Heh, see what I did there? Pattens- step to step, as you can step with them and this is also a guide and…
Yeah. Sorry, let us step to the actual content.
15th-century style pattens
I had been trying to get myself a really good pair of wooden pattens for a couple of years, only to discover that they didn’t fit very well. So I got my hands on a new pair of wooden soles, and this time I made the straps and fitted them myself. It is a little more work than ready-made, but Wow did this make all the difference!
This project was started over 3 years ago and along the way, I lost photos from the handcrafting process. This means that this tutorial is far from the best one I have made, but I decided to finish and publish it since some friends were asking for tips for making pattens.
If you want to know more about historical pattens, check out this blog post.
Good things to make medieval pattens.
Tools for this project:
hammer
scissor
pen
knife
ruler
awl
needle
leather clips
Materials you need:
wooden soles
thick leather 2,5-4 mm
thin leather 1-2 mm
waxed linen thread
nails
tape and regular paper
two buckles around 1-1,4 cm width (optional)
Wooden soles:
You need a pair of wooden soles first, and your medieval shoes. Measure your foot with your shoes on, so you know how long the wooden sole needs to be. I didn’t make my wooden soles so I won’t walk you through (hehe, walk…) how to do it, but if you have patience and a few woodworking tools just draw your foot on a piece of wood, and carve out something that looks like the historical pattens or my sole above. The joint is not a must but I find it really comfortable.
When you have a pair of wooden soles, it is time to connect the pieces with a joint of sturdy leather and nails.
Use a paper draft to fit in the joint, mark it and copy to leather. The leather should be as thick as the cut-out for the joint, between 2,5-4 mm.
Hammer the leather joint in place with nails, and then start working on your strap. Paper and some tape is a good way to test out the pattern and fit.
My goal was to make a strap that both looked plausible and was comfortable. I started by attaching my foot to the wooden sole with tape and then tried to move around. This was not the right fit.
But it was a good starting point to achieve something like this! I cut away the tape that was uncomfortable or in the way, until I got a fit that was working. Last, I taped the buckle in place to check the fit. Try to position the tape quite high on your foot, not over your toes.
When you are happy, cut off the tape and convert them to two pattern pieces, one for each side of the foot.
Next step is to cut them out in thin leather, 2 of each.
Thin leather needs some kind of reinforcement to last, so cut out strips of leather to sew on the edges.
Use an awl to make holes in the leather before stitching. Note that the strip should reach all the way up, this was just a test piece I made before doing my finished set.
Use a cobbler stitch and waxed linen thread to sew the leather strip in place.
Turn the piece to the inside, fold over the leather strip and sew it in place with a whip stitch. Don’t work through the leather piece, just enough to fasten the strip. To shape the edge and make it stay in place, you can hammer it down gently.
One piece is almost done, one to go. This was my finished pair, note how the strip goes all the way up and it is really narrow at the top to accommodate for the buckle.
After I made the reinforced pieces, I attached the buckle by sewing it in place, and made a hole in the other side for closing.
Trying out the fit of the finished pieces, by using a stapler to fasten the leather to the sole. You can also use some more tape. Love tape.
Hammering the leather in place with small nails. These are modern nails for roofing paper, but you can use any flat, shorter nails. It would be pretty to use historical nails, but I did not find any narrow enough.
That’s it! Give them some leather oil and then you are ready to go out adventuring.
Trying them outside in some water and grit.
There are lots of sources without buckles on your pattens. It is possible to just make a plain or decorated leather piece around the foot. The best part with buckles is not that they are pretty, but that you may adjust the fit to the shoes (or hose without shoes) that you are wearing.
