What You Have Been Missing Out In Shoemaking?[Shoe Pattern]

If you don’t have this specific mat, you can use some of the cutting boards for vegetables. Chose the big one. It will protect your table from scratches left from the knife in the same way as a professional cutting mat.

2. Masking tape 

We need masking tape to cover the shoe last with masking tape in order to draw a shoe design on it. There are masking tapes with different widths. I use tape with a width of 5 cm. 

Here in this post “Shoe making Case Study: Cover Your Shoe Last Using Right Masking Tape”you can learn more about the use of masking tape and why 5 cm width is the optimal tape for you. 

3. Simple pencil and eraser

 We need these 2 things to draw the design of your shoes on the masking tape and on the cardboard, and paper. 

           4.  Measurement tape

To measure at the shoe last certain parameters we need to have this tape. If you don’t have this shoemaker’s tape, use the simple tape for sewing

5. Two types of the rulers: straight one and with the 90 degrees angle

6. Utility knife

I work with a simple utility knife. What is important here is to use a good blade, for example, Japanese blades BD 100.  To not waste too many blades you can sharpen them using this approach I teach in this post ‘’Simple Knife For Shoemaking Craft’’

7. Cardboard and paper

In pattern making you will work with two types of the paper: cardboard and paper A4.

From the cardboard, you will make all parts of your shoe upper and then use them to cut leather.

Paper A4 you will need to use in order to check the correctness of your cardboard pattern(Basic Pattern). Why I recommend it, you can find in this post ‘’Save your money on leather, make shoes working with paper patterns [Video Tutorial]’’

8. Short nails and Hammer with magnetic edge

I use these two tools in shoe pattern making in the step of paper basic pattern check.

To hold the paper shoe pattern on the last I use short nails, the same nails that we need to use in the lasting process. 

Then with the help of the same nails, you can spread a paper pattern on the cutting mad and transfer all corrections to the cardboard pattern. (this is one of the possible pattern making approaches in shoemaking) 

The hammer with a magnetic edge helps to catch these nails but you can use the ordinary one. You just need to attach some small piece of magnet to one of the edges and you will have a magnetic hammer. See how to do it in the tutorial below. 

9. Awl

You need to use a simple straight awl to create some marks inside of your shoe patterns.

The last tool for shoe pattern making is one of the most important tools you need to have and I want to talk about it in more detail. 

Gauges for seam allowances and its alternative

These are gauges for different seam allowances you need to add to your shoe patterns and this is the last tool you need in the shoe pattern making process.

They have different numbers. It is usually from 0 to 10 mm. Each number is the distance that is between two sharp edges of gauges. 

Depending on the seam allowance you want to add to some of your shoe patterns you will use a different number of the gauge.

These gauges are super comfortable tools and easy to work within pattern making but it is very hard to source and it is pretty expensive.

So what alternative do you have?

It is very simple: instead, these gauges use simple compasses. It works in the same way, everybody can buy it and it is cheap.

What you will need to do is to open compasses on the needed distance for each seam allowance you want to add during developing your shoe patterns.  

Now, let’s talk about this step in pattern making where you need to add different seam allowances and what are most common seam allowances you will use as a beginner in shoemaking. 

How to work with compasses in shoe pattern making

After you will check your basic pattern you will need to develop an upper pattern and lining pattern. Because the basic pattern contains only all lines of your shoe design without any seam allowances, you will need to add them during making each part of your shoe design to create its pattern ready to use in the cutting/(clicking step).

So with compasses, you will follow each line of your shoe design and will add a parallel line to the original one in a certain distance, depending on the seam allowance needed. 

Let's say you will need to make folding to the top line, so you will mark with a compasses line parallel to the top line in the distance we need for folding, and so on. 

3 most common types of seam allowances in shoe pattern making

There are few seam allowances you can use in shoe pattern making.

You, as a beginner, in shoemaking probably will use the most only 3 of them.

1. Seam allowance for folding.

This seam allowance you will use only for the upper pattern to have accurate and smooth edges.

The seam allowance for folding is 4mm.

In this post ‘’How To Fold a Shoe Upper?![Making of Shoes]’’ you can learn how to make folding professionally. 

2. Seam allowance for the underline

 We use this seam allowance in any place of the shoe pattern where one part of the pattern must be attached to the other part. 

The seam allowance for underline is 8 mm.

Also, we need to have a mark of the original line to know where to attach the second part on the top of this one, which has underlined.

We mark this line with an erasable silver pen.

3. Seam allowance in the back part of the shoe pattern

This seam allowance we need most in the back part of the shoe part and it is 2 mm.

These were 3 most common seam allowances you will use in your shoemaking craft at least at the beginning. 

Now, watch a tutorial  about all these tools for pattern making