How to make sandals with elegant straps is must know shoemaking technique because you will be able to make elegant sandals or use this approach in making all other shoe types where you can design straps.
Making of narrow elegant sandals straps (the second type of the sandal straps) is absolutely different process than making of any other sandals straps type.
Why?
Because it requires certain knowledge to fold very narrow leather strap and to do it accurate in order to get perfect straight sandal straps.
Why you can’t use here our usual shoemaking approach of the folding?
You already know that for folding we add 4 mm. This is how we did with the top lines of the shoe upper and this is how I taught you in the previous post about the making of the first sandals straps type.
Now, in the making of Narrow Elegant sandals straps with the width less than 8mm you can’t add 4 mm for folding because if you will add and then will fold it, you will get the leather strap with the width of 8mm
4mm+4mm= 8mm
So in the making of the narrow elegant sandals straps with folding you will need to use absolutely different shoemaking approach.
I prepared for you full step by step tutorial where I teach you:
How to make a pattern for the narrow sandal straps
How to fold narrow sandal straps (watch the tutorial that is at the begining of this article)
Now, after you will watch this tutorial you will have , I think, very reasonable question on how to cut leather straps, because the cardboard pattern is narrow and it is difficult to hold it, it moves during cutting.
It would seem for you very difficult task, especially if you are a beginner in shoemaking.
So let’s learn a small shoemaking trick how to do it very easily.
But at first, make sure you have a sharp blade. Learn in this post ‘’Simple Knife For Shoemaking Craft’’ how to sharpen the blade of your knife.
Shoemaking trick on how to cut narrow elegant sandals straps
You will need to use a masking tape. With the masking tape you will hold your sandals strap pattern during cutting.
1. Before you will use masking tape check well if the adhesive side of the masking tape doesn’t leave some spots on the leather surface.
2. Cut small pieces and create a kind of cylinder in order to have two adhesive sides.
Attach them to the inner side of the cardboard sandal straps patterns.
3. Attach cardboard pattern of the sandal strap and cut leather. Use same shoe making approach of the cutting that I already explained in this post ‘’How to Cut Leather for Shoes Correctly?!’’
Before you place it on the leather check the surface well. Avoid scratches and dirty spots that can be on the leather surface. If you want to learn more about other steps of making shoes, about materils, time commitment to make a pair and much more, check this article: "How to make shoes".
That’s it.
Happy shoemaking!