Shoe Making

SHOE MAKING WORKSHOP
Dates: July 14 & 15 2012
FULL but you can get on the waiting list...
Location: Lost Creek Orchard, Cornucopia

We cover a wide assortment of leather working techniques and tools in this class but at the heart of what I'm really sharing are a few simple methods of attaching upper to sole. The design or style of the upper is kind of secondary here, once you understand how to attach upper to sole on this pair you are free to let your imagination run wild on the next!

In this class we begin by making a casting of your foot (they will truly be custom built) then move on to patterning and leather selection, cutting and skiving, butt stitching and assembly. Once the upper and sole are attached we move onto turning and hammering, closure and finishing and finally gooping the soles.

These are my every day shoes. from city streets to wilderness living adventures this shoe is the most comfortable and durable I've ever worn (and i wear em hard!). The uppers are 8-9 oz. American bison and soles are heavy oil tanned latigo with an outer coating of recycled ground truck tire dust mixed with barge cement. When the rubber coating wears down you can simply paint more on. This pair of shoes could easily last you for the rest of your life if well taken care of!

Space is limited to 5 students per class and they fill quickly!

Instructor: Jason Hovatter
As far back as I can remember and in nearly every situation, I would stop and wonder� "How did folks do this before our modern age of convenience and forgetfulness?" and more importantly perhaps, How will we do it after!? In my early 20's I travelled around this country on foot and hopping an occasional freight train from forest to town and back again doing leatherwork along the way. Around the time I became a father I met and apprenticed with a master shoe maker in southern
Oregon, afterward starting a custom shoemaking business.
Further deepening my love of ancient footwear styles, I traveled to medieval re enactments all over the western US making and taking orders for period shoes from antiquity. In recent years I've found a great satisfaction in teaching period and modern shoe making techniques to a growing army of new cobblers and cordwainers!

Tuition: $425
Reservation Information
You must reserve your space at least 7 days prior to course start to give the instructor time to prepare. Reserve my spot