My first pair of shoes were made with a cemented rand tape and sole, which was a fairly big challenge, not having received any kind of introduction to shoemaking. This time I will obviously push my own limits once again, trying out the much more durable welted construction. A template is sketched onto the bottom of the insole. This is cut out as shown in the picture below, leaving an edge for sewing on the upper.

Then holes for sewing are made with a curved awl. It takes a very sharp awl, a lot of bees wax and hard work. Halfway through the first sole, I was so unlucky, (read: uncareful) the awl slipped into my own left hand! It gave me a few weeks break from shoemaking and I started thinking of new alternative ways for this task. I just bought a new tool, a Dremel 3000, which I am hoping will do the job of drilling the holes. Besides, it is a very clever tool for many other creative projects on which I promise to make a post or two in the future. First of all, I am hoping it will solve this job for me, maybe in combination with the curved awl…