Lisa Sorrell, cowboy boot maker

How It Started
How It’s Going

Allow me to introduce myself, for those who don’t know me. My name is Lisa Sorrell, and I was raised in a conservative little church where the ladies all wore long hair and long dresses. My mother began teaching me to sew at age twelve and by age fifteen I was sewing professionally. Yes, I made that stylish ensemble I’m wearing in the photo on the left. I have a vast and deep knowledge of hymns, gospel music, and four-part a cappella harmony singing. If you ever need someone to sing all three verses of “What A Friend We Have In Jesus” *in order* I’m your girl, but since I no longer attend church my skills in this area are mostly unappreciated.

When I was twenty-one I answered an ad in the local newspaper looking for someone to “stitch boot tops.” I had no idea what that meant, I didn’t know there were people who made footwear, and I’d never worn cowboy boots. As it turned out, my sewing skills served me well and I quickly decided I wanted to become a cowboy boot maker. Over thirty years later, I’m an award-winning artist and published author, I regularly speak and teach both nationally and internationally, and I’ll be inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum this fall. My work, a pair of Oklahoma-themed cowboy boots titled “This Land Is Your Land,” is on permanent display at the Oklahoma State Capitol. In 2025 I received a Lifetime Achievement Award celebrating my contributions to the craft of cowboy boot making.

Introducing: “The Seeker”

I made this pair of boots many years ago for a client who continually challenged me to try something new, and I will forever be grateful to him. I firmly believe that you don’t truly understand a concept or a craft if you only know What to do or What to think; it’s when you begin to know Why that you approach mastery. The design deviates from traditional cowboy boot construction, and at the time I made them I only dimly understood cowboy boot patterning. I muddled my way through it, figured out some things along the way, and took one more step on the road to understanding Why.

The second image shows the hand-drawn sketch he sent. He was fussy about details but I do love working for a client who has the ability to tell me exactly what they want. It’s clients who want something in particular but are completely unable to articulate it other than, “Not that” who are a challenge.

I inseamed two pairs of boots today. The thread I’m using is called a taper; it’s seven cords twisted together that taper down to the thickness of a hair at each end. I wax the thread with a sticky wax called Hand Wax and then twist the tapered ends around a bristle. When the thread is waxed and the bristles are attached, it’s called a Waxed End. The bristle is stiff so I can feed it through the hole I punch with the curved awl, and then I can draw the full thickness of thread through the hole. Shoe makers used to actually use boar’s bristles (and some still do) but my bristles are cheap plastic fishing line.

Once I begin sewing on the welt, I keep the wooden haft/handle in my right hand always; I don’t ever lay it down as I’m sewing. After feeding both bristles through in opposing directions, I pull out all the slack, wrap the thread on the left side around my left hand (I wear a glove), loop the thread on the right side around the narrow part of the haft, and pull the stitch down tight. Because the thread is waxed, once I pull it down it will stay tight and not relax.

It takes me around 45 minutes to inseam, or stitch the welt, on one cowboy boot.

Today was also about toes — shaping one pair, and sewing around the other pair.

Boot makers and boot companies have all sorts of names for different boot toe shapes, but Jay Griffith called this a Narrow Square Toe so I do also. It’s my very favorite toe shape.

I lasted these yesterday and it went well. If there’s one leather* that’s going to fight back during lasting it will be ostrich, so it’s always a relief to have it done.

*Well… stingray is always a pain but hey, making stingray boots is a personal choice and I’m not going to feel sorry about your poor decision-making skills.

The plain black boots are successfully lasted! There was a small hiccup that required me to take the first boot back off the last, turn them wrong-side-out again, take out part of the side seam, and sew it again by hand. Fortunately this all went very well. I did one and showed it to Holly, telling her how good it looked and how relieved I was about it. She said, “Yeah, but can you do it exactly the same way on the second one and make it match?” I gave her my Very Best Dirty Look, because that definitely was the question. (But also, I was proud of her for knowing!)

For the boot makers in my audience: I have decided that from now on I will take triple the side draft on the front panels only. There’s so much excess stretch left in a one-piece front or high vamp style that’s impossible to remove. It opens up at the vamp/counter line because of this, making the Short Heel that you cut so accurately too big and also allowing the side seam to distort back toward the counter. When I took the side seam out I left the back panel as it was and cut an extra 1/4″ on each side for the side draft. That’s a lot! It brought them right back into shape though and accurately fixed the crooked side seam and the too-far drop down the cone.

2027 Cowboy Boot Calendars are available now! Please be impressed that this year I did not wait until the last minute to create them.

I decided to challenge myself with something truly difficult — plain black boots. You can’t hide mistakes on plain black boots; there’s nothing to distract the eye and every error is clearly visible. Wish me luck. Throwing them out and consoling myself with something colorful is still being considered.

I’ve been traveling for a week, which meant I had to spend all day yesterday at my desk catching up on paperwork, messages, emails, and bills, but I’m finally back in my shop! I turned this pair today and they’re ready to put on the lasts.