Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairer Construct, decorate, or repair leather and leather-like products, such as luggage, shoes, and saddles. May use hand tools.
Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairer is Also Know as
In different settings, Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairer is titled as
- Boot Maker
- Cobbler
- Cutter
- Leather Worker
- Saddle and Harness Maker
- Shoe Cutter
- Shoe Maker
- Shoe Repairer
- Shoe Repairman
- Stitcher
Education and Training of Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairer
Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairer is categorized in Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairer
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
Education Required for Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairer
These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Degrees Related to Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairer
- Bachelor in Shoe, Boot and Leather Repair
- Associate Degree Courses in Shoe, Boot and Leather Repair
- Masters Degree Courses in Shoe, Boot and Leather Repair
Training Required for Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairer
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairer in different industries are
- Sewers, Hand
- Shoe Machine Operators and Tenders
- Sewing Machine Operators
- Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
- Upholsterers
- Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand
- Furniture Finishers
- Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers
- Cutters and Trimmers, Hand
- Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers
- Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers
- Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials
- Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing
- Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers
- Patternmakers, Metal and Plastic
- Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Foundry Mold and Coremakers
- Print Binding and Finishing Workers
- Etchers and Engravers
What Do Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairer do?
- Cut out parts, following patterns or outlines, using knives, shears, scissors, or machine presses.
- Construct, decorate, or repair leather products according to specifications, using sewing machines, needles and thread, leather lacing, glue, clamps, hand tools, or rivets.
- Align and stitch or glue materials such as fabric, fleece, leather, or wood, to join parts.
- Dye, soak, polish, paint, stamp, stitch, stain, buff, or engrave leather or other materials to obtain desired effects, decorations, or shapes.
- Select materials and patterns, and trace patterns onto materials to be cut out.
- Dress and otherwise finish boots or shoes, as by trimming the edges of new soles and heels to the shoe shape.
- Estimate the costs of requested products or services such as custom footwear or footwear repair, and receive payment from customers.
- Attach insoles to shoe lasts, affix shoe uppers, and apply heels and outsoles.
- Cement, nail, or sew soles and heels to shoes.
- Shape shoe heels with a knife, and sand them on a buffing wheel for smoothness.
- Repair or replace soles, heels, and other parts of footwear, using sewing, buffing and other shoe repair machines, materials, and equipment.
- Make, modify, and repair orthopedic or therapeutic footwear according to doctors' prescriptions, or modify existing footwear for people with foot problems and special needs.
- Repair and recondition leather products such as trunks, luggage, shoes, saddles, belts, purses, and baseball gloves.
- Place shoes on lasts to remove soles and heels, using knives or pliers.
- Clean and polish shoes.
- Check the texture, color, and strength of leather to ensure that it is adequate for a particular purpose.
- Read prescriptions or specifications, and take measurements to establish the type of product to be made, using calipers, tape measures, or rules.
- Inspect articles for defects, and remove damaged or worn parts, using hand tools.
- Drill or punch holes and insert or attach metal rings, handles, and fastening hardware, such as buckles.
- Attach accessories or ornamentation to decorate or protect products.
- Cut, insert, position, and secure paddings, cushioning, or linings, using stitches or glue.
- Draw patterns, using measurements, designs, plaster casts, or customer specifications, and position or outline patterns on work pieces.
- Measure customers for fit, and discuss with them the type of footwear to be made, recommending details such as leather quality.
- Stretch shoes, dampening parts and inserting and twisting parts, using an adjustable stretcher.
- Nail heel and toe cleats onto shoes.
- Prepare inserts, heel pads, and lifts from casts of customers' feet.
- Re-sew seams, and replace handles and linings of suitcases or handbags.
Qualities of Good Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairer
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Tools Used by Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairer
- Automatic sole stitchers
- Bench trimmers
- Block planes
- Buffing wheels
- Cobblers' pincers
- Computer inkjet printers
- Cordless drills
- Credit card readers
- Digital calipers
- Digital scales
- Electronic cash registers
- Hand clamps
- Heavy duty scissors
- Heel-nailing machines
- Hole punching equipment
- Industrial sewing machines
- Knife sharpeners
- Leather awls
- Leather drive punch sets
- Leather punchers
- Leather rivet settings
- Leather shears
- Leather skivers
- Measuring tapes
- Mini leather cutters
- Outside stitching machines
- Personal computers
- Polish applicator brushes
- Portable electric fabric cutters
- Precision rulers
- Razor knives
- Rotary fabric cutters
- Rotary hole punchers
- Safety gloves
- Scissor sharpeners
- Sewing needles
- Shoe hammers
- Shoe lasts
- Shoe polishing machines
- Shoe repair presses
- Shoe sanding machines
- Slip-joint pliers
- Sole stitchers
- Tack hammers
- Utility knives
- Wire cleaning brushes
- Wire nippers
Technology Skills required for Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairer
- Bookkeeping software
- Financial accounting software
- Inventory tracking software
- Microsoft Excel
- Sale processing software