I took in an order for a customer with flat feet and here are some photos of the last that I had made. Normally, I prefer to work with wooden lasts but because of the climate in Singapore and logistical issues, I find myself using more plastic lasts here. Before and After Here is a before and after shot of the last. The left shows the unmodified side while the right has been completed. Another angle While the lasts are built to the customer's measurements, there are usually 2 main points that I pay attention to on flat feet, namely adding volume to the arch and reducing volume from the instep ..read more

Photo special on a recently completed MTO pair. Model: Balmoral oxford with punched facing details Upper: Sunburst Museum Calf Construction: Handwelted and outsoles handstitched at 11spi Sole: Fiddleback - oak bark tanned Shoe Trees: Vintage cherry hinged Made in Singapore Shined with Pure Polish Products and laces by Strupai     ..read more

A single leather sole is around 6mm including the welt and it's not always easy to get a consistent finish.  Top view of toe I remember taking 5-6 hours for one side when I first started out. Nowadays I'm down to slightly over an hour and half. Good improvement but still some room to get faster. Different angle I do all my outsole stitching by hand and usually at 11spi for a single leather sole. For comparison, the higher end goodyear welted shoes usually come in at 8-9 spi and is done by machine. Stitching to be hidden away by a thin flap of leather Based on 11spi, there's about 150 or s ..read more

I've got some enquiries on what leather I use for our toe puffs so here's a short post. Our toe puffs come from Baker, a tannery in Devon UK which specialises in oak bark tanning. Baker's pit tanning process takes about 14months with fantastic end results  Toe puffs from Baker come pre-cut in about 2/2.5mm thickness.  Before and After The edges need to be skived down, with the straight edge paper thin. The round sides are skived to slightly less than 1mm so that they are still strong enough to be lasted. Skived Edge On fitting shoes, I use different toe puffs. On the left is&nbs ..read more

It took me a while to appreciate how much the toe puff affects the look of the finished shoes. Here's an image of a pair of chisel toe samples being made. Under those layers of leather is a ~4mm thick leather insole. Hardly noticeable due to the unbroken slope down to the feather edge. A small and subtle detail that carries a huge visual impact ..read more

  I have been recently interviewed by Fu Pei, blogger at www.fupei.net, regarding my brand and story. Please find the English version here at: http://fupei.net/?p=30890 And Chinese version here: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/355701757 -Tor ..read more

Photo special for some recent works All our shoes are proudly handmade in Singapore, including handwelting and handstitched outsoles. A black wholecut oxford with medallion with full-paint black soles, black linings and completed with antique black shoe trees.   A dark brown adelaide oxfords with a half-paint sole and custom initial, completed with vintage cherry shoe trees.   In other news, Fumu socks are now 15% off with min. purchase of 2 pairs till the end of Feb. We also now offer free worldwide shipping for orders above $50 SGD. Explore our range of soc ..read more

The finishing stage is arguably the most important step to get a beautiful looking shoe. A well-constructed shoe with poor finishing just looks awkward or cheap. Finishing shoes properly takes a lot of patience and takes up a disproportionate amount of time. For me, finishing takes up more time than welting and stitching the outsoles combined. Here's some photos of some steps during heel finishing. This step starts after the shaping the heel with a knife and after rasping. Wet the heel slightly and take a broken piece of glass and run it against the heel stack to remove all rasps marks Shavin ..read more

Happy New Year! Fumu (フム) is Japanese, meaning to step or to experience. We wish everyone the best as we put our best foot forward into the uncertainties of 2021! Here's some pictures of our first commission ready to be de-lasted. Made on a modified chisel toe last to accommodate a high instep. Fully handmade and handwelted with 11spi handstitched oak bark tanned outsoles ..read more

This is a mini pictorial tutorial on the decorative bar tack. We make all our bespoke shoes with this type of hand-stitching. It serves the same function as a regular bar tack but takes longer to finish. Tiny details can make a big difference and this adds a very intimate detail to shoes, at least for me. Thread, Curved Needles, Awl Pre-punch with sewing machine and widen slightly with awl (from the lining side) I thread mine through roughly 8 times Making the first loop (If i'm not wrong this is the same as a buttonhole stitch) Placing each stitch right next to each other Halfway throug ..read more