Years ago, a friend gave me a pattern for making Roman shoes. Because I’ve been invited to a LARP event in Roman setting (location: an open air museum!), I finally had a good reason to use it!
I have to admit that am not very knowledgeable about the Roman era when it comes to clothing, and I didn’t do a lot of research. These shoes looked Roman enough for me to use for a LARP event, so I just made them. 😉
I used scraps of leather that were gifted to me by the person who made my bagpipe. When making bags for his instruments, a lot of small pieces remain. They are perfect for crafts like these, though!
First step: place the pattern on a piece of leather that is big enough, and trace it with chalk.
Then cut out the shape and pierce many holes into it.
Next, I threaded a leather lace through the holes. (I don’t know if black leather is historically correct – dying leather black was quite difficult to do and expensive, but I didn’t have any other color in stock.)
And then they’re already done!
I’m wondering if I should sew an extra sturdy leather sole underneath them, to protect my feet from the cold and wet ground a bit more. They are not as slippery as I feared they would be, though!