Tallukkaat – Finnish homemade winter boots > with my hands

Tallukkaat (plural. single: tallukas) are quilted winter shoes originally worn in Satakunta and Häme regions of Finland. These were cheaper alternatives to expensive professionally made shoes and could be made at home out of wool scraps and whatever materials one had available. They came in many shapes and sizes and their popularity grew during difficult times. Making of tallukkaat spread around the country in popular courses during the 20th century. Of course, I wanted to make my own pair and personalize them with pretty embroidery.

I used Tallukkaat pattern from this book by Milla Helenius as a base. However, I did do several things differently as I didn’t have all the materials that were called for. I also wanted to add a non-slippery rubber sole to my boots.

Making these boots was fun. I didn’t know what to expect and I was positively surprised that they turned out just fine. They are quite roomy still.

I tried to stay away from perfectionism and this shows with the embroidery. I tried different patterns and colours and didn’t go back to correct any mistakes. The left and right shoes are different from each other and I like them that way.

If I make a second pair, I will consider making them in a smaller size. Although the boots look fine, I have this odd sensation of my heel being not directly on top of the shoe heel. It doesn’t really bother me much but I think that if the pattern fitted my shoe last better, I could have avoided this problem altogether.