Make Your Own Shoes – Evening / Short Courses
£515.00 – £769.00
The definitive handsewn shoe making class
Learn to make your own shoes using traditional, heritage, shoemaking tools and techniques. Work at your own pace, under the careful guidance of master shoemakers and experienced teachers.
CLASSES
6 students maximum, so there is plenty of individual attention
Designed for complete beginners
Monday or Tuesday evenings 6 – 9pm;
OR
Saturdays 10 – 1pm
In terms of 10 weeks (3 terms to finish a pair of shoes and 2 terms to finish a pair of sneakers)
We’ll guide you through the 200+ steps in the shoe making process – lasting, welting, stitching on a sole, building leather heels and then finishing the shoes, all by hand.
At the end, you will proudly walk away with a pair of shoes that you have made yourself!
Classes costs £515 per 10-week term to make a pair of plain Oxford, Derby or Wholecut shoes or a pair of leather sneakers. There is a small surcharge for broguing, sneaker soles and for boots.
As a Carreducker shoemaking student you receive a 10% discount on tools and materials that you buy from the Supplies Shop.
TERMS
Spring 2024: w/c 8 January – w/c 18 March (no class 12 – 18 Feb)
Summer 2024: w/c 15 April – w/c 6 July (no class 6 May, 27 May – 2 June, 29 June)
Autumn 2024: w/c 16 Sept – w/c 2 Dec (no class 30 Sept, 1 Nov, 6 Oct, 28 Oct – 3 Nov)
TIME
6pm – 9pm on a Monday or Tuesday evening
10am – 1pm on Saturdays
Email us to arrange a start date.
You can join at any time during the term if we have a place available!
Shoe sizing, styles, leather and details
For your first pair of handsewn leather shoes come visit us at Oxo Tower Wharf to try on shoes for size; then choose what you would like to make.
For sneakers, tell us your usual UK sneaker size, choose a colour and send us an outline drawing of your foot.
Draw around your feet:
To draw around your feet, you’ll need an assistant. Stand on a flat, hard surface, in the socks you will wear with your shoes, with your weight evenly balanced. Ask your assistant to draw around your feet, using an HB pencil. They should run the pencil around the outline of your feet, holding it vertical at all times. They then need to draw in a line at the heel and inside waist, by angling the pencil in against the foot to draw a curved line where the heel touches the paper and at 45 degrees on the inside wasit of the foot (the arch).
Choose:
A Derby, Oxford or Wholecut shoe; Sneakers; or a Derby boot
A round or oval toe shape (sneakers are made on a sneaker last with a rounded toe).
Your leather colour either from our core colours – black, dark brown, brown, tan, burgundy, navy or white – or an alternative +£30 per colour
Your details: blind or antique brass metal eyelets; straight toecap; and brogue punch hole detailing on the seams
Materials
All the materials you will need are provided. The first term’s fee includes the cost of your shoe uppers (for first time Carreducker students only), but there are small additional charges for certain styles, please see below.
+£50 for brogueing
+£50 to make a pair of plain Derby boots
+£114 to make a pair of brogued Derby boots
+£80 to have the sneakers finished professionally with a flexible, white or black rubber sole
+ £150 for shoe trees which can be personalised with your name or initials
Once you have made one pair of shoes with us, you can go on to make any shoe or low boot style of your choosing on the same last; or bring along your own lasts and we will have the uppers made for you.
The fee for subsequent pairs of uppers, depends on the chosen style, detailing and leather, but start at £120 for a pair of plain Derby shoe uppers.
Sign up
Spaces are available throughout the year as students finish making their shoes, so you can start at any time if we have a place.
Simply email us to let us know which start date and evening /morning you would prefer. Then we will arrange for you to pop into our workshop to choose your shoe size, style, colour and detailing so we’re all set for when you start.
See our full Terms & Conditions here.
