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Author Topic: Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)  (Read 62966 times)

Ian

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Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)
« on: 2014-03-12, 23:58:38 »
Alright, I got around to finishing these off.

So, first cut your soles and the pieces of your uppers from leather!  I used approx 9 oz for the soles, and 3-4 oz for the uppers.  Once the sole is cut out, punch a gazillion holes around the perimeter of the sole using your awl.  A diamond shaped awl and some bees wax makes this infinitely easier than trying to use a round awl.  Thank you Sir Humphrey for the diamond shaped blade!!!  Make sure your holes are evenly spaced and repeatable to that they match up with the holes you will punch on the uppers!  The flesh side is what you see in the photo, and that's what your foot will touch.  The grain side will be in contact with the ground.  It is important to note that the awl passes through the flesh side of the leather and out the EDGE of the leather, do not punch a hole all the way through or you will be walking on your stitches and they will fail prematurely.



My uppers are in two parts, so they had to be stitched together.  The two pieces of leather are butted together and then you run two threads simultaneously.  The needle passes through the flesh side and out the EDGE of the leather so that the stitches will not be visible on the outer surface when the shoe is turned.



Here's the upper prior to punching holes around the perimeter.



On the upper, the perimeter holes pass straight through the leather from the flesh side to the grain side.  Once it's all sewn together you have an inside out shoe that fits on the wrong foot!  Try it on and make sure it fits before you go any further!



The shoe's sole is too stiff to flip the shoe inside out.  To turn the shoe you must soak it in water for a couple minutes.  The leather will now be extremely pliable.  You can see that the leather loses all of it's shape.  After I turned the shoe (hence turnshoe btw  ;D ) I put it on to help reshape it, then set it aside to dry.





After the shoe dries, the leather will shrink and tighten up, but the result should be a shoe-shaped object!


Next step was dying the shoe.  You can certainly dye the upper before assembly as well.  It will make for a better looking finished product because there won't be any spots hard to reach with the dye like there are when the shoe is put together.  Note how puffy the wet shoe next to the dyed shoe is, you can really see the size difference that the water makes, and how it resumes its proper shape when dry.  I did 3 coats of dye on each shoe btw to get it even.



You can see here the dye will lighten up as it dries.  Then punch holes for the laces, trim off any excess overlapping leather and you have a simple 14th c turnshoe!  Congrats, you're a cordwainer now!  The shoes is NOT slippery on grass as the sole is nice and supple.  It's very much like walking barefoot.  I feel very similar to wearing my goofy vibram five-finger toe shoes when wearing my turnshoes.

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Don Jorge

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Re: Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)
« Reply #1 on: 2014-03-13, 00:43:33 »
This is awesome...all vegtan tooling leather I assume?

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Sir Wolf

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Re: Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)
« Reply #2 on: 2014-03-13, 01:04:49 »
what did you learn from this experience?

Ian

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Re: Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)
« Reply #3 on: 2014-03-13, 01:05:21 »
This is awesome...all vegtan tooling leather I assume?

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Yes sir, both the soles and uppers are vegetable tanned undyed leather.  I used shoulders for these.  I don't think it matters if you use sides or shoulders.  I found it very easy to dye so I see no reason to buy dyed leather.
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Ian

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Re: Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)
« Reply #4 on: 2014-03-13, 01:08:46 »
what did you learn from this experience?

I learned that round awls suck for punching holes in thick leather and diamond shaped awls make it soooooo much easier.

I skipped adding a heal stiffener (basically a little triangle of leather that reinforces the heel).  It goes on the inside of the heel and uses a tunnel stitch so it doesn't go through the outside piece.  I didn't bother since it was my first pair, but I will add them in the future.

Since I like the pattern, I will dye the uppers first before assembly next time.

Oh, and I used waxed linen thread for all the sewing.
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Aiden of Oreland

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Re: Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)
« Reply #5 on: 2014-03-13, 01:28:24 »
How doth they feel?
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Re: Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)
« Reply #6 on: 2014-03-13, 01:29:33 »
shoulders are fine. no real difrerence than sides

just don't use bellys, as they tend to stretch

lol ya good new learned points.

smaller stitches drive me insane. i want stuff done now lol.  just be prepared to fix your broken threads after a few years.

Sir James A

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Re: Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)
« Reply #7 on: 2014-03-13, 02:05:44 »
Awesome!
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Re: Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)
« Reply #8 on: 2014-03-13, 02:18:21 »
Sweet!  Thank you for sharing.  :)
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Sir Humphrey

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Re: Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)
« Reply #9 on: 2014-03-13, 02:41:14 »
They look great.  I bet they will be comfortable also.  Almost like wearing moccisins.
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Re: Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)
« Reply #10 on: 2014-03-13, 03:20:54 »
Another project.
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Re: Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)
« Reply #11 on: 2014-03-13, 03:44:37 »
Great job on these, Ian!
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Re: Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)
« Reply #12 on: 2014-03-13, 04:22:35 »
Another project.

Ditto...luckily the leather I need for my splinted armor is 9oz and the leather I need for my corrazina is 4oz...so I will just make sure there is enough to make me a pair of turn shoes :)

Ian

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Re: Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)
« Reply #13 on: 2014-03-14, 00:28:54 »
I've only had the opportunity to wear them for short periods of time, but they feel comfortable.  They fit snugly, but the leather stretches.  Of my experience they're most comparable to what it feels like to wear my toe-shoes.  They feel you have with the ground is a lot like being barefoot with the added protection of a 9 oz leather strip, but you can very much feel the ground, which is a good thing.

Modern shoes cause the feet to lose that 'relationship' with the ground.  These things really let you grip it.  I would recommend everyone try a more authentic period shoe before discounting medieval footwear as inappropriate for various activities.  Remember, it's generally crappy medieval'ish footwear that gives rise to the idea that medieval shoes are inappropriate for things like WMA, SCA, any activity on grass, etc...
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Re: Simple 14th C Turnshoes (Photo Heavy)
« Reply #14 on: 2014-03-14, 01:02:11 »
 ???
I've only had the opportunity to wear them for short periods of time, but they feel comfortable.  They fit snugly, but the leather stretches.  Of my experience they're most comparable to what it feels like to wear my toe-shoes.  They feel you have with the ground is a lot like being barefoot with the added protection of a 9 oz leather strip, but you can very much feel the ground, which is a good thing.

Modern shoes cause the feet to lose that 'relationship' with the ground.  These things really let you grip it.  I would recommend everyone try a more authentic period shoe before discounting medieval footwear as inappropriate for various activities.  Remember, it's generally crappy medieval'ish footwear that gives rise to the idea that medieval shoes are inappropriate for things like WMA, SCA, any activity on grass, etc...

Well, you have to remember that most of todays people walk on solid ground, that doesn't have any give. So modern days shoes are in some ways better for our feet. Remember that our feet are made to walk on soft ground that has some give to it. The ground softens our step. So medieval shoes were good because they walked on earth most of the time. The shoes were good for the time, just like how ours are good for our time.
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