Valkenburg/Castleford style caliga step by step

[Martin Moser]

Finally the lower end of the back seam needs to be attached to the part of the leather that forms the middle layer of the caligae sole. Note that I did not sew down all the way to the end but left the last part open. First I needed to cut off little triangles from the lowest part of the heel, as those edges would overlap when folded inwards, because of the rounding of the heel.



Push the unsewn section inward now and press and form the leather to get the heel form right.



That is the way I want it to be, so I use the left over yarn from the back seam I just did. The length should be just enough to sew this on. I use a double stitch again for better durability, as walking puts a lot of stress on this seam. Each end of the yarn is used for one side, going forward for about 5 stitches and then backward again using the same holes so that both ends meet again in the middle, where they can be knotted then.
(I cannot attest to the historicity of this way to close the back seam at the heel, as to my knowledge unfortunately none of the researchers so far bothered to explain or show/draw this in detail even though it is a crucial point in construction IMHO. I have written Carol van Driel-Murray on this matter and am waiting and hoping for an answer at the moment.)



Time needed: 30 min