You will find some information on tanning, leather working and shoe making in books about the old traditional arts like John Seymour’s The Forgotten Arts (ISBN 0 207 15007 9) or “Traditional Country Craftsmen” by J. Geraint Jenkins (ISBN 0 7100 8726 8) but these tend to be a bit “gee whiz” and give no real insight into techniques or processes. Of more practical use are books like the Foxfire series, which are a recording of oral traditions of the Appalachian mountains in the US, particularly Foxfire 6 (ISBN 0 385 15272 8) which provides good information and photos of traditional tools and how they are used to craft shoes by the people who used them. The Readers Digest book “Back to Basics” (ISBN 0 89577 939 0) also has a few pages devoted to leather and leather working, including how to make a coonskin hat! (There are no such directions in the Australian version)
Leather Working
Brendan’s Leather Book – Brendan Smith – Outer Straubville Press (US) 1972 ISBN 0686024060 (Library of Congress No – 72-81867) – I love this book! Lots of good simple advice for the novice including what tools, leather and other supplies you need and great descriptions of techniques. No photos but lots of very clear line drawings. Due to the age of the book, prices he quotes are well out of dates and some products that he mentions may no longer exist or not be available outside the US. He gets right into the good stuff though no crappy key fobs or glasses cases, sandals and bags instead!
Leather Work – A Basic Manual – Benjamin Matheson – Little, Brown and Co (US) 1974 ISBN 0 316 54457 5 – Another really good basic book (but it just lacks the flair of Brendan’s) a very good introduction to the authors design philosophy and now to get the best out of a pelt. There are also good sections on tools, leather finishing techniques and leather construction techniques. There are a couple of black and white photos but lots of good line drawings.
Leathercraft – Fred W. Zimmerman – The Goodheart-Willcox co Inc. (US) 1969 Library of Congress No 61-6341 – This book goes into a bit of detail about hides and tanning as well as finisheing, measuring and grading leather as well as stamping carving and decorating leather and looking after your tools, it appears to have been a text book of some description. It has lots of black and white photos and some line drawings. It is a great intro to leather craft but the projects are small crappy things like wallets, comb cases and coasters.
Jonathan Ervins’ Leather Notebook – Jonathan Ervin – Running Press (US) 1973 No ISBN – If you can get over the cover and the fact that the author looks like a serial killer, this is a great book. It is similar to, and has almost as much class as Brendan’s with funky ‘70s printing and lots of line drawings (no photos except the cover). Some detail on leather and tools, but lots of good info on how to make useful stuff like sandals, belts and bags.
Working With Leather – Xenia Ley Parker – Charles Scribner and Sons (US) 1972 ISBN 684 13686 4 – This is a comprehensive book on leather work covering leather, tools, use of patterns, lacing and sewing leather, fastening and decorating, tooling , carving and dyeing. There are 12 projects starting with a change purse and passport holder and working up to leather clothing: vests, a skirt and a jacket.
Leather Technicians Handbook – J. H. Sharphouse – Leather Producers’ Association (UK) 1975 ISBN 0-9502285-1-6 – While this is not a book about leather working it is a detailed look at leather types and how they are made including different types of tannage, preparing the hide leather dyeing and finishing. This is a technical book but great if you want to know the ins and outs of industrial leather production, it is not a backyard leather production book.
Tanning
Tan Your Hide! – Phyllis Hobson – Garden Way Publishing (US) 1983 ISBN 0 88266 101 9 – This is probably THE classic (US) text on home tanning it covers what you need to tan your own, starting from a fresh hide. It covers what tools and chemicals you need, how to select the hide, steps of the process and even some old Native American tanning recipes. There is also a section on leather working project for the hides that you’ve tanned although it is pretty basic.
A Handbook on Knives Skinning and Tanning – John Leidreiter – Published by John Leidreiter (AUS) 1990 ISBN 9780959512007 – This is THE classic Aussie text on tanning, written by the bloke who set up a company supplying chemicals to home tanners. The book is very detailed and covers everything from having the right knife for skinning, through skinning and preparing the hide all the way to the final tanned hide and a small section on fur and leather crafts. Lots of black and white photos and line drawings.
Shoemaking and Repairing
Handmade Shoes for Men – Laszlo Vass and Magda Molnar – Konemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (GER) 1999 ISBN 3 89508 928 1 – This book is 215 pages and hundreds of high quality colour photos about how to make men’s shoes! It goes though sizes and how to measure up a foot, what a last is and how to make them, styles of shoe, the upper and then how to make the shoe itself. There is also a section on caring for shoes. A good book if you can get hold of it!
Crafting Hand Made Shoes – Great-Looking Shoes, Sandals, Slippers and Boots – Sharon Raymond – Lark Books (US) 2002 ISBN 1 57990 378 9 – This book starts of with the tools required to make ladies and kids shoes, then gives a run down on the various techniques, then applies the techniques to a whole stack of shoes, sandals and boots based around the same rough design. They look easy enough for a beginner to make. Lots of colour photos and line drawings.
Custom Make Your Own Shoes and Handbags – Mary Wales Loomis – Crown Publishers (US) 1978 ISBN 0 517 531399 – This is a really interesting book that shows you how to make ladies shoes with a sewing machine and glue and covers how to make a last using plaster of Paris to make foot castings. There are lots of line drawings and black and white photographs and easy to follow instructions.
Boot and Shoe Repairing – Technical publication no 38 – Commonwealth of Australia – No date or ISBN – This is a textbook of shoe repair , probably from the 1950s or so, the pages are only printed on one side and the text is typed with some line drawings. Its lack of production values is made up for by the detailed information it contains. It covers all about the tools and raw material, machine and hand repairing, using adhesives, repairs to particular types of footwear and simple remedial alterations. Fascinating!
Boot Repairing – D. Laurence-Lord – Cassells Publishers (UK) 1929 (No ISBN) Another oldie-but-goodie which has lots of information on shoe and boot repair but only a few line drawings and no photos. There is some assumption of knowledge by the author with this book and the descriptions can be a bit confusing without pictures but still good information in a small book.
