We didn't set out to run a school. We set out to make good shoes.
LastCraft Workshop began as a small production bench run by two cordwainers filling custom orders for local customers. Curious friends kept asking to watch — then to try it themselves. What started as informal Saturday sessions turned into a proper curriculum, built around the same welted and stitch-down construction methods used on paying commissions.
Today the studio runs weekly classes from a converted workshop space in Loveland, Colorado, and has trained hundreds of first-time makers alongside working leatherworkers looking to add shoemaking to their skillset.
A shoe is not a kit. Anyone can be shown how to punch pre-cut pieces together in an afternoon — that's not what we teach. Every LastCraft class builds a shoe from a flat hide: you pattern it, cut it, stitch it, and last it yourself, with an instructor correcting your technique at the bench.
We keep classes small — usually six to ten makers per session — because shoemaking is a hands-on trade that's hard to learn by watching. You'll spend more time with an awl in your hand than listening to a lecture.
Trained in welted construction; builds custom boots and shoes on commission when not teaching.
Specializes in lasting and fit — leads the 5-Day Custom Shoe/Boot sessions.
Teaches the one-day formats — sneakers, sandals, and the intro hand-stitching sessions.