I recently worked with toe puff material for the first time. It was an interesting experiment, and it helped me solidify what I want to make for future shoes.

I want to make shoes that are healthy for both the wearer and the maker. This means flexible soled shoes, without elevated heels or shanks. It means avoiding the use of toxic glues or plastics that can off-gas during the construction. It means turning to cork and vegetable tanned leather for foot-beds and cushioning. It means focusing on shoes that can be held together with stitching rather than glue, and that the stitching should be done with natural thread. It means that I will likely not work with plastic toe puffs in the future.

I want to make shoes that can transition from town to trail, so I don't need separate shoes for work, going out, or hiking. I think I know how I can accomplish this, but finding appropriate soles may be difficult. My idea is to make moccasin style shoes with a hiking sole. My ideal would be a lug sole that could be stitched directly to the shoe, similar to how boat soles or camp soles are attached. However, finding one is proving to be difficult, so I am looking into other solutions. I either need to look into less rugged soles, or I need to cut stitching grooves myself.

Tags: shoes

In theory, the treadle sewing machine should work, but I can't get it to stitch. I don't think it's a mechanical problem, I think it's user error. I believe that I'm doing something wrong with the threading or tension. The needle goes through the leather, it catches the bobbin, yet whatever stitches appear end up unraveling immediately.

Due to these problems, work with the sewing machine has been put on hold, and I'm back to hand stitching. It's what I should have been doing all along. I wasted a lot of time waiting for the sewing machine to arrive, because I didn't want to spend a lot of time hand stitching. If I had spent only a little bit of that time stitching instead of waiting, the boots would have been done by now.

I am now making progress on the boots again. They will definitely show progress in stitching skill, as the heel counter was the first part stitched, and it is uneven. The other stitching came later and has been steadily improving. Getting an overstitcher to evenly mark where to use an awl has helped a lot, and practice is making me faster.

There is still work to do before they will be done: closing the upper, attaching the upper to the midsole, attaching the outsole to the midsole, and finishing.

Tags: shoes

It's been too long since my last through hike, the Abel Tasman Trail in New Zealand. I was there in 2004. That's nearly six years with only taking day hikes.

My cousin Chris suggested remedying this. He planned to hike the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail in October/November, and invited me to join him. I couldn't resist the offer to hike, or the chance to see him (we haven't seen each other in over 20 years).

I will be heading to Atlanta in October to meet up with him, and we'll complete about 80 miles of the trail.

Tags: outside