New course dates for 2015 - Shoe Making and Pattern Making for Bespoke Shoes

We've settled back into the routine of shoe making after our various summer forays and have now had a chance to plan the courses for next year, 2015.

  

 

All of our London courses are based in central London at Cockpit Arts in historic Bloomsbury, within easy reach of the capital's outskirts via bus and underground services and the mainline train stations at Waterloo, Kings Cross and Euston.

We are offering hand sewn shoe making courses in London in spring, summer and autumn next year: 

Intensive Hand Sewn Shoe Making, London

5^th  – 17^thJanuary

3^rd – 15^th August 

5^th – 17^th October 

In July, we are delighted to welcome back Fiona Campbell who will be taking students step-by-step through her comprehensive Pattern Making for Bespoke Shoes course. 

 

Pattern Making for Bespoke Shoes London - 27^th – 31^st July. 

This is immediately followed by our two-week Intensive Hand Sewn Shoe Making course from 3rd - 15th August. 

The London Intensive Hand Sewn Shoe Making course is £1990 and the Pattern Making for Bespoke Shoes course is £799. If you book both a Shoe Making course and the Pattern Making course together there is a £250 discount. 

If New York is a more convenient location for you, then join us in the spring when Brooklyn is looking its best. 

Based in the heart of trendy Williamsburg at Brooklyn Bespoke, Jesse Moore will once again be unravelling the tricks and techniques of pattern making.

Pattern Making for Bespoke Shoes, New York 4^th – 8^th May.

...followed immediately by our two-week, New York based, Intensive Shoe Making Course. 

Intensive Hand Sewn Shoe Making, New York 11^th – 23^rd May. 

Courses in New York cost £2400 for the Intensive Hand Sewn Shoe Making and £799 for the Pattern Making (and don't forget the discount of £250 if you book both together).

London based shoe making enthusiasts wanting a more relaxed experience should sign up for our Monday evening classes from 6 - 9pm. The classes cost £485 per term and although we have a short waiting list, places do become available each term, so it is always worth putting your name down. Just email us to let us know that you are interested.

Spring: 12^th Jan. - 23^rdMarch; half term holiday w/c 16^th Feb

Summer: April 13th - June 29th;  May 4th Bank Holiday; half term holiday w/c 25^th May

Autumn: 14^th Sept. - 23^rd November; half term holiday w/c 26th October

The booking forms and dates will go up on the website shortly, so if you are interested please email us in the first instance. We look forward to sharing our students' journeys into shoe making, and their achievements, with you next year.

Until next week happy shoemaking!

Bakers of Colyton - Part 2

This is the second part of  our photo diary from J & FJ Baker of Colyton. This time we will take you through the various aspects of the tanning process from the oak bark to the hides arriving to the dressing and sorting.

Traditionally all leather in England was oak bark tanned because of the ready supply of oak, with a tannery in every village and a ready supply of local cattle. In France and Italy it was chestnut bark tanning because that was the local wood.

The tour of Baker's with Andrew Parr begins.

The oak bark is stripped from trees in the spring from woodland in the South West. It is stored for three years until completely dried out and is then ground down to be used in the tanning pits.

Ground oak bark

 

The oak bark liquor ready to be used in the tanning pits

The tan is soaked out of the bark using natural water, a bit like making tea.

Oak bark liquor pits

When the tan is strong enough it is pumped up to the tanning pits. 

Today, Baker's hides are still locally sourced from the South West of England, in particular Devon.

Stacked, salted hides

The hides are first salted to preserve them and then de-haired in lime pits. Soaking in the lime loosens the hair and removes fatty deposits from the underside of the hides. 

Walking up to the raised lime pits

 

The lime process with 60 skins in each pit.
 

The lime pits remove the hair and fatty deposits from the surface
leaving it smooth and clean

Once de-haired the hides are called pelts. The pelts then go from the lime pits to the beam house - where any remaining hair is removed and the lime is washed out from the pelts, so that the surfaces are clean - and finally to the tan yard.

Washing down the tanned hides

There are 72 pits in the tannery with the strength of liquid increasing in strength from  the bottom to the top. 

The tanning pits with oak bark liquor of different strengths.

New pelts are put into the weakest tanning liquid and each week are moved on to the next strongest pit. They are hung on wooden sticks so that they tan evenly all of the way around. 

After three months they are taken off the sticks and are laid flat in pits with oak bark chippings in between each layer.  They are kept in the pits for a further nine months, so the entire tanning process takes 12 months.

The pelts are then taken out of the pits and drained for a couple of days, before going through to the finishing room. They are now leather.

The finished bends sorted by thickness and stacked ready to go out

Oak bark tanning is a slow process, but the benefits are its tensile strength, durability and the fact that it is lightweight. It is used primarily in leather goods, saddlery and, of course, high end footwear.

Once the tanning is completed the leather is finished and dressed depending on its final use. The welt leather is dressed to improve its waterproofing and saddlery leathers are dyed and dressed to add colour and waterproofing.  

An old but very much used roller - wide enough to take large bends

Finally the bends and bellies are rolled before being stacked by thickness ready for the orders to come in.

The tanning pit ropes strengthened and preserved through the tanning process

That's the tanning process in a nutshell, but take a look at Baker's own film below for the full story.

Until next week happy shoe making!

Bakers of Colyton 1

Back from a lovely week in Sark and with Mr Ducker relaxing in the Peak District we wanted to share our recent trip to Baker's of Colyton...a trip that has been far too long in the offing. 

Anyway, we finally made it by train and then local bus to Colyton for some Devon sunshine, hospitality and surroundings that even my camera phone makes look idyllic.

The buildings may vary in age but Farrow and Ball would have a field day with the textures, colours and hues. The atmosphere is one of quiet, steady work with good natured chaps going about their daily work with the minimum of fuss in bucolic surroundings; creating the finest leathers in an entirely sustainable way. 

This site has been a tannery since Roman times and has been in the Baker family since 1862. The only oak bark tannery remaining in Britain, Bakers' tanning methods have been perfected over the centuries to create leather that is unrivalled - hard wearing, strong and with distinctive colours - that we use throughout our bespoke shoe construction and for students on our courses.

James arriving at Bakers

The original  thatched building at the entrance to the Bakers' site housed the original currier - responsible for dressing the tanned hides

A painterly palette

An scythe, hoe, spade and sickle keep nature at bay

Where the waste water from the tannery runs away; no chemicals or pollution

Looking down on the oak bark store

Dressed hides in beautiful mocha, caramel, sable and honey

Rows and rows of nails in the beams - a story of past activities

Even the floor vents are beautifully designed

The brass roller

Andrew Parr sharing his knowledge with James

Unsorted, stacked bends

Ropes from the tanning pits, preserved and strengthened with the tanning process

More from Bakers next week. Until then happy shoemaking!