My adventures in (DIY) shoemaking -- Part 17

I have just finished my most recent pair of shoes, a pair of brogued, Adelaide (a.k.a u-throat) cap-toe oxfords in a medium brown calfskin.

The last is a bespoke, soft chisel toe last, which I have used for many of my shoes.

The outsole was stitched at 10 stitches per inch and has a beveled waist but only a very mild fiddleback sole.

I am pretty happy with the way this pair turned out. I love the look of an Adelaide, and in this pair the cuve of the throat is pleasing to my eye.

(For my previous pair, see here: http://www.styleforum.net/t/248781)

Nice. I've liked some of your other pairs better, but those are still pretty shoes.

Did you make the upper?

nice.

needs more broguing

Great job!!

Very nice!

Totally crazy! Wow!

Cool! Not crazy about the shape, but I love the color of the leather.



cptjeff said:

Nice. I've liked some of your other pairs better, but those are still pretty shoes.

Did you make the upper?

Click to expand...

Thanks. Yes, I did everything except make the last, i.e. made the pattern, clicked, skived, brogued the leather, sewed (a.k.a. 'closed') the uppers, and then did the 'making.'

They look fantastic!

Shoefan,

The shoe look great! YOu are getting better and better! but I think the shoe need more polish.
The cap toe are little bit off at my eye. They were slanted toward the heel. (Hope you understand what I mean)
also may I have a look of the sole? Thanks!

BTW, where you find that much time to make the shoe? the 17pairs!



Fishball said:

Shoefan,

The shoe look great! YOu are getting better and better! but I think the shoe need more polish.
The cap toe are little bit off at my eye. They were slanted toward the heel. (Hope you understand what I mean)
also may I have a look of the sole? Thanks!

BTW, where you find that much time to make the shoe? the 17pairs!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the complement. I think the shoes will benefit from a bit more polish, but they are actually pretty shiny IRL. Nevertheless, I need to work on my mirror-polishing skills, so I think the toe caps will see some more work.

Yes, the sides of the toe caps do slant a bit toward the back. This is not a big problem, as the caps are pretty straight across the top, but no doubt this remains an opportunity for improvement -- perhaps cut the caps with a bit more curve (straight caps are actually cut with a curve of a 10" to 14" radius circle). This leather turned out to be pretty stretchy, which I think caused some of the problems with the caps. Actually, the bigger problem is the two caps are slightly different lengths, again due to the stretch of the leather. I tried to accommodate this after test-lasting the first upper, but I guess I didn't entirely succeed.

Here is a pic of the sole:

Shoefan,

Thank you for your reply.
The sole look good too. Did you put dye on it? why the stain come from on the waist?
I cut the channel from the side (may be an asian tradition, both HK shoemaker and Japanese do so), but many english and european shoemakers cut it from the top.
I found it look better if you open the channel from the side, since you don't see the closed seam.

I liked the curvature of the U shaped Adelaide throat on this one...but you forgot the steel eyelets

When will you up your game to the next level and try a side gussetted lazyman design?