Practice Makes the Master

The bottom and soul of this work. How to re-use your old mock-up upper and double-check the fit…

I feel fortunate to be a very busy shoemaker these days. Many of us would wish to be able to say the same. Times are tough. But time is also money, and that's why I always try to make the most of it. I sent to one of my Clients a fitting pair. It required minor adjustments to the last. For his final pair, I decided to take a different design direction. A different style of shoe.

This isn't my favorite type of heel. It's difficult to get it to look and function well, though. So, it takes practice.

So I created a mock-up of the upper to help with pattern checking. Made from cheap pigskin, as is customary to achieve this end result, I initially had little hope of its future use. However, the circumstances are such that we can both wear each other's shoes without any problems, as we have almost identical measurements.

For this reason, I decided to create something using that mock-up so I could test how it felt on my own foot.

During this task, I thought, why not try something dreamy and wild, something I sometimes do simply for the thrill of creating. That's how I came up with this project.

It is what it is—just an exercise. All this madness has one purpose: preparatory work to develop my skills before competing in the World Championships. But my skills aren't everything. It's also crucial to know my leathers and other materials and understand how they work together. One is as important as the other.

Techniques, materials—all of that is fine and dandy. However, through these experiments, I can also test the strength of the construction or the combination of components. Fragile, delicate solutions are fine during such exercises. Eventually, these will end up in a box anyway. I can learn the limitations this way, though, when it comes to producing a pair intended for wear. It's a fantastic learning curve.

All of the above is just one side of the coin. If you're a careful reader, you already know a little about the importance of the spiritual element in my work.

In fact, I consider it so important that it constitutes about fifty percent of proper preparation for the job.

This was my first time using brass nails with different heads. A classic finishing touch to a good pair of shoes.

Skills and spiritual balance—that's my vital ingredients . Although I'm feeling increasingly confident in my technical skills and knowledge, my spirit still lacks strength. At the same time, I'll know when I get there. But that's something that's currently holding me back. Humanity and our world are so corrupted right now that it's often difficult for me to accept it. It's poisoning my soul.

Too rarely do I experience proper spiritual preparation for work when I see other shoemakers' pairs.

On the other hand, I feel such immense joy when I see pairs created with the right spiritual balance. This certainly deserves a whole new post. I'll probably write more about it another time. Although one of my previous posts "Spirituality" is mainly about this theme.

My first year of blogging is coming to an end soon. In my second year, I want to try something different. Instead of a solid attack every two months, I'd like to publish one post per month. I also want to try a promotional campaign in conjunction with my Instagram account. Therefore, each blog post will be reflected in a social media post. I'm simply curious to see the results. So – 2026 – here I come!