Making your own shoes is Possible!
Twenty years ago I was living with husband and daughter in a commune in the UK, where hand-made shoes could be seen on the feet of gardeners, potters, etc. The possibility of being able to make one's own footwear boggled my mind! I met a saddle-repairer who wanted to try making shoes, so we gathered in her shop with a "How to Make Shoes" book and made ourselves each a pair. I was hooked.
Concerned about where I would find shoemaking materials in the U.S., upon arrival I looked in the telephone book for Salem, MA, where my in-laws lived, and there was Sole-Tech, a huge shoe-sole company! And leather was available in several shops in Boston (since closed), so I was set.
I continued to use Christine Lewis-Clark's shoemaking book as a guide, but I was more interested in making shoemaking patterns than making shoes over feet, as she recommended. Thus began the file drawers of patterns that I have now, that I am sharing in the shoemaking books that I have recently compiled.
But patterns aren't useful unless you have "lasts" to build footwear over, so I've made a video of how to make your own custom lasts, posted on my blog. I also sell resin lasts.
So, the basics for getting started with shoemaking are available here in this etsy shop. If this possibility boggles your mind too, please get in touch!
