog making kit, people often order 2 kits because they want to make different styles and colours.  So, I have made it possible for you to buy 2 kits so that you can either make yourself 2 pairs or make shoes with a friend.  The second kit will come with consumables only - there won't be 2 sets of tools (this is to reduce waste and needles repetition of items).  The second kit does, however, come with it's own needles so if you are making the shoes with a friend, you can both sit together stitching companionably!  

What are the colour options?

These are the options for the main or base of the shoe - this will be the colour of the sides and the tongue.  These leathers and nubucks have been selected for their ability to mould round your feet over time, yet are structured and strong enough to hold their shape and wear well.  The options include my signature Italian veg tan grainy leather which has been a feature of my kits for years now.  But I've introduced a new texture - nubuck.  Nubuck has had it's top layer lightly sanded down to produce a smooth, yet fuzzy matt texture.  It differs from suede in that only the very top layer has been sanded down, whereas with suede a whole top cross section has been split from the bottom layers of the hide - nubuck is therefore stronger and more durable (as well as more water resistant - although you may still want to treat your nubuck with protective waterproofer - just test this on a scrap piece of the nubuck).  

Then you'll choose the colour of the heel stripe.  This is a thin piece of leather which connects the two side pieces at the back of the heel. You can choose to blend this with the main leather colour or contrast it and add a pop of colour of textural difference - i.e. by combing grainy leather with nubuck or suede.  I've added suede as an option here - the nap is longer than nubuck but it's also a floppier, weaker leather so wouldn't be strong or structured enough for the main body of the shoe, but it works perfectly as an accent like this heel stripe.  You'll also see that you can add hair on hide animal prints here - the black spot has been incredibly popular in the Clog Kit.  

Then (and this is optional) you can add ankle details.  You might want to leave your shoes or boots plain with a raw edge at the ankle, but I wanted to include some alternatives so that you can add personality and a sense of bespokeness to your shoes.  You can choose to add some ankle fringing, an ankle 'collar' or some binding with leather thonging woven through. 

What ankle detail options are there?

There are 4 choices for ankle details (adding an ankle detail - so numbers 2, 3, and 4 - will add an extra £5 / about $7USD / about $9CAD / about $9AUD) 

1. No Ankle detail
2. Ankle collar
3. Ankle binding + thonging woven through
4. Ankle fringing

What do you get in the kit?

• Grainy, veg-tanned full grain leather, from Italy. Full grain is the top layer of the hide, the strongest and most hard-wearing part, and because it's vegetable tanned it softens, moulds to your foot and deepens in colour the more you wear it.
• Nubuck, also from Italy, and new to my kits It's full grain leather, but the top layer has been lightly sanded down so that it has a smooth, matt surface. Soft to touch, but still structured, so the boots keep their shape.
• Animal Print hair on hide leather This is for the details - it's a little bit too thin and floppy to hold it's shape and form the main structure of the shoe, but it's perfect to add interest in the heel stripe or ankle details.
• Natural rubber soles, made in Portugal. They arrive ready-made, so all you do is stitch your upper onto them.  These are thin and flexible yet durable made from a specialist rubber sole factory in Portugal.  
• Anatomical Insoles, designed in Germany. light and flexible with just enough cushioning to support your feet.
• UK-made shoe laces Premium round waxed laces in black or tan, and then a choice of colourful woven laces in yellow, red, blue or dark green tones.  
• Paper patterns in your chosen size with ankle options add ons.  I've worked with Yullia, a Ukrainian shoe pattern specialist to create the patterns for this kit.  

Tools

This kit is so streamlined, there are only 5 special tools to learn to use (and one of those is a pen...) -

1. knife (and spare blades for cutting)
2. leatherworkers awl for making the pattern markings
3. wash-off silver pen to trace round the patters and ensure accurate cutting and hole punching
4. Japanese screw punch with 2 sized bits for punching the stitch and lace holes
5. 2 saddlers needles and recycled leatherworkers thread in matching colours to your leather

What if I've never made shoes before?

This kit has been designed for beginners but even if you've worked with leather, sewn clothes or are into crafts you'll find it enjoyable and hugely satisfying to make your own shoes, in your own choice of colours. 

There are just a few techniques for you to learn to do. Taking your time and being careful at every step means the next step will be easier to do and more accurate - accuracy in cutting means nice clean edges, accuracy in marking and punching the stitch holes means that you'll have nicer, more even stitches.  This is definitely a project to do slowly, taking breaks and even spreading out over a few sessions.  

1. Draw round the paper pattern onto the leather with the silver washable pen. 
2. Use a craft knife to cut the leather (I give you 5 spare blades so you can make sure your knife is sharp - this makes it much easier to cut and ensure you get a nice clean cut)
3. Then you'll mark the stitch and lace holes with the leatherworkers awl (this is my most used tool in my leather studio!)
4. The ingenious screw punch means that you can make nice, round stitch holes without having to use a lot of arm muscle action or noisy hammering (usually you use a metal hole punch and hit it with a mallet - the number of stitch holes you'll be making means that this would get very noisy and tiring over time!). You will also mark and punch the stitch holes in the rubber sole.  There's a special ridge around the side of the sole where the stitches will sit. You can change the bit size for the bigger bit to make the lace holes.  You
5. Then you'll thread 2 saddlers needles and stitch the heel stripe to connect the two sides of the leather upper pieces. 
6. Now you can start to sew the leather upper to the rubber sole.  Using 2 needles to saddle stitch means it's a lot quicker and much easier to keep the tension consistent meaning that your rubber sole won't end up warping or wavy. 
7. Then you can stitch the tongue onto the leather sides to complete the shoe.  

What size do I need?

The kit comes in sizes 36 to 42.  

The soles are true to size for barefoot shoes (which allow more room at the toes than standard shoes) but run a little big if you're not used to them. I'd advise sizing down if you're in between sizes.

HOW TO MEASURE YOUR FOOT LENGTH

This is easier with someone to help you. Stand barefoot on a piece of paper and draw around both feet. Don't sit down as you want all of your weight on your feet. Then measure from the heel to longest toe of both feet - take the longest measurement to check against the above sole lengths.

You want the soles to be about 1cm to 1.2cm (about 0.4") longer than your longest foot length.

What about bigger sizes?

I'd really love to open this kit up for men and bigger feet. But as a small business I have to buy a minimum quantity of every size from the sole factory in Portugal, and without knowing there's demand for the larger sizes yet, that was too big a risk for this first drop.

If there's enough interest, the next drop will have a wider size range. So if you (or someone you'd make a pair for) are a size 43 or above, reply and tell me, because that's exactly what will make it happen.

Still not sure?

Reply to this email with your two measurements and I'll tell you which size to go for.  Or if you have any other questions - or you'd like to see some colour swatches together to help you decide colours, just send me an email hello@leatherneedlethread.com