Bootmaking--It’s An Art

by Paty Jager

Copyright © 2011 Paty Jager

When I decided the hero in my Christmas novella would be a boot maker I found a local bootmaker who taught classes on how boots were made in the late 1800’s. I visited D.W. Frommer II’s boot shop and witnessed some of the steps and was able to sniff, feel, and see the tools, materials, and finished products.

Wooden lathes were used, one for the right foot and one for the left to form the two piece boot over. These were made to resemble a top customer’s feet or a certain size when the boots were custom made.

The two leather pieces, one the front, shin to toe, and the other the back, calf to heel were the main sections of the boot top. If ornamental stitching was applied, they used linen thread either in a loop or tulip design with either a machine or by hand, depending on what the boot maker had available to him.

Boots were constructed with inseaming and pegging.



Boots by
D.W. Frommer II

 The process started with tacking the sole to the lathe bottom and cutting the channel around the insole. This was called hoisting. The leather boot (the two sections sewn together) was soaked and then pulled over the lathe, pulling it tight.

4 yards of 8-10 strands of waxed linen thread were rolled or twisted together. This method was done by attaching one end to a nail on the workbench and rolling it across the boot makers knee until he made a fine point like a needle on one end. To keep the water from penetrating the seams, the thread was pulled across a sticky substance made of pine pitch. This made by cooking for twenty minutes pitch and bees wax or sperm oil. The liquid was poured into cold water and then pulled like taffy until it turned into a bronze sticky substance. This waxy substance sealed the holes and kept the thread from moving.

Boar’s bristles, the 3-4 inch long hair from the back of a boar’s neck were used as needles. The hair was split and the thread put through the split.

A curved awl was used to make the holes through the channel, welt, and sole for the stitching to go through. The holes are spaced 1/3” apart all the way around. The holes are then either sewn with a whip stitch or wooden pegs, much like match sticks ½” long and 1/8” wide and tapered at one end, were made of hard woods and pound into the holes through the layers to hold them in place. The pegs are ten to every inch. Some bookmakers will made patterns with the peg tops.

Paty Jager, Author

The outer sole is a quarter inch thick hardened or rolled leather. Work boots were usually pegged while dress boots were sewn.

The heel was made of layers of hardened leather made wet and pounded together either on a marble slab or hard wood base. This compressed the pieces together.

They started lining boots somewhere between 1870 and 1890. From start o finish a pair of boots takes around 40 hours depending on the drying times.

This is the information I discovered while researching my hero’s profession for Christmas Redemption a free book at Smashwords.

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