You got shoe-making tips?

[frankie b sick]

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

 

[bananathrash]

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.

 

[Bendixontherails]

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!

 

[Bendixontherails]

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

 

[frankie b sick]

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?

 

[Cush]

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.

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.

 

[iamdeadnow]

I am trying to dive an old pair of vans and learn to make my own canvas shoes

anyone want to collab on a project like that?

 

[Bendixontherails]

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.

 

[frankie b sick]

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! ^^

 

[frankie b sick]

ps-Cush, you don't sound like an asshole, just bored and looking for response.

 

[skunkpit]

i sleep in a drawer
and i drink my own pee

 

[Kendall]

skunkpit wrote:

i sleep in a drawer
and i drink my own pee

I feel ya.

 

[frankie b sick]

very interesting way of life. good show.