Construction of opanci as described in Opančar i opančarija
As promised, a bit about the construction of opanci. Information regarding this craft is rather scarce because in many ways, it was considered a household chore. And later, with the profesionalisation of the craft into a trade, a trade secret, with every tradesman having their own construction style. Please note that the trade opančarstvo was and still is in official trade regulations deemed seperate from cordwaining. Most existing descriptions of construction either focus predominantly on the tanning of leather (since the two crafts were inseperable: once you had the leather, the rest was trivial, so to speak); or were made by ethnographers more concerned with documenting the existance of the craft and people's relationship to it, than towards the details of what it actually is. I have managed to locate only a single written resource: Opančar i opančarija by Ferdo Hefele, published 1890. (I suppose this work was made in the crucial historical moment when opanci were still regular footwear, but there was also a sizeable enough literary culture, and also an interest due to the Iliric movement.) Possibly, there exists one more, but it only exists as an unpublished manuscript, and I haven't managed to reach the author.
The sole itself is, not at all confusingly, called opanak. (At some point you could even buy just the soles, and then make the rest yourself.) The sole is made either from vegetable tanned leather or rawhide. Rawhide is easier to obtain if you're doing everything from scratch, just salt and dry stretched the cleaned skin of whatever animal you just ate. It is also more waterproof than tanned leather. However, it is also harder, stiffer and less durable. Apparently, rawhide can be softened by working oil into it and bending. The edging of the sole is made from whatever material the top is made. The main disambiguation between different types is by the construction of the top: either braided (putranci) or whole (kapičari). Then by whether or not there exists a heel piece (petaši) . And then by the type of fastening or lack thereof. Also by whether or not the sole has a beak (kljunaši or šiljkaši). Finally, the braiding can be done in leather/rawhide strips, leather/rawhide strips that have been spun like yarn, prepared intestines, spun prepared intestines, or string. The material that the braids are made from is in all cases called oputa. An approximate amount of oputa needed for a pair of opanci is two arm widths (from one tip of fingers to the other when you stretch out your arms).
(Modern iteration using rubber, typically tire rubber, for the sole also exist, but the attaching of the sole is done in simple sewing to the kapica, and as far as I know, only kapičari types exist. These could be considered as a transition towards modern footwear, however, not only did modern footwear exist alongside opanci for centuries, but also a whole different construction based on opanci exists in bespoke cordwaining, but more about that in some other post. These theories are completely amaterial and historically revisionist.)
First, the sole must be wetted so it can be molded. This is why only vegetable tanned leather or rawhide can be used, other kinds of leather are not suitable for wet molding. Then it is cut, holes are prepared, and it is then edged. The sole is cut somewhat larger than the footprint, depending on how high you want the sides to be. Tradespeople used to have standardised patterns for every shoe size, but it is honestly rather arbitrary. If you want your opanak to have a beak, extra material should be left at the tip.
The sole is edged with the material of the top in a simple blanket stitch. Edging is started from the tip, and the tip must be firstly tied together. Care should be made that the spacing and tension is uniform. If done properly, the sole will start to curl into a bowl shape. (Fun fact, some dialects call opanci bowls, ie. šolje!) Then, either a whole piece of leather called kapica (lit. little hat) is attached, or paralel oputa is pulled from one side to the other, starting at the tip. These transversal bands of oputa are called vrnčanice. Here, the fact that the blanket stitch was used comes in handy, and the oputa used in either method should not obscur the topline of the blanket stitch, but rather weave below them. The last vrnčanica is usually decorative or somehow elaborate, often done in the prepletanje or vrnčanje methods described below. After this is completed, the opanak is stretched onto a last. The last can be any kind, really, but it looks the best if the toe box is tapered, especially if a beaked variant is being made. Traditionally, no difference is made between the left and right foot. In the past, when made inside the household, any vaguely right sized block of wood or stone would be used. Once on the last, the vrnčanice are tightened and the braiding can start.
Braiding can be done in many ways. Simplest is plain weaving, where oputa is woven in a plain weave into the vrnčanice. If the oputa was spun, then the process is called presukivanje, where two pieces are used in tandem: when one is above, the other goes below, and when they meet, they are twisted together like you would to ply yarn. So if you spun them in Z direction when preparing, you would spin them together in the S direction in between the vrnčanice. After this spinning, they would change places: the bottom is now on the top side, and the upper one is now below. Lastly, if the oputa was not spun, a process called prepletanje can be used. Here also, two pieces are used at once, one below when the other is above. Except, when they meet, a hole is made in the upper piece through which the bottom is threaded (see gif below). Preplet can also be done with one piece of oputa that gets threaded through itself. A technique similar to prepletanje is used to join two pieces of oputa if your piece is too short.
In case a kapica is used, braiding in either preplet or vrnčanje method should be employed on the oputa connecting the kapica to the edging. Kapica can also be directly attached while edging the sole. But this would requier a different order of operations (first molding on the last, and then edging, or similair). Of course, none of this is a science, and every craftsperson makes theirs a bit differently.
The heel piece is attached in the same manner as kapica, or built upon the sole from braiding. It is also not mandatory. The fastening method attachment is also varied and not mandatory, from simple loops, to belts attached in the same manner as edging.
Opanci can be decorated in many ways: with artful braiding, braids in different colours, strips of oputa pulled through kapica and the heel piece, fringes, etc.
The whole book, describing the specifics of production of some region specific types, as well as the tanning proccess, statistics, a short story about the adventures of a boy becoming a master opančar (I'm high key amused how anything used to go in old books), and plenty more can be found here: libgen link , archive.org link , scribd link .
I bought a whole bunch of stuff for cordwaining and honestly can't wait to see this go completely wrong for no real reason. Complete beginner at shoemaking
