I actually have progress to report!

Finally making progress on the shoes!

 

I finished the sewing - most of which I ended up doing by hand.  That sucked.  But the hand-stitched bits look better than the machine-stitched parts.  I guess I need to start looking into getting a better sewing machine.  Regardless, I'm fairly pleased with how the piping on the edges turned out.

 

 Here's how I did the piping:  I cut a strip of the black leather, and skived it down as thin as I could.  I sewed it along the upper edge, right sides together, then flipped it over, and stitched the lining to the upper along the stitch line.  (Stitch-in-the-ditch.)

And I got started on the lasting. 

I even remembered to take out all the tacks holding the insole to the last, except for one in the middle, where I'll be able to remove it after the shoe is lasted.

Since I had the glue out, I also took the opportunity to cover the heels with leather.  Still crossing my fingers that white oak will be strong enough.

 And... here they are - linings glued down, ready for the toe box and counter.