[The Apprentice]

Two of my most used pieces of footware that I made several years ago and still going strong, the first pair is a design I made that is similar in looks to the famous Chelsea model made by Lobbs of London, fully leather lined and quick to slip on, soles are by Dianite of the UK, the leather was recycled from a job lot I acquire about twenty years ago.

20150101_042622 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

The next pair is a pair of country brogues fitted with a full commando sole by Itshide UK, made for the outdoors, calf leather linings and fully hand sew Veldtschoen constructed for weather tightness, I have worn these many times and they are still not broken in yet, if you buy two decent pairs they can last you a lifetime bar new soles depending on how much walking you do.

20160923_122809 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

The sole threads or cords are handmade using the finest linnen thread by Barbour and have pigs whiskers braided in for needles, the thread is lubricated using my own home made wax, which is a 50-50 mix of Stockholm Tar and pure Beeswax from my own bees, everything done as in the days of old.