In my day job, I’m a full-time bottom maker for one of the oldest and best bespoke workshops in Warsaw, Poland. Basically, that’s what a shoemaker does. In my spare time, I work on my own bespoke projects. I do last-making, upper-making, bottom-making and packaging. That’s what maybe five other people in Poland do. I guess, I can offer a solid opinion on the trade. Bottom-making job is far more complex than any other thing in shoemaking.

I find the upper-making process the hardest. Usually, it takes up to three different production stages. In my previous blog post, we’ve been talking about an early iteration of the upper design where I already have my basic patterns ready to go. But before that happens, I need a mockup. It allows me to perform the pattern-check job correctly.

This is a good moment to get back to my wholecut pumps project. The opportunity is a talk about always interesting process of making the prototypes. In my workflow these are necessary, cos I’m asking and looking for answers to the question that nurture me all the time: “Why it is made that way?”. Let’s take a look at that venture here.

Why the work I’m doing is called a classic shoemaking? What attributes makes a classic pair of shoes? Well, let’s find out! I call my approach 'a classic with a twist to it' for a reason. This post is about my own interpretation of a style in the craft of shoemaking. Presenting your unique voice is the key to justify your position in the marketplace.

We've discussed my line of thinking regarding proper parameters for expectations and my client-oriented focus. Let's take a minute here to talk about my own list of priorities as the maker. This may be useful to someone considering a project with me. As a team. That’s my favorite way of collaborating with my customers.

So you’ve seen my pair of lasts for these. Now’s the time to get into upper-making process. This project is very artistic and the vision comes straight from a dream. I’m excited, but uncertain if it’s gonna work. It’s a journey.

My next installment of thoughts and reflections on shoemaking in general. This post is written in the vein of my previous 'On importance of an experiment'. I will continue with that from time to time. I feel like it is important to my potential client to understand some of my outlooks on life and business. I'm after likeminded people to work with, at the end of the day.

Not that many times you get a chance to take a look at my works, outside of my own designs or brand. This pair was so freaking gorgeous in the real life, though, that I decided to publish a few photos here. This post is about the work I do to solidify my steady income tactic.

Do you want to take a sneak peek at my next project? Here’s the proper beginning of that story. As we all shoemakers like to say: “the last comes first”. So why not just start with exactly that? An interesting last shape with a combination of sharp and soft edges. To be expressed fully in a seamless wholecut form.

A few words on what separates a great craftsman from your average Joe. My boldness is just getting warming-ups. Lines of joy, lines of reflection, lines of affection, lines of the truth. First in a coming series.

A different mood, for a different case. This one-off was something else. So much so, that I gave it a highlight, in my otherwise sparse Instagram grid. I hope you will enjoy this blog post as much as I had fun, making this strange but wondrous artifact.

What would you do, given the previous circumstances, as your next step? It’s interesting if you guessed mine. Let’s go ahead and find out, shall we?! I think it says a lot about who I am. Never fear, never doubt, always stay bold and daring towards different issues.

Do you remember how your first pair looked like? Well, this was my take. How about the very first last making lesson, the very first sewing machine upper stitching attempt, the very first cemented construction method and the very first pair? Here we go!

It’s best to start at the very beginning. So, here it comes…