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On the subject of shoes. . .




Poster: rmhowe <magnusm@ncsu.edu>

> I am hoping that during the coming winter months, while trying not to move
> too much while pregnant, that I can teach myself some cobbling.  Could
> anyone/everyone please make some suggestions about good BEGINNING books?
>
> Thanks!
>(name deleted)

Well, the easiest way to cut a pattern for shoes is to take an old
sock and wrap duct tape around it. Look at the pattern you want to
make and while standing on the floor, have someone else take a magic
marker and mark the seam lines on the sock. (Hopefully you will do
this on a day your feet are swollen so your shoes will fit later.)
Now have this same person cut the seam lines. Lay them out on some
cloth (unless you're brave enough to use your leather the first time)
and add some overlap at the seams you are going to sew, unless you
are going to do a butt stitch with the edges touching. Many medieval
shoes were sewn inside out and then turned right side out. Wetting
the leather and wearing them until dry will help the fit too.

Read what Marc Carlson has to say before you begin. He has written
a good book on the subject.

My personal suggestion is that you go to the Leathercrafters' Corner
and Marc Carlson's book on Medieval Shoes that you can access here:
Footwear of the Middle Ages, by Marc Carlson
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/carlson/SHOEHOME.HTM
It is fairly complete and is based on the Museums of London and
Denmark books. It has also been recently updated and contains plans
for Persian and Mongol boots.
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/carlson/SLIST7.HTM

For Leathercrafters' Corner (some of it also by Carlson) go to:
http://www.tiac.net/users/hollyoak/lthcraft.htm
This site is still under construction, slowly, and many of the topics
are somewhat now incomplete.

You can find references for many good leatherworking and shoe books
here, and it is free, and in English.

For the uninitiated the SCA Homepage is at: http://www.sca.org/
You can reach these and many other pages there.
------------------------------------
Now since I am posting useful material to several lists but Not the
Rialto (because of some problems associated with it), I have recently
started copying some of my posts to other individuals who might use
them and post them permanently. One of these is Stephan's Florilegium,
he has already been accepting some. Marc Carlson wrote to me that he
will be ordering the German shoe book I listed today. That has a really
good bibliography on medieval shoes and leatherwork in many languages.
Unfortunately most of them are not in English. It seems a shame to go
to the trouble to list one time with all the new people coming in with
new interests all the time. My personal aim is to make the material
available to many, but I am not posting on the Rialto, or all the
Kingdom lists, So - If it has limited material availability, and you
intend to buy it - I recommend that you do so. My postings are
principally to my Baronial list, Atlantia, GDHorde (which is in many
kingdoms), and to those individuals I feel have particular interest
in the subjects. I get requests to repost to other Kingdoms as well.
That is okay with me. As a responsible member of the SCA and a Laurel
I feel it is my responsibility to share what I can.

M. Magnus Malleus, Windmasters' Hill, Atlantia, and the GDHorde.
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