Finding his sole: How a Riverview chess master rebooted his life with handmade shoes

Riverview's Daniel Mallais spent 30 years as a competitive chess player.

But after retiring from the sport, it wasn't another game of strategy that drew him in, but shoemaking.

Last year, the Grade 5 teacher at Sainte-Thérèse School in Dieppe, N.B., took up making his own boots, looking for something to fill the king-sized hole in his life.

"When I stop, I kind of have that void," said Mallais. 

"What am I going to do now because it took a lot of my time and it was very stimulating."

So Mallais did what many people looking to pick up a new hobby do, he first picked up a book. In his case it was called "Making Handmade Shoes: A Step-by-Step Guide."

And, like a lot of other people trying out a new hobby, he quickly became overwhelmed.

"I thought, 'Oh, there's no way I can do that,'" Mallais said. "Step-by-step guide, too many steps."

But Mallais stuck to it and eventually he had his first pair of boots.

They weren't pretty, he said, and were created, in part, by cannibalizing a sole from a used pair of Calvin Klein boots bought at Frenchy's. He said they resembled "a Frankenstein boot."

But they were functional, and he quickly progressed to a second pair of much more attractive boots.

"They're extremely comfortable because they're made to my feet," said Mallais. "If I put my hand in it, you can feel it. It's the imprint of my feet."

Now over a year later, Mallais can make a pair of boots in about 30 hours.

Now that he's a pro, he wouldn't consider taking material from a second-hand pair of boots. He said the quality of the boot is determined by the quality of the materials.

"I always choose the best material," said Mallais. 

And while his intention was never to sell them, his company Uncle Dan's Boots has orders piling up.

"If someone orders, about probably in three months, I would be able to do it," said Mallais.

While he could invest in machines that would make the job much easier — and faster — he said some of the pleasure would be lost by moving away from his pre-industrial methods.

As his website states, "What sets Uncle Dan's apart is Daniel's unique approach — sewing the upper of each boot by hand, a rarity in today's fast-paced production environment."

"I probably [am] gonna stay more like an artisan," said Mallais.