The Armour Archive

Well, here they are. My very first attempt at a 12C turn shoe. I used about a 5oz stoned leather (no comments... ) that was a decent price. A few growing pains involved in them with the fit but overall, I'm happy with them. I used a waxed linen thread all over with a running back stitch throughout. I designed them to include my insoles that actually let me wear them for hours and hours on end without any discomfort.

After they were made, but before being officially worn, I felt they were too tight so I cut down the outer side of them and added the reinforced lace. For the record, I'm a size 12 and the insole added a bit of extra to it.

Brand New


After the Event

Very cool, only after one event? wow.

I'd love to make a pair but time and skill are lacking somewhat

what weight of leather did you use for the sole, it looks kinda thin? The look sweet otherwise.

It is a bit thin as the entire piece was done in the 5oz leather. They're not quite as bad as they look in the photos... I think it's more the light. They're in great shape

I'm going to have to do something about a thicker sole though, I know that. I may cheat and get some crepe and just slap that on them for now. They're really just a "lets see if I can do this" kind of project.

Thanks for looking

GdS

where did you get the pattern from? They look really nice

They're loosely based on the 12C shoes found in London and documented in Shoes and Pattens by Grew & de Neegarard.

Honestly though, all I did was put on a sock over the insole and my foot, then wrapped small strips of duct tape over it until it was covered. Then I roughly traced some outlines where I thought the seams would go and cut it off. A few cosmetic tweaks to smooth out some rough edges and I had a basic pattern. I did a mock-up in fabric first, juts to test the basic principle of it and it seemed to work well. After that, I simply copied the pattern to my leather and went from there.



GdS

thomas h wrote:Very cool, only after one event? wow.

I'd love to make a pair but time and skill are lacking somewhat

It's worth remembering that shoes were not long lasting items. I particularly like the significance of Icelanders measuring distance in terms of how many pairs of fishskin shoes one goes through traveling between towns.

Gavin

I'm told that it's good to get leather specifically prepared for soles; most heavyweight leather for sale in the US is for saddles, and sometimes is slippery. Also for the uppers, avoid belly leather; it tends to stretch too much.

It's worth remembering that shoes were not long lasting items. I particularly like the significance of Icelanders measuring distance in terms of how many pairs of fishskin shoes one goes through traveling between towns.

Gavin

Out of curiosity, how much leather does the average fish yeild? What sorts of fish would be skinned for use as leather?

Buran wrote:I'm told that it's good to get leather specifically prepared for soles; most heavyweight leather for sale in the US is for saddles, and sometimes is slippery. Also for the uppers, avoid belly leather; it tends to stretch too much.

I have never heard of this. I HAVE heard of precompressed leather for soles. Basically it is thick leather that hass run through rollers to compress it and make it stiffer. Like the leather on the soles of nice dress shoes.

As to the "slippery" issue, I imagine that is because the sole is new and not scuffed up yet.

I am currently learning to make turnshoes and apparently Turnshoes did NOT have thick leather soles. They seemed to be pretty thin. Kind of like heavy socks.

check out the term "Lasted Turnshoes". Basically it is the process of sewing an outside thicker sole to the bottom of the existing sole to lengthen the shoes' life. When the lasted sole wears through you cut it off and sew another one. Leaving the thinner sole intact.

On the fishskin: I know that catfish-skin has been used for making boots and shoes in Norway in modern times, I believe it was used during WW2. Probably because it was cheap and available. As far as I know, fishskin has a tendency to wear out/fall apart rather quickly though...

Johan Schubert Moen

A last is a wooden model of a foot, around which the shoe is built.

check out the term "Lasted Turnshoes". Basically it is the process of sewing an outside thicker sole to the bottom of the existing sole to lengthen the shoes' life.

To which Buran said...

A last is a wooden model of a foot, around which the shoe is built.

I agree that a last is a form around which the shoe is built.

I believe that Insane Irish is referring to a "clump" sole - one that is sewn over a worn out original sole and replaced as needed.

Gregoire de Lyon wrote:I believe that Insane Irish is referring to a "clump" sole - one that is sewn over a worn out original sole and replaced as needed.

Sorry, impossed the wrong word, I meant to say Welted turn shoes, it is basically an extray wide welt that goes around the edge of the turnshoe that you sew an outer and thicker sole to while saving the inner and thinner sole. When the outer sole wears out, simply cut it off and sew another on.

In my experience, modern compressed "sole" leather is far too hard to get an awl through in doing the edge/grain seam required for proper turnshoes. I usually use about 5/16" thick oak/veg tanned for soles, even then sometimes I run into a hard spot and have to push the awl into the flesh side and out the edge, rather than from edge to flesh as I usually do.

I imagine turning compressed sole would be a bugger too.