The Making of the Patiala Jutti

The first step in making a jutti is creating a wooden template. This is done out of local wood.

A craftsman with wooden template of a jutti. This will be inserted in the shoe in order to ensure the correct shape and size. Its use also stretches the leather, preventing any unwanted wrinkles.

Wooden shoe templates at a workshop in Patiala. Like the jutti, these frames also do not have a distinct left or right foot. This particular form is popularly used for making men’s juttis. The front is elongated, curving upwards.

The template used for women’s juttis, along with a finished piece. The front is rounded, with a slight depression in the centre.

While traditionally home based, jutti production now mostly takes place in small workshops. Artisans are specialised, each responsible for a particular task.

Here, the craftsman on the left is creating designs on the upper, while the one on the right sticks and presses layers for the jutti's back using a mallet.

An artisan die-cuts material for the sole. Traditionally, tough hide was used for this purpose, after it had been treated and softened. Most production has now shifted to using the so-called Taiwanese sheet, a type of artificial leather.

The primary tools of the artisan: a cutter, called ramba, and a wooden mallet used for flattening and applying pressure.

The ramba in use.

A foam sheet being marked to cut out a layer of padding for the sole. The traditional jutti used only tough leather for the sole, without any padding or softening layer.

Craftsman Channan Lal sticks together layers that make up the insole, padding and sole of the jutti.

Stencils are also prepared for the front piece or the upper of the shoe, for cutting and tracing of designs. In the image, they are stacked and sorted by size.

Preparing the front upper, called panna. Here, a layer of fabric stuck on the outer side of the panna is being trimmed to size.

Jutti uppers with a circular punched design.

Different types of stencils used to create punched designs.

A craftswoman adding a line of metallic thread embroidery to a shoe upper.
While men do the cutting, assembling and stitching of the jutti, the work of adding design and embellishment is done by women artisans.

Uppers for women’s shoes being stretched on their wooden templates.

The third section: the back of the jutti.

To add stiffness to the back portion of the shoe, a cardboard sheet is stuck to the leather/rexine. After that, according to the design, another sheet of leather, rexine or cloth will be glued to the free side of the cardboard.

An artisan beats down on the layers that have been stuck together to form the back portion of the shoe.

Making the upturned curl of men's jutti's.

Machine embroidered decoration on artificial leather. Much of the embellishment of juttis has switched from hand done to lower priced designs, greatly reducing the cost of the finished product and making it more accessible to a large customer base.

Machine embroidery on fabric, which will be pasted as the outer layer of the font upper.

Attaching the upper to the sole. The traditional thread used for this was of cotton, and comprised of several strands plied together to ensure strength and toughness.

An craftsman pins the hind part of the jutti into the sole, before stitching them together.

The sewing on the inside of the jutti. Although technological advancements have enabled various processes to become mechanised, the stitching of the different parts of the jutti is still done by hand. No machine can manoeuvre to accomplish the required task.

An artisan applies a softening solution in preparation to stitching the sole. Buffalo or ox hide was the common material used for the sole earlier; various synthetic alternatives are now available.

Finally, the jutti is stained or painted upon as per the requirement. Here, the leather jutti is stained to a tan colour.

A stack of ready juttis with punched designs on them kept to dry.

Some embellishment like adding hand painted elements on the jutti, is also done at the end. Here, a woman sits in the courtyard of her home, painting designs on juttis.

The final stage: a craftsperson checking the finished pieces and clipping extra unwanted threads.

Read more about Patiala's Jutti making tradition here:

- Makers of the Famed Patiala Jutti
- Women Add a Special Touch to the Jutti