Will Your Patterns Fit My Foot Shape?

Here we are specialized in making custom-made and custom-fitted shoes. No matter if you order a pair of shoes or if you choose a tutorial to make them yourself, we have options for you to be sure you will get a good fit that respects your morphology. In this article, you will find out how.

Buying Shoes in Store or Online, a Reel Nightmare.

After making thousands of moccasins in person and online, we have quite a good view of the variety of foot-shapes that exists. Widespread toes, flat foot, strong instep, very small or very large feet, bunions, swelling, square, pointy or irregular toe shape, one foot bigger than the other, duck feet, thin heel, high volume feet or low volume feet, very large calf, and much more…

It is quite often that we receive the message of someone desperate about finding shoes to fit their foot shape, and for us, it is with no surprise. The fact is that most shoes are made on a shoe-last that represents a “standard” foot shape, but certainly not your particular foot shape. Things get even harder when you decide to shop for shoes online and can’t try them on. Will I have enough room for my toes? Will it be the right length? What if I need to return the package? So many doubts that arise when it comes to buying a pair of shoes.

We don’t ask your feet to mold to the shoe, we make shoes precisely to your foot shape and size

Stop searching, and keep it easy! Your feet are not the “problem”, but the industrials, that wants to put everything and everyone into the same mold. We don’t do that!

The good thing about making soft moccasins is that we don’t need a shoe-last. Therefore, we will be able to design a pair of moccasins specifically for your foot shape and size. We won’t ask you for a tape-cast, but just a few measurements, a few pictures and the scan of the outline of your feet. After receiving your order, we send a document with precise explanations about what we require. From there, we can draw a personal pattern to make your moccasins, sandals, or boots.

Note: If you don’t own a flat-bed scanner, you will need to find a place that can scan your drawing for you, because smart-scans from a smartphone camera do not give an accurate copy of the curve. Libraries, book stores, post offices, service shops, many places can now do this for you. Otherwise, you can also post your drawing in a letter to France for less than 3 dollars.

Like a Second-Skin

Our goal is to make shoes that are just like a second-skin for you. In general, we have very good results, moreover, the leather due thanks to its softness is quite forgiving. I mean, in the sense that is has the quality to finish the fitting job by itself, as it will naturally stretch and mold to your feet. But if for whatever reason the pair we make doesn’t fit you, we will make the necessary changes and make another.

Note: Considering this service, the material and how rare it is, we think that our tailored-made shoes are very affordable.

Best Is to Have Your Feet for the Fitting

Usually, we would sell our shoe on a local market where we can do the fitting directly on people’s feet. You can imagine that making shoes online from an image of someone’s feet is much more challenging.

Over time and with experience, we are able to take on this challenge and give the opportunity for people with “weird” feet to get good shoes, but ideally, like all good tailors, we would do the fitting in person. That’s part of the reason we have decided to share this moccasin-making skill in tutorials.

Shoe-Making Is Not a Mystery
Unlike making clothes, shoe-making might seem very complicated! And it is true, with the industrial processes that imply in making shoes nowadays, it sounds totally impossible to make shoes at home. But we tell you: “You could make shoes even better than us! Of course, you have your feet to work with…”

If you read the previous paragraphs, you probably wonder how, without any experience, you would be able to draw a pattern and even make good enough looking shoes to go out with them. Don’t worry, we will demystify it all.

Why don’t you become the shoe-maker?

We have worked on making it as easy as possible for you to learn moccasin-making. Back in time, most people knew how to make their own shoes, just like they knew to sew their garments. Since we use the same techniques as in the old times, with simple hand-tools, there is no reason why you would not be able to do it too. Even young teenagers have proven to us that it was possible. All our tutorials are beginner-friendly and do not require any experience in leather-craft or sewing.

Ready-to-Print Patterns
To make it more accessible, we prepared patterns for you to print with your home-printer. From that point onward, it will be necessary to simply replicate the pattern on the leather, puncture a hole, and stitch. Simple, isn’t it?

Will Your Patterns Fit My Foot Shape?
Unlike other patterns that you would get in standard sizes according to the length of the feet, we developed our sizes based on the width of the feet. Once the front part of the shoe is stitch, and that it is on your feet, it is easy to finish the heel to the right size. Therefore, no matter if you have thin, average or large feet, or even one foot longer than the other, you will be able to make shoes that truly fit you.

Note: if you find yourself in between sizes, it is possible to print the patterns a little bigger or smaller to achieve a more precise fit.

How About the Toe-Shape?
Now that we addressed the issue of fitting the shoes precisely in terms of length and width, a few parameters are left: the toe-shape and the instep.
That is why we offer a variety of styles. Some will fit better than others, depending on your toe-shape.

In General
If you would like advice about what pattern to best suit your foot-shape, feel free to send us a message with a few pictures of your feet (and possibly some measurements). From our experience on the market, our patterns enable to fit at least 80% of the people quite well.

If your feet are quite “standard” probably that any pattern could suit you.
The fact that the leather is soft is very forgiving. With time, the leather has the great characteristic to stretch and mold to the feet but of course, starting from a pattern that is close to your foot-shape is ideal. In fact, having a custom-made pattern is the best (even if your feet are not that “unusual” in shape). We offer the service of drawing custom-made patterns for a very affordable price.

Which Model to Choose According to My Foot-Shape?
— The “Heart” moccasins fits quite “standard”, not very wide at the toes.

— The “Sun” Sandals is also quite easy going, but patterns in very large sizes are not available in the tutorial package.

— The “Leaf” tutorial has patterns both in “standard” and “wide toe-box” shape.

 
— The “Base” is a tutorial for absolutely everyone, as it teaches how to draw simple patterns from the outline of the feet. It includes special instructions about baby and kids shoes too.

If You Are Looking for a Wide Toe-Box
If you have widespread toes or a squarish toe-shape, our best pattern to suit the need of a wide toe-box is the “Leaf” design,

“The Runners and Laced-up Boots” is also a good option, especially that the tutorial includes a special segment about altering the pattern to your toe-shape. Another option could be the “Sun Sandals”.

If Your Feet Are Rather Pointy
Barefoot shoe are usually very wide and quite square at the toes, but some people have a pointy toe-shape or just don’t like the look of a wide toe-box. For them, the “Moon” design is recommended.

If your toes are not too pointy, the “Heart” moccasins can also be a good fit.

If You Have a Strong Instep
For people with a strong instep, we recommend the “Sun Sandals”, the “Runners” and the “Summer” moccasins (“The Base” tutorial) because they have laces that allow to adjust them on the instep very easily.

The “Leaf” style is another good option because the stitch can be opened on both sides to give more ease on the fore-foot.

The “Heart” style is not recommended, unless you would feel confident in adjusting the pattern by yourself.

If Your Feet Are Very Big
Our best patterns for large and long feet are the “Moon”, the “Leaf” and the “Runners and Laced-Up Boots”.

If You Are Eager to Make Your Own Patterns
The “Base” tutorial is an extensive tutorial about pattern-making for moccasins and boots. It is especially interesting for families and people that are interested in making their own shoes and eventually creating their own designs. It is the most economical tutorial if you are wanting a custom-made pattern. Note that it is the only tutorial that doesn’t have printable patterns in all sizes.

For Children

When it comes to making shoes for kids, we could wonder if it is worth the effort and time to make shoes for them since they grow so fast. The answer is definitely YES.

First, because it is even more critical for babies and children to have shoe which respect their morphology. Their soft feet can easily be influenced by restrictive shoes and could even result in negative effects on their health. Soft-soles like moccasins are ideal to strengthen their feet gently and help them with good balance.

Our patterns for kids are made with laces in order to be able to adjust the length easily. Therefore, you can make them quite a lot bigger to let the feet grow into them. The sides will pucker a little around the ankle when the lace is tightened on the heel, but it will not be an issue at all.

For Children: see also the “Sun” sandals for kids, the “Kids moccasins” and The “Summer” moccasins in the “Base” tutorial.

More information about our Children Moccasins on this link.

We hope that these explanations were clear and helpful. Feel free to reach out to us anytime if you need assistance choosing the right moccasin pattern to fit you.