2. creating the sole of the sandal

First you must select the material that you will use for the sole of the shoe. Traditionally the soles are fashioned from an old bald tire, but for the sake of durability and availability, I chose to use Vibram Cherry Sheet: a rubber sole material. It comes in multiple colors.

This is the pattern on the bottom of the rubber. It provides a good amount of traction.

First, using your template, trace your foot onto the top side of the sole material.

Copy your marks for the holes from your template to the sole material.

You're now ready to cut. Scissors work fine for cutting but I chose to use a hand-crank leather cutter because it was available.

The leather cutter.

This is what it should look like when cut out. Notice I left some excess material around the edges to be trimmed later.

I used a sanding wheel to smooth out and trim the edges of the sole. This could also be done with scissors if need be.

Using a leather punch, punch holes in the places you marked. Punch the side holes a quarter of an inch in from the edge of the material.

Here is the sole with the holes punched, ready to be tied.