That is all the internal seams complete then so it is time to chuck them in a bucket of water to soak for a couple of hours to soften the leather before turning them.
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Making some new Viking shoes.
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That is all the internal seams complete then so it is time to chuck them in a bucket of water to soak for a couple of hours to soften the leather before turning them.
Unless your feet are pretty tough though, you have to be very careful with grass in them. It can leave little slivers stuck in your skin and they'll fester.
It was most uncomfortable digging silica rich shards out from the skin under my toes.
At home, and in my garden, I walk about barefoot, and yet I still ended up with what we call skelfs. Not doing that again. I think had I been walking around on any other surface but woodchips that the raw fleece (just given an overnight soak and stetched out on a drystane dyke to dry off) that felted down as insoles would have been brilliant.
It was most uncomfortable digging silica rich shards out from the skin under my toes.
At home, and in my garden, I walk about barefoot, and yet I still ended up with what we call skelfs. Not doing that again. I think had I been walking around on any other surface but woodchips that the raw fleece (just given an overnight soak and stetched out on a drystane dyke to dry off) that felted down as insoles would have been brilliant.
Normally because my feet are rubbing around in Vike shoes the skin is pretty resilient.
After 4 months without though I've probably softened up a bit.
After 4 months without though I've probably softened up a bit.
After a 30 minute wresting match here they are then.
All ready for trimming up when they are dry and I’ll measure up for the fastening strap when they are on my feet.
A couple of detail shots that demonstrate why the sole is cut at an angle.
You can see that the wider part of the bevel fills over the turned seam and helps stop grit entering the seam and causing wear.
Once they are waxed the stitching should be nicely protected.
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and very 'right' too 
They have never been picked upon by the stitch counters at an event so they are certainly good enough for working in schools with.
Stitch counters are inclined to pick the very best example of an artefact they can find, and then claim that that's the bog standard.
Generally that's mince. The past was complex, and definitely not full of regimented copies.
Well made is well made, especially when stylistically and materially it's very much in keeping.
I like good kit, but I wouldn't ever try to discourage with the kind of vicious put downs I've heard some spout.
"Oh not like thaaaat!", echoing through an event is a mood killer for everyone. I sometimes think that the biggest muscle the 'authenticity police' ever use is in their larynx.
I liked your, "Shall I show you how I did this ?"
A quiet explanation, or even sketch out a pattern and show them how to work out how to make it fit them. Make it look right on them. It's their clothing, they have to wear it, help them get it right instead of trying to one up.
I am so pleased when I see someone make something and it's right, and they're so chuffed with it
It's good for everyone's self confidence.
No one knows it all, it's a delight to find someone who knows another way to do something, has more information, or is happy just to show and tell Someone with a wide ranged skill set is often the best company.
Generally that's mince. The past was complex, and definitely not full of regimented copies.
Well made is well made, especially when stylistically and materially it's very much in keeping.
I like good kit, but I wouldn't ever try to discourage with the kind of vicious put downs I've heard some spout.
"Oh not like thaaaat!", echoing through an event is a mood killer for everyone. I sometimes think that the biggest muscle the 'authenticity police' ever use is in their larynx.
I liked your, "Shall I show you how I did this ?"
A quiet explanation, or even sketch out a pattern and show them how to work out how to make it fit them. Make it look right on them. It's their clothing, they have to wear it, help them get it right instead of trying to one up.
I am so pleased when I see someone make something and it's right, and they're so chuffed with it
It's good for everyone's self confidence.No one knows it all, it's a delight to find someone who knows another way to do something, has more information, or is happy just to show and tell
Someone with a wide ranged skill set is often the best company.
These are fantastic! Very tempted to attempt a pair myself when I'm feeling a little more flush to purchase the leather. We went to the Lofotr museum a couple of years ago absolutely amazing place...I cherish my little knife forged by the blacksmith there.
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Thats an interesting question.
I know that in Medieval times, labour was cheap but materials expensive.
So they approached crafts in a very different way than we would.
But as for skill sets, I dont know. Would every family make their own shoes or would they employ a specialist?
And would they have access to skills knowlege and materials?
I know that in Medieval times, labour was cheap but materials expensive.
So they approached crafts in a very different way than we would.
But as for skill sets, I dont know. Would every family make their own shoes or would they employ a specialist?
And would they have access to skills knowlege and materials?
I think that's a double kind of question really.
If you have surplus, something you can trade or exchange for coin or ring money, then you can afford not to have to source and make your own materials and craft your own clothing.
If you don't, can you do those for others ?
Much of the clothing of the past was really domestic economy. Hand spun hand woven and sewn clothing was made by the family womenfolks in the main. That said, any 'city' or Fair seems to always have had a second hand clothing trade of some kind.
Leatherworkers are something outside that though, because that's a trade, it's a skilled job, and it needs specialised tools. I know Inuit and native Americans made very beautiful and practical leatherwork, and it was highly valued, but in Europe once past the neolithic to some extent it seems to become specialised. Awls etc., and all the cordwainers tools appear. The Romans certainly had shoemakers and leatherworkers. Their armour was often cuir boillie, for instance.
Actually thinking on it, did Oetzi's jacket not have a mishmash of really fine work and then a kind of bodged repair work ? Wonder if someone else made it and he repaired it ?
The ordinary folks who didn't live in towns and cities probably continued to make much of their own for a lot longer though. In the 19th century it was still pretty common for women and children to go barefoot....images, like the ladies on St. Kilda brought that right into the 20th century too.
My Dad was born in 1911. He said that he only wore shoes for going to school and to the kirk. Children played outside barefoot, and that seems to have been pretty common right across the UK, etc., He was born in the village I live in now, and moved to the next one where he grew up just before primary school. He talked about a watercart, a small horse drawn cart with a barrel drilled with a lot of tiny holes and filled with water being driven through the village to put down the dust from the bare earth roads, and the boys running barefoot behind it to splash in the spray on hot Summer days.
Marc Carlson does a lot of research on shoemaking, and Sutor too has a lot of information.
I'll find links.
M
sutor.jimdofree.com
If you have surplus, something you can trade or exchange for coin or ring money, then you can afford not to have to source and make your own materials and craft your own clothing.
If you don't, can you do those for others ?
Much of the clothing of the past was really domestic economy. Hand spun hand woven and sewn clothing was made by the family womenfolks in the main. That said, any 'city' or Fair seems to always have had a second hand clothing trade of some kind.
Leatherworkers are something outside that though, because that's a trade, it's a skilled job, and it needs specialised tools. I know Inuit and native Americans made very beautiful and practical leatherwork, and it was highly valued, but in Europe once past the neolithic to some extent it seems to become specialised. Awls etc., and all the cordwainers tools appear. The Romans certainly had shoemakers and leatherworkers. Their armour was often cuir boillie, for instance.
Actually thinking on it, did Oetzi's jacket not have a mishmash of really fine work and then a kind of bodged repair work ? Wonder if someone else made it and he repaired it ?
The ordinary folks who didn't live in towns and cities probably continued to make much of their own for a lot longer though. In the 19th century it was still pretty common for women and children to go barefoot....images, like the ladies on St. Kilda brought that right into the 20th century too.
My Dad was born in 1911. He said that he only wore shoes for going to school and to the kirk. Children played outside barefoot, and that seems to have been pretty common right across the UK, etc., He was born in the village I live in now, and moved to the next one where he grew up just before primary school. He talked about a watercart, a small horse drawn cart with a barrel drilled with a lot of tiny holes and filled with water being driven through the village to put down the dust from the bare earth roads, and the boys running barefoot behind it to splash in the spray on hot Summer days.
Marc Carlson does a lot of research on shoemaking, and Sutor too has a lot of information.
I'll find links.
M
Leatherwork Through the Ages
Leatherwork Through the Ages - Researching and Recreating Historical Shoes, Bags, Clothing and Other Leather Items
sutor.jimdofree.com
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Those look really comfortable Gary and I've enjoyed following their construction both on here and your posts on FB. What's amusing is I remember you making your last pair at the moot
Thank you for sharing their construction with us.
They're not finished yet. Still more to show you.
Final bit of leather cut from the scrap pieces.
The wide end of the right hand pieces are rolled up and the narrow ends fed through the loop to form toggles.
With the shoe on my foot, I can then draw the flap around and mark the positions for the toggle and the loop.
The loop is threaded through a simple cut near the heel and the toggle is attached to the flap with a “Butt Stitched” seam again.
Once that is done the excess parts of the flap can be trimmed away.
So here we have the job done.
My next pair of Viking style shoes that should give me a couple of years service while giving my school presentations.
My first pattern was made by drawing round my foot, adding a point on the back for the heel and then dead reckoning the shape of the top by measuring the edges of the sole.
That worked to some degree but needed a few nips and tucks in the finished shoe to get a good fit.
When the sole of Mk.I gave up I was able to take it apart and modify the design for Mk.II.
Not an easily repeatable process I'm afraid.
If I was starting from scratch now with twenty years more experience I would probably start with a sole unit and then tape it to my foot with masking tape.
Build it up with more tape until you could draw out the seams and then cut it to make a template.
That worked to some degree but needed a few nips and tucks in the finished shoe to get a good fit.
When the sole of Mk.I gave up I was able to take it apart and modify the design for Mk.II.
Not an easily repeatable process I'm afraid.
If I was starting from scratch now with twenty years more experience I would probably start with a sole unit and then tape it to my foot with masking tape.
Build it up with more tape until you could draw out the seams and then cut it to make a template.
Great, thank you. Need to get to the local leather stockiest and see what they've got in their off cuts bin next week
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Oh yes, I should also apologise for my scruffy bench top.
I use cardboard to soak up spills and protect the real bench top below.
I haven't had any big boxes passing my way lately so it's looking a bit grotty now.
I use cardboard to soak up spills and protect the real bench top below.
I haven't had any big boxes passing my way lately so it's looking a bit grotty now.
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