Lining pattern in shoemaking is one of the most important but underestimated shoe details. There are different approaches of the shoe lining pattern in shoemaking and it depends on the shoe type you want to make.
Most of shoemakers don’t pay attention too much to this inner details of the shoes, but they really should.
That’s why in each of my shoemaking courses I make a full lesson ( 45- 60 min length) devoted just for lining pattern construction.What is so important about lining pattern in shoe making?
First of all let’s understand why we have lining pattern in shoemaking and how it is connected with the upper.
Lining is an inner part of the shoes that your feet touch while wearing the footwear.
We must have the lining pattern in shoemaking to place the inner parts of the footwear (toe puffs and stiffeners) between upper and lining, so you won’t feel this reinforcements.
Upper together with the lining will better keep the shape of the footwear.
We attach lining to the upper in the final seam that closes the entire shoe.
And this moment in shoemaking is very important because to have beautiful and comfortable shoes:
1. Lining pattern in shoemaking must fit the upper pattern perfectly
If not, if it will be bigger or smaller than the upper. You will have many problems during assembling of the upper and lining, during lasting and as a result your shoes won’t be comfortable or beautiful.
It happens in most cases with beginners in shoemaking. Usually they have lining pattern bigger than the upper. To know more about the most common mistakes that beginners make in order to overcome them, make sure to read this article: "How to make shoes-Common Mistakes in the Shoemaking Process".
As a strict rule lining pattern in shoemaking must be smaller than then the upper pattern.
The reason is, because of the thickness of upper leather, the lining pattern must be reduced to fit perfectly the upper leather.
2. Lining pattern must not contain any seams that may bother your feet
To prevent it you should know that you can’t divide your lining pattern, for example, in the area of the joints.
It is the widest place on the feet and when it is executed wrong it can hurt the most.
That being said..
You should divide the lining pattern in two parts for sure when creating lining pattern.
It must do operation in making of almost any footwear type, especially in the making of court shoes.
Now you want to know why, right?
How exactly do you do that?
All answers to these questions you will find in the shoe making tutorial that I prepared for you.
If you want to learn more about different pattern making techniques, techniques to solve most of your shoe making problems, to know which tools you need for pattern making, you are invited to visit this directory: "Shoe pattern and templates".
Watch this shoe making tutorial at the beginning of this article, share it and don’t forget to comment bellow, if you want to learn more about lining pattern construction.
Thank you very much for the lesson! This is very useful information!
Thank you Olga
Thank you for your great video tutorials. Q – I always get my liner too big even with adjusting to a smaller heel curve and shortening the top line. How do you?
Also – how do you plan and adjust your pattern for when you are using leather that doesn’t stretch much? I have some ostrich that doesn’t stretch much and I’m a little afraid to cut it. Thank you so much
…So the heel part of the standard size 35 liner pattern, drawn from folded in half, is 4.5cm (across top) and then 5.5cm (across bottom) – and then add 3mm to each for each whole size (or subtract for smaller sizes).
Thank you for your kind words! Let’s dive into your questions:
1. Maybe you didn’t reduce the lining enough. Check this post, I placed there an image where I explain how much you need to reduce the lining pattern
https://goo.gl/5rwR74
2. Usually, when I start to work with a new type of leather (especially, with leather that I didn’t work with before), I always check it by making a prototype. It’s enough to make one half of the footwear to check the pattern working with this leather type.
3. What I explained in the video is regarding size 37. In all other sizes, it enlarges or reduces on 3mm.
Thanks Sveta. As usual, a helpful snippet. Yes please, more info on making the lining pattern so it sits PERFECTLY inside the shoe would me MUCH appreciated 🙂
Thank you, Richard! Please remember, as my student, you already have a great choice on how to make your lining pattern for each shoe type that I have in my courses! Just dive into the courses 🙂