NeedleWork: Just Made a New Mules Shoe for Myself

Good day to you all. Today I decided to make my own shoe called mules shoe or half shoe using foreign skin leather. It has been a long I made something new for myself especially using needlework skills or crafts.

To be honest with you, I don’t really know why most handmade or craft workers find it difficult to make use of what they create or produce but they rather prefer working for others. Well maybe is because of the money or profits that are always involved.

Just imagine me producing for others and I can’t afford to wear what I produce the way it should be. That will be bad of me and my wife and friends can’t even allow that to happen because I can’t even imagine how I can even advertise my shoemaking wears locally. At least one of the ways customers see what I produce is by seeing me wearing them. I was moved by a friend's traditional marriage I attended some days ago.

During the time for my friend and their wife to dance on the occasion, I saw a wonderful shoe he was putting on that was well designed with a good match to the traditional wear he was putting on. Because of how wonderful and great the shoe was looking like, I thought that the shoe was a foreign-made shoe not until the end of the traditional marriage when my friend told me that it was locally made by a Nigerian Aba-made shoemaker.

I went home and thought of something good for myself that I can equally create something like that and it will be good for me to wear. My fellow needleworkers, that were how I made the mules shoe for myself, hope it looks good?

The materials I used for shoes are:

The shoe sole serves as the pillar of the leather with its significant role to support the leather to avoid quick spoiling or damage. Shoe soles could be local or foreign-made with different qualities.

Leather: I preferred using skin leather to work the mules shoe because it is a bit free from water spoil and can also last for a very long period of time without the sun or water spoiling them quickly.

Buckle: I preferred adding buckles to the mules shoe I made for myself because it added more beauty and shape to the mules shoe. Well for me as a person, I just like wearing shoes or slippers with fancy-able buckles.

Thread: I used the thread to design the shoe the more and also used it to support the leather and the shoe sole for it to last long without spoiling quickly.

Gum: I used the gum to hold the shoe sole and the leather together to make the shoe last longer and for water not to penetrate easily to the shoe.

Tools I used to make the shoe:

Sewing machine.

Scissors.

Brush.

Hammer.

Sandpaper.

How to make the shoe:

Make sure you have the materials available with you.

Are you aware of the size of shoe you want because for me I like wearing size 42?

Take proper measurements of the leather.

Cut the leathers carefully according to the measurement and design.

Sew the leathers carefully according to the design.

Sandpaper the shoe sole and the leather carefully.

Gum the shoe sole and the leather properly using a brush.

Place the shoe sole and the leather under the sun for like four to five hours to dry.

Gum the shoe sole and the leather properly but make sure to always check the shoe measurement with the shoe last to avoid mistakes.

You can hit the shoe gently with a hammer.

@apunawu