blog – Dr. Elizabeth Pankratz

Keys + cards + airtag leather wallet (free pattern)

Leatherwork

Patterns

I wanted a simple wallet that would hold my day-to-day cards and keys, as well as an airtag. This post shares a downloadable PDF of the pattern I came up with.

Shoemaking step-by-step

Shoemaking

A post for reference! This is a checklist of every step in my process for making hand-welted leather boots and shoes.

It takes 242,516 minutes to do a PhD

PhD

That’s 4041 hours and 56 minutes! I tracked all my work time during the PhD, and now that it’s done, I can finally crunch the numbers.

Handmade derby boots 5: Midsoles and outsoles

Shoemaking

The final step before the boots take their first! ✨

Handmade derby boots 4: Lasting and welting

Shoemaking

The two parts of shoemaking that I find the most challenging happen back to back! But they’re also probably the most rewarding.

Handmade derby boots 3: Preparing insoles and welts

Shoemaking

In which I slice and dice the veg tan leather that’ll go under the sole and around the outer edge of each boot.

Handmade derby boots 2: ‘Clicking’ and ‘closing’

Shoemaking

Less jargonly known as ‘cutting out the pattern pieces’ and ‘sewing them together’.

Handmade derby boots 1: Drafting the pattern

Shoemaking

In a series of posts, I’m going to share my process for crafting a pair of handsewn, hand-welted leather derby boots.

Doctors hate this one weird synthesis matrix trick

PhD

Resources

Not a lot of what I did in the first year of my PhD was a great use of time… but I did create a darn good setup for managing my literature that’s paying off years later.