Make Your Own Shoes – Part Time Courses
£535.00 – £789.00
Learn to make your own shoes using traditional, heritage, shoemaking tools and techniques on part time evening classes or on Saturday morning classes. Work at your own pace, under the careful guidance of master shoemakers and experienced teachers.
CLASS CONTENT
This heritage shoe making course is designed for complete beginners. In a small group and relaxed and friendly atmosphere, we will guide you through the 200+ steps in the heritage shoe making process – lasting, welting, stitching on a sole, building leather heels and then finishing the shoes, all by hand. At the end, you will proudly walk away with a pair of shoes that you have made yourself!
GROUP SIZE
Up to 6 students, so there is plenty of individual guidance and attention
TIME
In terms of 10 weeks:
Monday evenings 6 – 9pm
Saturday mornings 10 – 1pm
Saturday afternoon 2 – 5pm
Please note: it takes approx. 3 terms to finish a pair of shoes / approx. 2 terms to finish a pair of sneakers
LOCATION
Studio 1.20, Oxo Tower Wharf, London SE1 9PH (Nearest London underground and National Rail stations: Waterloo, Waterloo East, Embankment, Blackfriars Bridge and Southwark)
FEE
Classes costs £535 per 10-week term to make a pair of plain Oxford, Derby or Wholecut shoes or a pair of leather sneakers. There is a small surcharge for broguing, sneaker soles and for boots.
*As a Carreducker shoemaking student you receive a 10% discount on tools and materials that you buy from the Supplies Shop.
TERM DATES
Spring 2025: January – March
Summer 2025: April – July
Autumn 2025: October – December
CHOOSING YOUR STYLE
For your first pair of handsewn leather shoes arrange to come to visit us at Oxo Tower Wharf to try on shoes for size; then choose what you would like to make.
For sneakers, tell us your usual UK sneaker size, choose a colour and send us an outline drawing of your foot.
Drawing around your feet:
To draw around your feet, you’ll need an assistant. Stand on a flat, hard surface, in the socks you will wear with your shoes, with your weight evenly balanced. Ask your assistant to draw around your feet, using an HB pencil. They should run the pencil around the outline of your feet, holding it vertical at all times. They then need to draw in a line at the heel and inside waist, by angling the pencil in against the foot to draw a curved line where the heel touches the paper and at 45 degrees on the inside wasit of the foot (the arch).
STYLE: The different styles are a Derby, Oxford or Wholecut shoe; Sneakers; or a Derby boot
TOE SHAPE: You can choose from a round or oval toe shape (sneakers are made on a sneaker last with a rounded toe).
COLOUR(S): Choose your shoe colour either from our core collection (see below) including black, dark brown, brown, tan, burgundy, navy or white
or choose an alternative +£30 per colour
DETAILS: Choose from blind or antique brass metal eyelets; add a straight toecap; add brogue punch hole detailing on the seams
EXTRAS
All the materials you will need are provided and your fee includes the cost of your shoe uppers (for first time Carreducker students only), but there are small additional charges for certain styles, please see below.
+£50 for brogueing
+£50 to make a pair of plain Derby boots
+£114 to make a pair of brogued Derby boots
+£80 to have the sneakers finished professionally with a flexible, white or black rubber sole
+ £150 for shoe trees which can be personalised with your name or initials
Once you have made one pair of shoes with us, you can go on to make any shoe or low boot style of your choosing on the same last; or bring along your own lasts and we will have the uppers made for you.
The fee for subsequent pairs of uppers, depends on the chosen style, detailing and leather, but starts at £120 for a pair of plain Derby shoe uppers.
NEXT STEPS
Spaces are available throughout the year as students finish making their shoes, so you can start at any time if we have a place. Simply email us to let us know which start date and evening /morning you would prefer. Then we will arrange for you to pop into our workshop to choose your shoe size, style, colour and detailing so we’re all set for when you start.
See our full Terms & Conditions here.
