Sandal Modifications

After completing my first pair of sandals, I decided to make a second pair with a few modifications of my own. I started with a different sole material; a sport utility sheet of this raised dimple pattern. I thought that this rubber sole material would provide more traction and perhaps a bit more cushion.

I used my first pattern to trace an outline and mark my holes instead of making a new template. Here is the sole traced out on the backside of the dimple pattern.

I proceeded to cut out the sole and punch the holes using a leather punch.

Some of the holes had to be punched in in places that would hinder the tying of the sandals. I will address how I dealt with this later on.

I decided to line the upper part of the sandal with sueded pigskin for comfort and also added traction between the foot and the sandal. I simply laid the sole on the pigskin and cut around it leaving a generous amount of excess to be trimmed later.

Here is the cut out pigskin.

I used contact cement (really sticky glue) to bond the pigskin to the top of the sole. I spread a thin layer over the sole and the pigskin and let it cure for 5 minutes. 

I then lined up the pattern with the sole and stuck it on.

I smoothed out any air pockets or folds in the pigskin. Notice there is still excess material to cut off.

Using the leather punch, I re-punched the holes so they went through the pigskin as well.

Because the raised pattern caused problems when tying the shoe, I ground down the dimples around the holes using a numkeg.

Here is an example of the ground down dimples.

Using scissors, I trimmed the excess pigskin from the edge of the soles.

The left sole has been trimmed, the right has not.

For added durability and to make tying the shoes a bit easier, I decided to finish off the holes with brass eyelets. This is the eyelet before it has been set.

This is the tool used to set the eyelets (an eyelet press).

Here is the underside once the eyelet had been set.

Here are the two finished soles (untied) with the eyelets set.

Here are the finished sandals tied two different ways.

3. Tying the Sandals

Step 1 (Threading the Sandal):




Step 2 (Traditional Tying Method):




Step 3 (Slip-On Tying Method):

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.

1. making the template for the sole

Cut a piece of paper large enough to trace your foot twice on.

Trace an outline of your foot with a marking pen making sure to keep the pen perpendicular to the paper.

Mark a dot in between your first and second toe.

Make marks in front of your medial and lateral malleolus (the bony bump on the inside and outside of your ankle). These marks show where you will punch holes to thread the lacing through later on.

Round out any lumps or concavities. It is easy to remove excess material and almost impossible to add material.

 The finished product should look like this. If your feet are shaped differently or one is longer than the other (like mine) you will have to create another pattern. If your feet are relatively the same, you can simply flip the pattern and create another set of marks.