The workroom
One workroom in Brunswick, twelve pairs of hands, and a method that has not been improved on.
Kennebec Handsewn is one workroom in Brunswick, Maine, about a mile up from the Androscoggin. Twelve people work here. Between them they cut, sew, last, bottom and finish every pair that leaves the building, and there is no second factory, no licensed line and no overseas bench.
How it started
David Merrill learned to handsew in a shoe shop in 1971, at a time when a dozen Maine towns still had one. When the last of those shops closed he bought two cutting tables, a stitcher and a rack of lasts, rented a garage, and kept sewing the same way. His daughter runs the floor now. The 114 last we use for penny loafers is the same wooden shape he started with.
What we actually make
Everything here is moccasin construction or a near relative of it. The upper wraps under the foot in one piece; the seam that closes it is pulled by hand with two needles and waxed linen thread. That is slower than any machine and it is the reason the shoe moulds to a foot instead of fighting it.
186 styles are in the book at the moment — loafers, camp mocs, boat shoes, chukkas and lace-up boots, bluchers and longwings, a low court shoe, slippers, belts and a small number of leather carry pieces sewn from the same hides.
Leather
We buy whole hides from four tanneries: Horween in Chicago for shell cordovan and chromexcel, a Wisconsin tannery for bison, and two smaller yards for suede and oiled fleshout. Hides arrive with their history on them — fence scars, bug bites, growth marks. A clicker reads the grain and cuts around the flaws by eye, which is why two pairs in the same colour are never quite twins.
Made to order
We do not keep a warehouse. When you buy a pair, a cutting ticket is printed and the leather is chosen that week. Two to three weeks later the shoe goes in a box. It also means we can put your size and width together in combinations a stock model never would.
Repairs
Bring the shoe back when the sole is through. We resole in the same workroom that built it, on the original last where we still have it. A handsewn shoe is a repair job waiting to happen — we build them so the repair is worth doing.
Where to find us
The shoes are cut and sewn in Brunswick. Orders, returns, repairs and customer care are handled from our office at 605 Ouida St, Grand Prairie, TX 75051 — write to hello@kennebechandsewn.shop or call (469) 516-6539.