You got shoe-making tips?

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frankie b sick

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So I am planning to make myself a pair of split-toe shoes with an old leather jacket. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions in making shoes as I have never done this before.
I know I can use tire for the soles. Anything else you guys know of that works? I am only going to put this on the parts of the bottom of the shoes that will make contact with the ground.
I am planning to just use leather, some water-proof fabric for the soles to line them with and perhaps some wool(after "water-proofing" it via one hour in the dryer than into freezing cold water.

Any tips would be RAD!! ^<>^

Thanks!

-Sarah Christina
 
Car tires have a cable weave and would cut up your feet pretty bad. I think that trailer tires and motorcycle tires dont have the same weave, though I could be wrong. I used the tubes for motorcycle tires to patch my shoes but I dont think they are thick enough for a sole. at one point I was going to use traffic cones for a sole, but scored a friends old shoes.

For heavy sewing I was going to use cable, like they use in braided bike locks, only much smaller.

Thats about all the tips, or lack of, that i have.

there is also a tutorial on crimthinc. sites down though.
 
I took some of the old style jute rope and made a pair. I just wrapped it around my foot everywhere I wanted it to go ( around the footand up the ankle a few inches) and temporarily tacked it in place with duct tape. then coat the entire outside of the rope with a sealant. I used a couple of tubes of automotive weatherstripping sealant called PERMATEX. coat all of it really well. I let it dry on my foot. took a few hours. get a book. then I cut the rope in a straight line down the front of my ankle. coat the frayed ends really well with the permatex too too keep them from unraveling. slip it off your foot. I used four layers of bicycle innertube, layered with more permatex between, and then bonded to the bottom of the foot area with... you guessed it. Permatex. I cut a piece of leather to make a toe area and a liner for the whole thing. that way it covers all the gaps between the rope as it was laced around the ankle. I wove a pair of leather laces into the upper area so I could tie them on. definately the most interesting pair around. and they're black!:side: ( if you use the black permatex... they also have blue, and I think red) they held up for almost two years. good for walking.
sorry this is so long. Good luck!
 
oh yeah, the permatex is available at any autozone, advance auto, etc.

and I only cut the rope part that was on my ankle, not all of it.

Post edited by: Bendixontherails, at: 2007/03/24 13:16
 
Wow, that sounds amazing! Thanks for your tips guys!
I love your rope shoe creation! Awesome idea. The only thing is I don't use money, so all parts used must be scavenged. I have all the stuff except for the sole. I heard rubber stops you from connecting to the energy from the earth, so I am hoping to find something else. I was thinking maybe a strong weave with hemp or something. what do you think?
 
frankie b sick wrote:
I heard rubber stops you from connecting to the energy from the earth, so I am hoping to find something else.
Click to expand...

i don't want to sound like an asshole but i laughed really hard when i read that. and i know that i definatly sounded like an asshole. sorry.
 
I am trying to dive an old pair of vans and learn to make my own canvas shoes :p

anyone want to collab on a project like that?
 
hmm... if you can't buy the permatex... it would take a little longer, but you could get thin hemp and weave it in and out of the rope all over to make a kind of rope fabric.

I am having an thought about the 'natural' sole. this is just a thoery. I have taken the bark off of cedar trees ( it comes off in long 'ropes' ) and layered it with homemade tar. many layers worked well to make a kind of brick that I used for a raised garden wall once. why not for a shoe sole... it is hard, but kind of spongy. i am pretty sure this would work.
if it sounds interesting to you, i can tell you how to make the homemade tar, but it is a topic in and of itself. not horribly complicated, but takes a while and some preparation.
or of course you could scavenge the tar from a construction site.
 
sweet. i also had a killer brainstorm this morning. I think that perhaps a good natural alternative would be to create a weave out of Yucca or a different long plant leave to cover the surface of each point that would make contact with the ground (two for each foot). Then I could tie the ends so that there is a loop which comes up on each side of my foot. On each side of the shoe, both in the back and in the front, I could place a tie and tie this through the loop to temporarily secure the weave to the shoe. In this way, as it wears, I can easily replace it with a new weave. It would be much easier if I could just draw it, but I hope that made some sense! ^^
 
ps-Cush, you don't sound like an asshole, just bored and looking for response.
 
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