Yes, I'm making two pairs of shoes at once here - I got two pairs of lasts, and I'm going to just power on through two pairs at the same time. CRAZY!!! I know.
Once I got the leather glued on, I used my brand-spankin' new belt sander to smooth down the edges. It's important here to keep the curved shape of the last, and just build on that, rather than change the shape.
Once it was sanded down, I coated it (liberally) with Press Cement/Toe Hardener, which gives the leather a nice hard glossy finish. My initial sanding wasn't so great, so I sanded some more, by hand (and gave myself a really bad blister on my thumb) and re-coated with the toe hardener.
Next step is to make a pattern for the insole. This is done by laying down 2-3 layers of 3/4" masking tape across the bottom of the last. Then, use a crayon or soft pencil to draw the "feather edge" line - the edge of the sole.
Pee the tape off, and flatten it out on some card stock, then cut along the line.
Technically, I didn't need to do both the right and left - you only need one pattern unless your feet are dramatically different from eachother (like, a whole size longer or something), but I wanted to cut them out and compare them. The modifications I did made the two soles a little bit different from eachother, and I wanted to even it out a bit.
Next step is to tape the upper of the last - which leads to designing and patterns!
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