Reviving craftsmanship, teacher starts high school cobbling class
By Olivia Young
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Colorado (KCNC) — A teacher in the Denver metro area is reviving a lost art. Matt Paisley believes ThunderRidge is the only high school in the country to offer a cobbling class.
This is the first semester the class has been available, and it’s been so successful in the Douglas County school that there are more interested kids than spots for next semester.
“One at a time,” ThunderRidge High School teacher Matt Paisley coached a student using a sewing machine to add stitches to a shoe.
Inside Paisley’s ThunderRidge classroom in Highlands Ranch, 22 young cobblers are hard at work.
“Alex is hand stitching this stitch down boot and sole,” Paisley said to a group of students. “He channeled it, and then he’s going to use his jerk needle. It’s a different tool. He’s going to hand stitch all the way around. It will take hours.”
This is the first semester that the Fashion One course has included leathercraft, sewing and cobbling. It’s an idea the shop teacher — who runs a small custom boot and sandal business in his free time — pitched to the school and his students.
“This culture throws everything away instead of fixing it. The kids are learning also that proper craftsmanship is important,” Paisley said.
“We don’t have an organized system to train cobblers anymore. So I thought I would do something about that,” he added. “Before you can cobble, you have to learn how to sew. So that’s why there’s all these vintage sewing machines in here. The kids start off sewing their tool kit.”
By taking apart and rebuilding old shoes, students learn sewing, leathercraft and cobbling.
“So right now I’m welting the shoe,” said ThunderRidge sophomore Lexi Lezama. “This is the welt, and I take my awl and these lines that I drew on with Sharpie line up to the holes in the upper and… I sew a saddle stitch.”
The students work on vintage shoes and machines, donated by cobblers from around the country.
“The industry has been awesome. I get boxes regularly of donated supplies,” Paisley said.
“I’m gluing the bottom sole on. I put contact cement on both sides,” said ThunderRidge junior Lloyde Benell. “Then we just hammer out the whole side.”
Students like Benell have a background in woodshop.
“I find it very mesmerizing doing all the hand stitching and all that. It’s just very, like, calming,” Benell said.
While Lexi Lezama is interested in fashion:
“There’s two fashion design classes here at ThunderRidge, and I didn’t know what I was getting into, but I’m honestly, really glad I’m into this class,” Lezama said.
Many students come after school and during study hall to continue their work. Eventually, Paisley wants to run a cobbler’s shop out of the classroom.
“Mr. Paisley makes it really enjoyable. I really like how passionate he is. I walked in, like, not sure about taking this class, but as soon as he started talking about it, I realized, like, what he’s fought for this class… he made me want to be a part of this class,” Lezama said.
“I don’t think these kids are going to become cobblers, but that’s not the point. They’re learning how to make things and fix things,” Paisley said.
But if students do want to pursue a career in cobbling, Paisley says there will be jobs for them.
“The work is there. There’s too much work. There’s not enough trained staff. It’s a bottleneck, because you can’t take a pair of $500 boots and give them to somebody who doesn’t know how to do this stuff,” Paisley said.
Paisley wants his students to learn the value of craftsmanship and careful work.
“Has it changed your perspective about the kind of shoes that you would buy?” CBS Colorado’s Olivia Young asked Benell.
“Oh, definitely. I’ll always choose leather over plastic and all that quick stuff they’re making now,” Benell said.
“The way he talks about fast fashion and all that has definitely changed my views,” Lezama said. “These are definitely handcrafted and made with such detail that it’s made to last, like, forever. And shoes from like Shein are just, like, made so fast that they’re just, like, not good quality at all.”
Teaching a life skill through a lost art.
“Whether it’s wood, metal or leather, our kids solve problems and persevere,” Paisley said.
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