Essential AdviceExactly how are those custom-made boots created? Tools of the Trade
- The Singer 3115 sewing machine, often over 75 years old, remains the industry standard for use in custom handstitching. These workhorse sewing machines can easily pierce the layers of heavy material used in boot making.
- Dies are sometimes used to cut leather for the uppers. A hydraulic press presses the die into the leather, like a cookie cutter into dough.
How to Know You're Riding in Style
- Tres Outlaws boots are constructed entirely of leather, including the handmade toe boxes. Mass-produced boots, and even some custom shops, use synthetic materials in at least part of the process, often choosing cardboard or plastic toe boxes.
- One of the easiest distinguishing marks of high-quality, custom-made cowboy boots are the lemonwood pegs used to secure the sole around the steel shank at the arch. Lemonwood pegs are used because they expand and contract with the leather as the boots alternately get wet or dry out.
- Customizing the last, the block or form shaped like a human foot and used in making or repairing shoes, is the most important part of getting a good custom fit. Two shoe lasts in the correct general size and width of each individual foot are built up with pieces of leather to accommodate the idiosyncracies of the client's feet. The boots are then constructed around these customized lasts.
- Heels are actually layered pieces of heavy leather, which are hand-shaped to the proper size and style after they are attached to the sole of the boot.
So Many Heels, So Little Time
- Designing a pair of cowboy boots is not a simple task. Once a customer has selected the material to be used, he or she must still choose the heel height and style, stitching style, boot height, boot strap style, toe style and any other trim.
- Toe styles range from the basic rounded toe to the sharp X-toe (or cross-toe). The X-toe can be further modified to 1/2 inch, 3/4 inch, or 1 inch X-toe. Rob's boots are a 3/4 inch X-toe.
- There is a vast array of materials that can be used in making boots, including the commonly used alligator hide to more exotic coverings like ostrich, stingray and rattlesnake.
When Art Meets the Old West
- Hand tooling, hand stitching, beading, painting (or staining) and inlay are several ways a design can be incorporated into leather.
- The Autry Boots, which are an amazingly complex filigree design by Tres Outlaws, are all hand-tooled and sell for about $17,500. Over 200 hours of work goes into the leather tooling alone.
- Rocketbuster Boots, famous for their cool, funky designs, use inlay, tooling and painting extensively in their boots. Some of Emily's favorite boots are Rocketbuster's Roadside Attractions, which feature hand-tooled and painted Route 66-style diner and shop signs.
- Leather inlay is similar to wood inlay. Designs are cut into the leather, and the holes are filled in with contrasting colors or materials to create the design. The inlaid leather is then stitched to the outside leather. The stitching of inlay is just as much a part of the artistry as the inlay itself.
Contact Information
Tres Outlaws Boot Company
421 South Cotton Street
El Paso, TX 79901
915-544-2727
Tresoutlaw@aol.com
Falconhead (Tres Outlaws' retail store in Los Angeles)
11911 San Vicente Blvd. #150
Los Angeles, CA 90049
310-471-7075
info@Falconhead.com
www.Falconhead.com
Rocketbuster Boots
115 S. Anthony Street
El Paso, TX 79901
915-541-1300
www.rocketbuster.com | 
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