homemade medieval boots

[animus_divinus]

im looking to fabricate a pair of period accurate medieval boots, and the only information i seem to find online are fantasy style or later period boots

pointed turn shoes seem to be the most common type of construction historically, from what i could gather.. im curious as to what kind of top would be most common or even period accurate for allowing a knee high boot, and how thicker leather soles could be attached to the boot?

has anyone ever successfully completed a project like this, and if so, how did they turn out?

[animus_divinus]

i read through a tutorial on making turn boots.. the way you stitch the sole onto the sides, soak the leather, turn them inside out, upon doing this i could measure my leg at below the knee, around the calf and such, and make a boot top to sew onto the shoe before turning it..

also, it seems this would be the time to glue a liner material onto the shoe if i can.. something that wont get ruined when wet

for the top of the boot i could stitch or glue the 3/4 circumference of a thicker leather with a 1/4 of the circumference with a thinner, softer, much more liable leather that could be stitched inside the thicker piece. then i could attach buckles or punch holes to the lip of the thicker piece to tighten the boot when putting them on

end result would look a lot like what some vendors sell called the "strider boot"..

question i have no is does anyone know where i could get the proper "shape" of a medieval boot so that i could fabricate a last to use in the final shaping of this boot?..

my idea is to trace my foot onto a piece of plywood, then using that i would add the neccessary contour for the toe section to the shape of my foot and use this as a template to cut out of a solid block of wood, then trace the side profile of my foot onto plywood, cut that out and use it as a template to trace onto the side of th esame block of wood the top contour is traced onto, then when both profiles are cut, one from the top view and one from the side i could use my spokeshave and rasp to take the corners off and have a custom shoe/boot last custom tailored to my foot

[raevyncait]

awhile back I saw an episode of Wife Swap in which one of the families was VERY into Renaissance Festivals and medieval reenactments, to the point that they wore garb around the house and around town.  The kids were home-schooled, and one of the projects she did during the swap was teach the kids how to make a pattern for boots similar to those made by Medieval Moccasins by having them put on old socks and wrapping their feet/legs in duct tape, then drawing the shape of the tabs on the front before they cut them off.  I don't know if it would work for what you're looking for or not.  Also, I've been told by someone who has worked for MM in the past that their soles are glued on using Barge Glue.

[animus_divinus]

well, im going to make a last to match my own foot once i know the shape of a typical later medieval turn boot which had the seperate soles stitched in.. id like to waterproof the suede leather if i can, and ill definitely glue the leather together to keep them waterproof, and then i might add the hand stitching to remain period accurate, in all i think ive figured out the process im going for if i could just find the shape of a medieval boot, specifically the toe section

[isabelladangelo]

http://www.larsdatter.com/shoes.htm

[animus_divinus]

hmm.. well, i found some patterns for making the lasts... i know how the stitching was done and all that good stuff, so im confident i could shape a proper shoe.. however i just need to gain a little more understanding in making the top sections of the boots, and im going to have a soft leather tongue glues into the sides of the boot top, all waterproofed too so i can walk in mud and puddles and not get my feet wet... doesnt seem so hard to do and i just about have all the information i need

[animus_divinus]

actually, if youre all interested i just come up with an idea for making perfect shoe lasts

i have a 3D CAD program on my computer, i can trace my foot, scan it, convert it to a usable line in my 3D cad program, verify its 1:1 scale there

then i take the top and side profiles for the type of shoe i want, scale these patterns up or down to accurately match my foot.

then using the side and top profiles i make a 3 dimensional image, and using some tools to remove corners, i essentially smooth out the boxy shape into a full 1:1 scale 3D model of the last

at this point i could chop the shape up into multiple 1/8" layers with a couple holes to align them

then over a couple wooden dowels to align the layers perfectly you glue one layer on top of another to give you a step pattern, in which you take a rasp to smooth out and voila... one side is identicle to another

[Love Good Wood]

i made some using the duct tape sock method (lots of adjustments needed)

first pair are slip on boots (faux leather)







second pair lace up (two tone - canvas... my renaissance converse!!!)







i use the bottoms off of a pair of "wet socks" and used shoe glue from walmart

[animus_divinus]

im assuming the duct tape method is to cover your foot in duct tape, then cut it off and use it as a template?... seems to work ok

for mine, im going to trace a scale drawing of the side and top profiles of my foot, scan  them into my computer, scale an outline of the side and top profiles of a common medieval shoe shape to match the foot, and then use that to carve the last

from there i may use a duct tape method over the last to cut the sheets of leather needed, and i want to make it a little large over the top, and across the foot so that it can be laced without the need of a seperate tongue

anyway, this project is a ways off, i have a sword that i need to fabricate a new grip and scabbard for, scabbard is essentially junk and the grip is too small for my large hands, and after that im making a straw mattress and a rope bed to start sleeping on

[Auryn]

Holbein

those are awesome

[Love Good Wood]

Holbein

those are awesome

thanks... they're really comfortable too