Reject R.A.F. material—Icelandic sheepskin with the wool on, and leather waste scraps from local factories—is being put to good use at Kettering and Rushden, and being used by women, girl, and boy students of the County Schools of Boot and Shoe Manufacture. They are made into wool-lined and wedge-heeled slippers, gym shoes, babies' ankle-strap shoes, attractively designed and coloured table mats, natty necklaces, and prettily-fashioned belts in many colours among which are beige, red, green, blue, and pink.
At an exhibition of work by members of Handcraft Classes held at the Kettering School, Thorngate-street, the County Superintendent of Boot and Shoe Instruction (Mr. F. P. Wootton) paid tribute to the work done by the, woman and girl volunteers for instruction, stating that the classes had been established only in September. "They have shown that the ladies in Kettering have a great deal of ability, for, according to the handcraft instructress (Miss Dorothy Bird), the standard achieved in the time is remarkable," he said.
The students number 70 altogether or this kind of work, and use the materials provided very deftly, considering the few weeks they have been under instruction.
The table mats have provided splendid cutting practice for boy students.
Patterns Sold
No fewer than 600 sets of patterns, made by boy students to designs prepared by Mr Wootton, have been sold from the Kettering and Rushden schools to education authorities up and down the country, service stations and youth groups. Each school has made a profit of £60, which has been allocated to the schools' social fund.
Since 1937 silent and talking films have been used at the Kettering and Rushden schools to facilitate instruction. One of the films, which is usually shown to new students, provides a general impression of a shoe factory—incidentally that of Messrs. William Timpson, Ltd., North Park. Kettering.
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