The kid’s shoe is made of salmon skin.
If you’re a loon like I am, and want to make your own shoes, I have great news for you. This October, my friend Randy Fritz is coming down from Santa Barbara to teach a small 4 day class here in LA from Thursday 10/16 to Sunday 10/19 on how to make turnshoes, a medieval shoe style so called because it is stitched wrong side out and then turned to hide the seams.
As far as I know, no one else is teaching this kind of class in the greater LA area. This is deep North Coast hippie technology, imported guerrilla style to the land of tottering platform heels.
The shoes are made from custom patterns modeled on your own feet, so the shoe will fit you like no other. It’s a pricey class-but keep in mind how many hours of instruction you’re getting–and you’ll walk away with a pair of custom shoes and the know-how to make more. In the end, it’s actually a great deal.
I’ll be there, and there’s only room for 4 more people. So save the date and register now! Email Randy at [email protected]
Here’s the official description:
You are about to embark on a journey back in time where everyone’s shoes were custom made because they made them for themselves. We will start by making a 3D pattern of our foot and transferring it to the leather you select. Once the upper and sole are attached we move onto turning and hammering, closure and finishing and finally gooping the soles. You will get experience with patterning, cutting, skiving and various stitching methods you can transfer to future leather projects and of course, you will be leaving with a pair of handmade shoes.
Class begins at 9 am Thursday, October 16 and runs till Sunday, October 19. The location is the Silver Lake area. We’ll end at roughly 5pm with a 1 hour-ish lunch break each day, and we’ll celebrate our shoes with a pizza party on the last day!
All of the tools and materials are included in the price but if you have a favorite pair of fingerless gloves, leather working scissors or an awl please feel free to bring them along.
The cost of the class is $325.00, half of which is due when you register. I’m really looking forward spending time together and I suggest you all get a good nights rest before class begins… standing around the table using what will most likely be “new to you” tools and focusing very intently on your work can be really exhausting!
