June 16, 2022

How to Make Shoe Welt

How to make a shoe welt in handmade shoes is the subject of this shoemaking article.

In shoe making there are many ways of the shoe welt making because each shoe maker during his work developed his own approach on how to make a shoe welt. 

All these shoe making approaches have many common things and in the same way have small differences. 

I also have a certain shoe making way on how to make a shoe welt so I decided to share with you my method of welt making to use it in your shoemaking craft.

How to make a shoe welt

To make a shoe welt you need to use vegetable tanned leather with thickness of 4-5 mm. Then to make a shoe welt follow these steps:

1. Measure the perimeter of the entire shoe bottom of your shoes to know what is the length of this leather strap you need to make a welt.

2. Add extra 2 cm to this length.

3. The width of the strapis 1-1.2cm.

There are shoemakers that make this strap wider but I don’t see the reason to make it wider than 1.2 cm because later you will need to trim extra to leave the welt with the width of 3mm from the final seam. To not work too hard and to consume less leather I use welt width with no more than 1-1.2 cm.

4. Cut the leather strap with these parameters.

5. Mark on the inner side of the leather strap line in the distance of 5mm  from one of the edges.

6. Incise along this mark with knife in 90 degrees toward the leather strap’s surface.

7. Incise  along same mark by placing your knife in 45 degrees to the surface of the starp.

This way you will get a channel where will be a seam that will keep the welt with the insole and upper of your shoes.

To enlarge this channel ( if necessary) you can pass through with a  slicking bone.

channel-making for welt in shoemaking

8. Turn over the strap and mark the line with the distance of 5 mm  from the edge where you made a straight snick. 

9. Skive with the shoemaking knife the surface between the edge and this mark that you made before.

You need to skive it in 45 degrees and as a result of this skiving you need to get a very thin edge, almost 0 thickness. 

That’s it. When you will sew this shoe welt to your insoles the stirches will lay exactly in this channel.

Welt-stitch

The skived area  will lay on the shoe upper and when you will look on the welt from the top side of the upper, you will see only part of the welt that you didn’t skived.

welt for welted shoes is done

Now, to understand it even better I made for you a shoemaking tutorial with step by step explanation on how to make this shoe welt (watch it at the beginning of this shoemaking article).

Enjoy and don’t forget to share it and comment!

Every Shoe Part

Every shoe part has it purpose, from inside part, that you don't see as insoles to top vamps, that is what shoes are made from.

Here you will find all of them.

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About the author 

Sveta Kletina

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  1. I do really appreciate the wonderful work that you have done
    May the Almighty bless you
    Thx I just need to practice to make my self one

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