Second Skin Blog •

Shoemaking eBook available now!

November 15, 2020February 24, 2021 by Neda

I’m so happy to announce my new shoemaking eBook Handcraft Your Own Shoes And Boots – A Step-By-Step Guide To Making Artisan All Leather Shoes and Boots At Home.

In this book, you will find how to make beautiful, eco-friendly, comfortable and long-lasting Derby shoes and boots with an artisan look and feel.

Any size of shoes and boots for women, men and children can be made with this book.

Step-by-step instructions show how to create a shoe/boot, including how to make patterns that fit perfectly over your lasts, stitching techniques, making toe and heel enforcements, how to attach soles using a water-based non-toxic adhesive, edge finishing soles as well as the lasting process.

Furthermore, there is advice on leather selection, lasts and how to modify them if necessary, soles, heels and leather dyes.

The projects include making a Derby shoe, an ankle boot, a high rise boot and a boot with a bellows tongue.

The book is suitable for beginners. All the work can be done by hand, no machines needed.

It has 278 pages and more than 400 photographs. You can open and read it with Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software that you can download from the Internet).

Here are some reviews readers of this book have posted on the Shoemaking Fun facebook page:

Another reader wrote to me:

“Hey Neda, I bought your book in December and started to make my own shoes. I have to say I love it and never thought my first try would turn out that well. It‘s perfect for beginners. Even though English is not my mother tongue it was easy to understand. Every step is well explained and the beautiful photos help implement the steps. Thank you so much for writing this book, I would recommend it to anybody who wants to start making shoes.”

And here is a photo of the boots she has made (posted on her Instagram account @knubbelgnomcreations)

Make the most comfortable and wonderful shoes and boots you will ever wear and learn a skill that will serve you a lifetime!

£22.90

Buy Now

Payment goes through the secure server of SendOwl which is an eCommerce platform specializing in delivering digital products. After payment is complete you will receive the download link instantly.

If you have any questions regarding this shoemaking eBook, contact me here.

Upcoming Shoe and Bootmaking eBook – Sneak Peek

January 7, 2020December 13, 2020 by Neda

Here is a sneak peek into my upcoming shoe and bootmaking eBook. The focus is on handcrafting artisan Derby shoes and boots at home with just a few tools and no machines.

I’m so excited to finally coming a bit closer to finishing it. I started working on the book over a year ago, it’s slow going but it will get done sooner rather than later, I hope.

Making Sneaker Style Espadrilles – Soles And All

August 7, 2019December 13, 2020 by Neda

I haven’t worn sneakers for a very long time. I do like them but I stopped buying shoes once I learned how to make my own. Sneakers, I thought, aren’t the kind of shoes I could make at home.

I know they now sell sneaker making kits but I’d prefer a plastic-free version. So I’m glad I finally figured out how to make all-natural sneakers out of things I have in my craft room.

I used raffia for the soles and denim scraps from my ever-growing fabric stash for the uppers (it hasn’t shrunk much after completing this project, sigh), pigskin lining and leather soles.

Out came these sneaker style espadrilles. I’m so happy how they turned out, they are super comfy and so soft to walk on. So here is how I made them.

Sandals With A Punched Design – Sandalmaking

April 15, 2019December 13, 2020 by Neda

Every spring I make my children new sandals, so this year I decided to make sandals with a punched design. Before I start making them I look for inspiration on the Internet.

Exploring New Fibres – Nettle And Rose Bush

November 25, 2018December 4, 2020 by Neda

I love exploring new fibres for spinning yarn. Recently, I’ve noticed a lot of unusual fibres appearing in online wool shops, fibres made from seaweed, mint, corn, and banana plants. I’m just beginning to explore some of them.

Carryall Raffia Bag – PDF Crochet Pattern

September 2, 2018November 3, 2020 by Neda

Here is my newest crochet pattern: a roomy carryall raffia bag. It would make a fabulous accessory to a colourful summer outfit – but it’s big and strong enough to carry all your groceries, too.

I made the carryall from soft yet strong raffia yarn, the base has a leather lining to make it even more sturdy and durable.

Daisy Leather Wrap Bracelet – Tips How To Make It

May 13, 2018October 31, 2019 by Neda

This daisy leather wrap bracelet is the newest addition to my collection of leather bracelets. I love the look of metal embellishments on leather, so was really excited when I discovered these metal brass daisy eyelets.

Making A Sandal Pattern Using Lasts – Step-By-Step Tutorial

March 30, 2018January 17, 2021 by Neda

It’s that time of year again when I get out my leather stuff and start making sandals (while still wrapped in wool). These are my son’s new sandals. In this post, I share my process of making a sandal pattern using lasts.

Pieced Hoody – Using Up Sweat Shirt Fabric Scraps

February 16, 2018February 17, 2018 by Neda

Going through my fabric scraps, I came across lots of small pieces of sweat shirt fabric, the remains of my teen daughters obsession with hoody making over the past year.

So I thought what could I do with it, it’s a lovely soft organic cotton fabric, too precious to put into the bin. Well, I decided to create a new hoody with it, although a very different one to those my daughter made.

I gathered all the pieces, pole dyed them (a shibori technique), cut them out using three different sizes of squares to use up even the tiniest pieces and sewed them together again to create a new fabric.

Fingerless Mittens Crochet Pattern

January 17, 2018May 24, 2019 by Neda

I can’t survive winter without a pair of fingerless mittens, I wear them all day long inside and outside the house. They keep my hands and wrists warm but fingers free to work, type and use my touch screen.

So here is a crochet pattern for the mittens you see above. Although I used handspun wool, you could substitute it with another DK weight yarn.

The mittens are worked flat, then sewn together, leaving a hole for the thumb. It’s an easy and fast project using two different stitches, riddle stitch and half double crochet.

The pattern is written in standard American/U.S. English terms.