Drastic Measures

Greetings to all of you. I hope you are having a good day, about to be made better by our tasty blog.

First off, if you are in the West End today, (Friday 9 December), I will be making shoes in the window of Gieves and Hawkes, all day with the odd break, of course. It looks really great (we are told), especially when it is dark.

Next up, a new shoe. The final piece in the carréducker Mayfair Collection. Sober, classic and very stylish. Love the chisel toe and elegant lines (like a 60s sports car).
We put some brogue punching on one of the caps, just to let customers see what possibilities are available.

New Stay Stitch

Houston, we have a problem.

We make every effort possible to make sure our shoes fit well. We always do fittings and make sure the customer signs off the final fit. At this point we make the shoes. 99 times out 100, this works perfectly and the shoes fit very well.

Occasionally, they don't. And this week, we had a pair which didn't fit. We delivered the shoes and the customer said the heel lifted at the back which is very bad. It means your toes clench to compensate for the heel slip and this can lead to problems over time.
I can only think that when we pulled the backs down when lasting, we went slightly below the desired line. It may only have been a tiny amount, but that can make all the difference

When you have finished a pair of shoes, there are always small tweaks you can make, but it is never easy and never pleasant. Much better to get it right first time!

With this particular problem, we had a few choices. We could unpick the top seam, reduce it (or put in some padding), and re-stitch it. A bit tricky with this shoe because of the counter and all the layers leather we had to deal with.

So, the option we went for is to soak the heel in water, reduce the last or trees and shrink the heel down with a giant elastic band. It is a horrible thing to do, soak your beautiful bespoke shoes in water. Especially in this case because the lining is natural veg tanned calf and will stain. So we had to make sure the whole of the lining was wet.
We soaked the heels for a good 20 minutes to make sure the stiffeners were good and wet. This allows for the desired shrinkage to happen.

Soaking the heels

Usually you would have use your lasts to do this. Luckily we had bespoke trees which made life a lot easier because it is a bit tricky getting the lasts back in once you have finished a pair of shoes.

We marked what we wanted to remove on the trees.

We then rasped off the excess wood and put the trees or lasts back into the shoes. Use lots of French chalk or talcum powder to help get them in.

The last stage is to put on your big elastic bands. In this case, we used two pieces of tyre inner tube cut to size. We stretched them on and then wedged heel lifts in there to make it tight.

Heel lift inserted to add tension to the inner tube

We made sure the rubber was over the offending area.

And this is how it looks at the end. The shoes are drying on our shelves now and we let them rest for a week. To make sure everything is totally dry and to make sure the leather has adopted the new shape in the remarkable way that leather does.

But, dear reader, do not think that this is a good solution to a problem. It was a poor fix at the last chance saloon. We hate doing stuff like this, but, at times, needs must and you have to take drastic measures. Rather do this than take the shoes apart and remake them.

Fingers crossed that the fix has worked. Wish us luck!

Until next week, happy shoemaking.

The Leather We Use: Insole Shoulders

Another week. Where does the time go for a busy shoemaker about town? And here we are in December already. Yikes! It's nearly Christmas. Carols were on in the shop yesterday, so it really is that time of year again - bah humbug!

After the success of the living windows for St Crispin's Day in October, we are doing it again next week. From Wednesday 7th till Friday the 9th one or other of us will be in the shop window on Vigo St along with a selection of elves (unfortunately not the sort who will make the shoes for us at night, although I am ever hopeful).

Finished a particularly interesting boot this week. Sometimes you get a commission which you think, hmmm, not sure how this is going to turn out, but that when it is finished, you absolutely fall in love with. Well, this is one of them.

Chocolate brown lizard skin with natural whip snake slip beading (piping). Square waist, 3/8" sole, 5" high, natural finish throughout. We split the vamp because it is hard to find a skin large enough to make a whole vamp and it means it does not need blocking (can you block lizard?) I like the proportions and the lines, but most of all I like that lizard skin. It's beautiful. I wouldn't mind a pair...

Elegant Profile

Check Out That Slip Beading 

Our Signature carréducker Crow's Foot Stay Stitch

Chisel Toe And Natural Stitching

Wing Cap And Split Vamp

And so to shoemaking. We get asked about what leather we use for what bits of the shoes. So here is a little information about insoles. Insoles are the foundation of a strong hand welted shoe. If the insole gives out, the shoe is unwearable and will fall apart.

We use insole shoulders from Bakers of Colyton, Devon, England. This is the shoulder area of an adult cow, across the shoulder from top of leg to top of leg, without the neck. As you can see, they are huge and it is staggering how much surface area a cow hide covers.

Bakers are the last tanners in England who use the traditional oak bark method. Oak bark is full of tannin (which is the stuff in tea which makes it dark). Hence tanning, which is the process of preserving the hide. It involves many stages of scraping and soaking in different pits in the ground and different tanning solutions. The leather comes out at the end preserved and durable, but still supple and breathable with its protein structure intact which allows us shoemakers to do our work. Under the right conditions, leather tanned like this can last for centuries.
Other advantages of using leather tanned like this is that it is kind to the skin; breathable; absorbs sweat; dries out well; has a natural water resistance; is abrasion resistant; and is very long lasting when in contact with the ground.
Bakers use a very traditional method which takes up to 12 months to carry out. The processes are sustainable and relatively green, as the oak bark is from renewable sources.
We love their leathers (which are of the highest quality) and like to support brands made in England.

Another reputable high quality tanner of oak bark cow hides is Rendenbach from Germany which has a larger production and is more widely available.

The insole shoulders have a natural grain to them and it is important to cut your insoles along the grain not across it. This will help your shoes last longer.

We use two weights of insole. For standard gent's shoes and for boots, we use 7-9 iron shoulders (no idea what an iron is) like the picture below

For lighter weight gent's shoes and ladies work, we use 5-7 iron insole shoulders. These are lighter and more flexible. It does make cutting the holdfast/feather more difficult though.

We buy our insole shoulders roughed which means the skin side has been roughed up taking off the top surface layer. If you buy them intact, you have to glass the surface before you start, so it saves us a job. This prevents the insoles cracking and squeaking.

The flesh side can be dense and compact or slightly fluffy like this one. we always skive off the fluffy stuff once we have welted the shoes because this helps prevent squeaking too.

So that is about all I can tell you about insole shoulders. Hope it was interesting and useful.

Until next week, happy shoemaking!

Fiddle Waist

So, dear shoemakers of the world, another week goes by. Today sees the start of the twice yearly Cockpit Arts Open Studios. The public's chance to see our working studios and either buy or commission work from the over 90 designer/makers who work here. So if you are in Central London this weekend, why not pop in and see us. It is a great visit and you could buy some of those tricky Christmas presents

Opening times are

Friday 26 November 11am till 9pm
Saturday 27 November 11am till 6pm
Sunday 28 November 11am till 6pm

£5 in.

And so to shoemaking. We have seen recently the rise of the fiddle waist in high end men's shoes, and of course we are not immune to it. Our recent Mayfair Collection features them, and rather beautiful they are too

But I have been wondering about the origin and purpose of them. The internet did not throw up very much useful information (maybe the old fiddle is too arcane), so I went to visit my old friends at John Lobb to see what they had to say on the subject.
There were a few disagreements about the finer points, but this is what I learned.

The essential elements seem to be a pulled in waist and the Y shaped ridge up the middle (some thought this was not essential, but the consensus was that it was).
Most seemed to think that the origin was on women's shoes with high heels where the waist becomes very important for the integrity of the shoe.
Most also thought that it was basically a decorative addition without much structural significance, but that the Y shaped ridge adds strength to the waist, because the higher the heel and the more pulled in it is, the more strength you need to support the weight of the wearer.
Most also thought that they were not generally used in men's shoes. However, if the main use is aesthetics, then they are permitted in any shoes, men's included.
One person said they thought they were used in equestrian boots and cowboy boots, but was not entirely sure.
Any feedback about this would be greatly appreciated.
As for the name, it is because the waist looks like a violin (fiddle), but, frankly, I don't see it. Ho hum.

And here's how you do it.

Start with a welted shoe with a shank and cork filler. Welt trimmed and ready to prepare the sole. You can do this with a square waist or a bevelled waist in this case.

I like to draw the line of the Y shaped ridge.

Usually you would make the fiddle with leather for strength and durability, but as these are sample shoes and will never be worn in anger, I did it with cork.
Cut out a piece of cork to cover the whole area and glue both surfaces (contact adhesive or rubber solution).

Let it dry and glue it in place.

Skive the edges down with your knife. I forgot to say that the cork/leather should extend back behind the heel mark so that the finished ridge disappears in to the heel.

Make another piece of cork but narrower this time to start building up the ridge. Glue both surfaces and let them dry.

Glue it in place.

Again, skive the edges to build up the ridge.

Repeat the process with a third piece of cork, but narrower again.

This is my final piece, but for a bigger, bolder ridge add a fourth piece of cork.
Start to rasp the cork into shape. If you use leather, use your knife to shape the ridge.

You should be aiming for a sharp pointed ridge all the way along which splits to form the Y shape.

At the joint, there will be a big raised platform of cork. You have to blend this into the fiddle waist with your knife.

Then rasp it into shape.

And then the fun bit starts. You have to make the other one and they have to look the same! I do each process on both shoes at the same time s that I can match each stage to make a pair.

This is how I would normally prepare my sole on a normal shoe.

 But on a fiddle waist, you want the Y shape to be accentuated, so I always skive away right across the waist area like this. This thins the sole and when you glue it on, it is easier to get a nice ridge.

Once the sole is glued into place with rubber solution, you have to use your hammer to shape the waist. Gently tap the leather along the contours of the Y shaped ridge. Be gentle, tap it rather than bash it. This really helps define the shape because the leather is still mellow (a little wet) and is easy to shape with the hammer.

The results can be lovely. I like the fiddle waist a lot.

And that, as they say, is that. For this week at least. We wish you all a good week, especially our US friends who have a big holiday right now.

Until next week, happy shoemaking!

Handmade? 2

Greetings to all you shoemakers, apprentice shoemakers, self taught shoemakers, shoe lovers, and general footwear aficionados. And if that doesn't cover you, a special personal hello to you too.
Welcome back. Another action packed week in which we featured in London Time Out (a what's on magazine) in a feature on commissioning bespoke work. How to do it and not be intimidated. It's easy with us, we are friendly, down to earth and cuddly.

Also featured in Pomp magazine, a new publication about the luxury market in London, aimed at visitors to the city. Lovely article about trends in English shoemaking for men. Riding the wave.

Starting next Friday at 11am and continuing till Sunday at 6pm is the Cockpit Arts Open Studios weekend. We will be here in our studio along with 80 other designer/makers covering all craft disciplines, from jewellery to ceramics, furniture to weaving, it's all here. It is a fascinating visit and the perfect chance to buy those unique Christmas presents you struggle to find.

Continuing on from last week on the theme of handmade, something else we get asked a lot is "Why don't you use a machine to do that? It would be much quicker". Or "There is a machine to do that which would save you lots of time".
Well, the answer is this. Because we make shoes by hand, using the ancient and traditional techniques passed down from master to apprentice. The obvious part of this process is the handing down of the shoemaking skills and knowledge which generations of shoemakers have built up and developed - how to make a shoe. This is a fairly rigid set of skills, but each maker can adapt and alter them to his or her particular way of working. This is how small changes and adaptations can evolve, especially with the development of improved materials.

There is also another aspect to the process of learning like this however. When a master shoemaker teaches you how to make shoes, it is not simply one person handing on their own knowledge to you, but also the person who taught them and the person before that, building generation upon generation going back five hundred years or more. This is how we preserve the tradition, and we feel that we owe respect to previous generations of shoemakers by sticking to this tradition. We have been handed the standard and it is our decision to carry it faithfully and to pass it on. This is another reason why we stick so closely to our traditional skills, use our hand held tools, and avoid cutting corners by using machines.
The courses that carreducker runs is another way to express this responsibility that we have. And one day, we will take on  apprentices full time to continue the cycle.

This is a responsibility, but it also gives our work an authenticity and integrity which is important to our clients. Some argue that people are less concerned with these things nowadays, that price is the most important factor, but I disagree. Experience tells me that our clients care passionately about our craft and that they are willing to pay for it. This is a significant factor that drives the luxury market. After a certain level of income, price becomes less of a priority and other factors influence buying decisions, such as craftsmanship; authenticity; tradition; quality of materials; provenance; a personal relationship with the maker; personalisation/customisation; longevity. And working the way we do confers these things to our bespoke shoes.

There is also this to consider. If you put in the hours and perfect the skills you need, the time you spend doing one task is really not much longer than setting up a machine and using it to do the same step. I can build and shape a heel with a knife not as quickly as I could with a machine, but not far off. And with all the advantages that making by hand confers, I would always prefer to do it this way.
I have seen people spend time and money on machines, some of which work and some of which prove to be of no use at all. It can become a distraction from sitting down and making shoes.

Another advantage to just using hand tools is that, once you have assembled your tool kit (harder and harder these days, I know), you are set up for life. You can travel anywhere and set up a workshop in an hour, in a few square metres of space. If you become reliant on machines to make your shoes, if your circumstances change, or they break  and you can't use them, you have a problem.

For our practice, starting to use machines is a slippery slope. How far do you go? And, going back to last week's post, at what point does the shoe stop being handmade?

We describe ourselves as hardcore craftsmen, and you may think it rigid and dogmatic, but also consider that this way of working simplifies your life. You have a set of skills which work and can always be improved. And you don't have to worry about anything else. Simple.

I look forward to hearing what you think - always open to debate here!

Until next week, fellow shoe freaks, happy shoemaking!

Handmade?

"So, James, what do you do?"

"I'm a bespoke shoemaker."

"Really, that's amazing. Handmade shoes then."

Yes and no. Handmade is a murky term. You see it applied to cemented shoes from China; Blake stitched shoes from Italy; and Goodyear welted shoes from Northampton. What makes them handmade? The fact that they have been touched by a human hand? That's not quite enough in my eyes.
At what point do factory made shoes become handmade? How mechanised does the process have to be in order to drop the 'handmade' label? A shadowy area indeed.

I think my favourite ready to wear shoes are Edward Green. We visited the factory in Northampton a couple of years ago and were mightily impressed at the skill of the workforce; the quality of the materials; and the dedication of the MD to improve the manufacture. They are the most manually constructed factory shoes I have ever seen, but they are still made on industrial machines. By very skilled workers, it must be said, but are they handmade?

Not in my eyes. If you look at what we do at carréducker (and the other West End shoemakers in London), this is handmade. We make the shoes at a bench, with hand held tools from start to finish, no machines. There is a simplicity to this, a clarity, no blurred edges.
When people ask us are they handmade, we can say, with all honesty, that they are.
The only thing that is done on a machine is the closing, and even then, there is often an element of hand work, like the stitching on the lake/apron of a loafer, or the stay stitches on a Derby.

We steer clear of the term handmade for these reasons, preferring handsewn or hand stitched. Handmade is too much of a blanket word. It is so widely used that it has lost its meaning, so ubiquitous that the spectrum which it covers is virtually any shoe, made anywhere in the world, using any construction method you like.

But back to shoes. Very interesting piece in the Financial Chronicle online about the link between luxury brands and craft based companies like carréducker, using the collaboration between  us a Gieves and Hawkes as an example. Worth a read.

I was sent this image of a pair of shoes that I just love. Very James Bond villain, a beautiful, semi-aquatic one. Excellent in their madness nonetheless.







It has to be the orange pair, don't you think?

This video was posted to me on Facebook and it made me chuckle. Do I want a pair? Not if I have to dance like that in them. And listen to that terrible music all the time (yikes, I sound like my Dad!).

Starting the final pair of our Mayfair Collection, the Derby. Black again, with the pulled in fiddle waist. Very elegant, conservative and cool (is that possible in one shoe? You better believe it!).

So, until next week, happy shoemaking!

Making movies

No red carpet or flashing bulbs...but we starred in two new mini movies last week. The first was our own little production showing something of the making process.- the film played on a loop on a '70s style TV during our in-window experience in Vigo street - and the second was created by photographer Nick Hands - he of the beautifully detailed photography for the Balvenie Award nominees - as part of his 'smallworks' series.

Our own movie is a snapshot of the many stages of shoemaking and can now be seen on You Tube. Editing it has whetted our appetite for producing our own shoemaking DVD.

So, fellow shoemakers and shoemaking fans what do you think? Would you be interested in a DVD that takes you through each stage in making a shoe and shows you how to hold each tool and use it to maximum effect? Please let us know whether you think it would be helpful...perhaps to supplement the intensive courses we run or, for those unable to make it to New York or London, to replace it...distance learning for shoemakers? Why not? We could even do specific masterclasses for certain techniques like a bevel waist, blind welt or storm welt.

So many of our students say how much easier it is to learn to make shoes by watching us and then doing it for themselves that perhaps this is the ideal way - a virtual one-to-one - and then we could provide support via Skype or email....hmmmmm food for thought. What do you think?

Nick Hand's photofilms (see above) feature a variety of craftspeople from across the country including yours truly. The images and interviews were collected over a period of time as Nick travelled around the British coast by bicycle (see the pics above) and, more recently, as part of his commission for Balvenie to capture the nominees for the 2011 Masters of Craft.

The images he captured on his bike tour form a wonderful photo exhibition and highlights from the people he met are now available as soundslides on his website and in a wonderful book entitled Conversations on the Coast. My personal favourites are the tools series of images - unsurprisingly there is craftsmanship in the tools themselves - and the photofilm of Will Brown Outfitters in Norfolk...a lovely business producing simple, beautifully made clothing...and somewhere I would like to visit.

Fear not... we will be catching up on a few shoemaking projects next week so until then, happy shoemaking!

St Crispin's Day 2011

With the arrival of St. Crispin's Day, we at carréducker thought we ought to celebrate the patron saint of shoemakers' feast day with an event (and before I forget, it must also be said that our own St Hugh sits happily alongside St Crispin as another patron saint of shoemakers, hence the name for our tools, St Hugh's bones). So we decided to have a week of live shoemaking demonstrations in the window of the Gieves and Hawkes' flagship store at Number 1 Savile Row.

With the window dressed as an old time shoemakers' workshop, complete with low table; vintage tools; leathers; lasts; and a few of our finest bespoke shoes of course, Deborah and I have sat in there making shoes and entertaining the passing shoppers. Although the weather has not been entirely kind to us all week, passers-by have shown a huge interest, with crowds, 3 deep at times, peering in and stopping for long periods.

We started on Tuesday which was St Crispin's Day itself, and to get into the spirit of the window, Deborah dressed in vintage clothing, rounded off with a splendid top hat from Bentleys. She looked quite Dickensian and turned many a head.

Here she is lasting a pair for a fitting. As you can see, the space is tiny, but we shoemakers can make a little go a long way.

I love this shot with the three people ghosted in the reflection. The public really enjoyed the show. It is not often they get to see a traditional craft such as ours at such close quarters.

Deborah also made a twenty minute black and white video of us working in the Bloomsbury workshop. This is running on a loop on a vintage TV which looks fantastic, complete with silent movie style captions and shaky camera work (not sure if that is deliberate or not). It runs through all the processes an fills the time when we are on breaks from the demonstrations.

This is the view of the whole window from across the street. More pictures can be seen on the retailstorewindows.com website.

All in all, it has been a great week for us. And I think St Crispin and St Hugh must have also enjoyed the celebrations and smiled down upon us because we have had a bumper week of orders - excellent!

And that, dear shoemakers of the world, is a wrap. We hope you have enjoyed the week and we look forward to meeting up again next Friday. Until then though, happy shoemaking!