Soft Walker Shoes

Making healthy affordable shoes because I couldn't find shoes my kids would wear and that I could afford!

I have just returned to shoe-making after about 20 years in another profession. I started making shoes when my first child started walking (he's 44 now!) and outgrew a pair that my mother had saved from my toddlerhood. I have always had leather scraps around, and finally found a use for them!
I was a La Leche League Leader by the time the second baby came around and so many Moms asked me to make shoes for them that I decided it might be a good home business.
Most doctors recommend barefootedness for healthy foot development. A prominent expert in pediatric orthopedics unknowingly described my shoes in his brochure on choosing shoes for toddlers. I wrote to Dr. Lynn Staheli (back in the 1980s!) and got permission to reproduce his booklet for free distribution and his enthusiastic support!
My kids were all like the Princess and the Pea ("There's a knot in my sock!" "There's a bump in my shoe!") so I designed the shoes for comfort, health and affordability.
They are simple shoes, made from leather (various kinds, cow, deer, elk and sheepskin) with 100% cotton laces. I use polyester thread and a flexible permanent glue for durability. The seams are on the outside so there are no "bumps" or "knots" inside and even the fussiest barefoot babies seem to enjoy wearing them. No socks needed, and I suggest no socks for the first few wearings so that the shoes will mold to the feet (socks can make the foot slide around so that they don't fit well). The leather soles are buffalo, bullhide or pigskin, depending on what I can get at the time, but all wear well and will grow some with the foot. The uppers are usually cowhide, although I have deerskin and elk from time to time. Most cowhides are made for upholstery and have a easy-care finish. Unfinished hides need to be oiled (vegetable oil please, or a leather dressing) from time to time.
The shoes are tough and can handle puddle-jumping and whatever else kids can dish out. Just let them dry and roll in your hands to soften up again. I also offer a thin rubber sole on sizes 5 and up.
I have made quite a few "special" shoes for children who do not walk, have epidermolysis bullosa and other skin conditions, or who have special footwear needs of other kinds. I am always happy to customize as long as I can get good information about the feet and what is needed. Custom shoes should not break the bank (for heaven's sake, it is expensive enough taking care of a child with special needs!) So most of the time, customization does not add much to the cost. Sometimes just cutting the shoes a different way is enough, nothing extra for that.
My sizes are based on the Brannock device in length, but tend to run a little wide because I was tracing real baby feet when standardizing the patterns and most of the Mom's brought me babies whose feet were "chubby" and didn't fit in commercially made shoes. If your child has very slender feet, let me know, I have narrow sizes too.

I think about the babies/kids that will be wearing the shoes as I make them. Thank you for letting me make shoes for your babes!