The Sewing Machines

Today the production of the Aurland shoe is more modernised, but a large amount of the work that goes in to making the Aurland shoe is still done by hand. For the most part, sewing machines are used to sew the shoes. Using a machine is a more effective and less tiring way of sewing than doing it by hand as was done before. Previously, when the shoes were hand stitched, they used linen thread from Ireland, and in place of a needle they used Russian pig bristles. The shoe makers fastened the pig bristle to a linen thread and started to sew the pieces of the shoe together. They punched a hole with an awl, and the pig bristles were threaded into the hole from each side. Today there are several different sewing machines used to sew different pieces of the Aurland shoes. Once all the pieces are sewn together, we are left with what is known as a ‘nåtling’. A nåtling is a shoe which is sewn together, but which has not been shaped and does not yet have a sole.