Frequently Asked Questions

This class is for people of all skill levels, from experienced leather workers or shoemakers, to those who have no experience working with leather or hand tools.

Michael Ismerio is the primary instructor. He has over ten years of teaching experience and has coached over 200 students through their own shoemaking journey. Michael has traveled to teach many private group classes, hosted classes in his home workshops, and has been teaching at the famous John C. Campbell Folk School for 9 yrs and counting. He now runs the school from his workshop in Asheville, NC.

All Asheville Shoemaking classes are taught at Michael’s workshop inside Haw Creek Commons (315 Old Haw Creek Road) in beautiful Asheville, NC.

Hotels

These hotels are about one mile from the classroom at Haw Creek Commons.

Best Western

GLō Best Western

There are also many hotels in downtown Asheville that are a short drive or bus ride away.

Airbnb

These Airbnb rentals are in walking distance…

Heaven in Haw Creek

Cozy and Quiet in The Trees

Asheville Dreamer’s Cabin

Hostels

Bon Paul & Sharkey’s in West Asheville is a fun place to stay but a bit further away.

Sweet Peas Hostel is located right in downtown Asheville several blocks from the bus station.

Camping

Mama Gertie’s Campground

Asheville East KOA 

Wilson’s RV Park

Public transportation is available from the airport to downtown Asheville, and from downtown Asheville to the classroom.

Transport from the Asheville airport is via Asheville Regional Transport (ART) bus service from the Asheville airport to the downtown ART Station via Route South 3.

Transportation is also available by bus from ART Station to the stop at Old Haw Creek Road & Bethesda Road (Stop Code 992) via Route 170.

Visit this page and select the above routes for more information.

Classes are 4 eight or nine hour days with sewing homework on the 3rd evening. The classes are an intimate social experience with a maximum of 6 students per class.

During the four day class you will:

• cast your individual feet
• learn pattern making and make paper patterns that can be reused
• transfer all that information onto the leather
• prepare the leather for sewing
• hand stitch the uppers to the leather sole
• Add any functional tabs or laces
• Add any decorative elements
• Attach various optional forms of rubber to the bottom of your soles
• Leave with a finished custom pair of shoes…and some new friends!

All the classes I teach have a wide range of creative options that can be chosen within a certain set of limitations. You can peruse my shoe class gallery to see photos of what past students have made. Expect to make a low top shoe. Boots are significantly harder and will be taught in future classes

The 10th century Scandinavian Turnshoe class teaches an old style of shoemaking where one piece of leather wraps around the upper part of your foot while a second thicker piece of leather rests beneath your foot and wraps up your heel. Even within this structure there is ample room for creativity. To finish the shoes you can either apply multiple coatings of recycled rubber powder and glue for a street ready shoe. Or, you can add a second layer of leather in order to make leather bottom dance shoes.

The Internal Stitchdown shoe is a more modern style of shoe. You will learn how to construct an upper from multiple pieces of overlapping leather and attach those to a thick leather sole. The shoes are then finished with Vibram brand commercial flat rubber soles.

I teach roughly 8 classes a year in my workshop. Check the classes page for exact dates.

Most people have no context for how hard it is to make a pair of custom high quality shoes. Between the mental focus of learning a new skill, and using hand muscles that most people are unaccustomed to using, you will need every hour of the four day class in order to complete one pair of shoes.

If you use orthotics you will want to bring them with you and be wearing them during the casting process so we can account for the space they take up in the finished shoe.

The first step in the class is learning how to make a duct tape casting on your foot. Whoever the shoes are for would need to be present at that moment. Once you have learned the process you can go on to cast other peoples feet and continue your shoe making passion.

There are a few reasons that I discourage kids from taking my classes. First, the class requires a level of hand strength and control that most kids do not have. Second, it is heartbreaking to spend four days making a pair of shoes that could last for decades and then outgrow them in six months. If you feel strongly about your child making shoes, reach out to me and we can have a conversation about it.

Michael is also a Co-Director at Forest Floor Wilderness Programs, which offers an evolving variety of crafting and nature-connection programs for kids.

This class takes moderate hand strength and uses muscles that many people are unaccustomed to using.

All four days will be necessary to show up, and instructions are frequently progressing and demonstrations will be interspersed throughout the days, so missing hours would be detrimental.

We do not offer payment plans.

I provide all the tools and materials you will need for my class. If you have tools or materials of your own you are welcome to bring them with you and we can talk about whether or not you can incorporate them into your shoe process.

Definitely! I will share with you all the knowledge you need as well as resources to continue your shoe making passion. The next step for you will be making decisions about tools and materials.

This is a huge question. Technically you can make a pair of shoes with just a knife and an awl but I guarantee you it won’t be easy. Every additional tool will make some part of the process easier. A bare bones tool set will probably cost you around $100 and if you wanted to get every tool imaginable you will probably spend over $1000. If you are patient you can find many old tools at flea markets and thrift stores.

Definitely! The Internal Stitch Down shoes with commercial rubber soles can be taken to any shoe repair person in the world for re-soling. Re-soling the turn shoes, however, is a job that likely you will have to do at home on your own, luckily, it’s quite easy.

1.  You can purchase some from me (but be patient).
2. You can order some online from Jason Hovatter at Laughing Crowe in Portland, Oregon. He is the person who taught me to make shoes.
3. You can find a tire re-treader that re-treads semi truck tires. Most legit places do not do this anymore so you have to find a smaller tire shop, maybe in a poorer neighborhood, and ask them if you can have a little bit of their rubber castoffs. If they do this work they will have a semi-truck trailer full of rubber powder that they send off to get recycled somewhere. If you are nice to them they may let you have some. If you are talking about a bucket of rubber out of their entire trailer they probably won’t be worried about it. I usually get a 5 gallon bucket at a time and that literally lasts me for years worth of classes.

Teaching is my real passion. With my busy teaching schedule I no longer have time to make custom shoes. And I find that the people that make their own shoes love and appreciate the finished product way more.

I do not sell kits, materials, or tools. Jason at Laughingcrowe.com sells tool kits and rubber powder. And there are many, many leather suppliers around the country.