Heidi Louise Shoemaker
Creating Ritsa's Sandals
Updated: Jul 25, 2019
Ritsa contacted me on Instagram asking if I could make 2 sandal designs that she was wanting. #handmade, #custom, #shoemaker
To go into more detail here is the low down....
The Black Leather Slide
After making the pattern the insole pattern is traced onto thick black leather & cut out

After cutting out I add my logo using a heat stamp.

Leather upper is then cut out, attach the decorative metal studs. Then glue the upper to leather lining & stitch.

Lining is then trimmed away with scissors

Lasting up the sandal, this is when the sandal upper is stretched over the last (shoe mold) to give size & shape. First i tack the strap's in place to get them positioned correctly.

Once I have the strap's positioned where I want them, I then inlay the straps so that they can lay flat at the edges. To do this I cut and skive (shave) sections into the insole.

This sandal has a resin edging so it is important for the strap's to be as flat against the edge of the insole as possible. I cut sections into the edge of the insole for the strap's to sit in.

Straps are then glued to the insole

Resin edging is then glued to the edge of the insole.

In this case I added a layer of 2 mm soft synthetic soling material & sanded it flat to even out any lumps, it also adds some cushioning.

The outer sole is then cut out & glued onto the sandal, then a small heel section is added & all edges are sanded to finish.

The Soft Rose Suede Sandal
This sandal is made using another technique, slots are cut into the insole for the strap's to feed through. After making patterns, Insoles are cut out of raw veg tan leather


Sandal uppers are cut out of soft rose suede then glued & stitched to lining leather then trim & hammer with beading hammer to smooth down the stitching.

Slots are cut into insole & logo heat stamped, then 2 coats of sealant.


The sandal uppers are fed through the slots of insole, and stretched over the last & glued to the insole.



After lasting sandals are left for 24 hours to set, Then the lasting allowance underneath is sanded flat, sole is glued on and edges are sanded smooth, sealed & buffed to finish.
