Your Chicago: Chicago School Of Shoemaking
CHICAGO (CBS) – Nearly four decades ago, Sara McIntosh needed a new pair of shoes, so she thought she'd try to make her own pair.
"My old pair was falling apart, and so I thought, 'Well, I'll just try and take them apart all the way and see how they were made and see if I can do it myself,'" she tells CBS 2's Kate Sullivan.
Thirty-eight years later, Sara is still creating shoes for herself and teaching others to do the same.
With a size 13 foot, James Dorsey was the very first student at Sara's School of Shoemaking.
When he put on the first pair he created, the shoes were "perfectly comfortable," Dorsey says.
That eureka moment has inspired him to give up his day job and make shoes full-time.
Other students are equally inspired.
"I loved every part of the process," Megan Music says. "There's nothing like it anywhere. What Sara does is really unique."
It doesn't cost that much less to make a pair of shoes, rather than buy them. But for Sara it's about the process of creating something from scratch and learning the art of cutting, sewing and molding leather into footwear.
"I think there is something very satisfying about making something that's so vital to our needs, just to be wearing a pair of shoes that you actually made yourself," she says.
Sara sells her handmade shoes for around $300 a pair. To find out about her shoemaking and her school, click here.
