As the title indicates, the boots are done. They took way longer than I expected, but I am very happy with these for my first every pair of welted footwear. I’ve only made true moccasins before completing these. If you follow my Instagram, you’ve already seen some of these pictures and most of the progress.
Those two pics are before I got them on her foot and tightened the lacing system. Here are the pics I haven’t posted anywhere yet. Laces are tightened and you can see the leather beginning to take shape after just ~15 minutes of wear.
Horween - Chromexcel Burgundy for the vamp and upper quarters
Horween - Cavalier Plum for the facings
Wickett and Craig - Milled Traditional Harness Burgundy for the lower quarters, and roughout on the tongue
Tannery Haas - Zermatt lining
Vibram - 100 outsole and 7500 midsole
Vicky Dincecco - Wooden heel block
J&JF Baker - Toe puff, heel counter, insole, and welt leather purchased from Lisa Sorrell
BuckleGuy - Riri zipper materials
Rose Anvil - Leather laces
Lessons Learned:
Zippers - Would like to bring the edges of the leather closer to the zipper teeth for more refinement. Maybe even rolling the edges
Edges - At some point, I would like to practice turned or otherwise non-raw edges on the topline of the boots. These ones benefit from the raw edges, as it fits with the aesthetic and would be pretty hard to do otherwise.
Chromexcel - Need to baby it more
Welt - Finishing needs work. I think the stitching itself turned out just fine, but as I have done plenty of times before, I got too close with the sander. Should be fine functionally, but does not look the best.
Bottom - Finishing needs some work, but I am not entirely sure how I would have done it more cleanly. Probably just at time and experience thing, and this was deifnitely a complicated build.
Lining seams - Need to be a little more subtle. They stand out in places more than I’d like.
Stitching - Thick, contrasting thread does a real good job of showing sewing imperfections. This is something to pay attention to for future projects.
The right boot could be place a little weird on the heel, but I am going to have her wear them some more to make sure before I try to shift the placement.
I’m very proud of these for a first pair of welted boots. They took plenty of time, but they worked out basically exactly the way I had wanted. Thanks for reading!