Shoe repair video gives cobbler’s craft a lift

Audiences soothed, captivated watching him restore footwear.

As a shoe cobbler, Jim McFarland has spent his career with his eyes trained downward on his work. He never expected anyone to care much about his craft.

But McFarland, 59, now has more than 1 million followers on TikTok and hundreds of thousands on Instagram. He posts videos of his work as a cobbler — from replacing thin soles to fixing zippers, reviving rubber heels to adding customized touches to timeworn pieces. McFarland breathes new life into seemingly unwearable shoes from his shop in Lakeland, Florida.

To his shock, people are captivated.

“If you would have told me three years ago that shoe repairs could have a stage, I would have laughed,” McFarland said from his shop, McFarland’s Shoe Repair, while shining a pair of leather dress shoes from the 1980s. “I can’t believe all these people enjoy it.”

Viewers are mesmerized by McFarland’s careful cobbling, which usually involves a combination of meticulously dissecting old shoes and reconstructing them until they appear new. While McFarland often uses a sanding machine, he does most of the work by hand and with basic tools.

In one video, which has been viewed nearly 60 million times, McFarland revives and personalizes a pair of limited-edition boots, painting the soles a deep indigo shade. The video shows every step of the painstaking process.

“Fascinating,” one follower wrote, “and oddly satisfying.”

“I could watch a cobbler all day!” another commented. “It is so relaxing to me.”

According to McFarland, becoming a cobbler — one of the world’s oldest professions — isn’t simple.

“It takes three to five years to learn the trade,” said McFarland, who comes from a long line of cobblers. He learned from his father, who learned from his father, who learned from his uncle. “This is my family heritage, my history. We’ve been at it a long time.”

McFarland’s great-uncle had a shoe repair shop in Anderson, Indiana, in the early 1900s. McFarland’s grandfather was his apprentice, and by 1920, he had his own shop. McFarland’s father also learned the trade and launched a chain of shoe repair shops in Lakeland, Florida, in 1967. McFarland’s Shoe Repair, which opened in 1981, is the only one left.

As a teen, McFarland wasn’t keen on becoming a cobbler. When he was 20, though, his father got sick, and McFarland dropped out of college to help him run the family business. He ultimately took over.

“I had a feeling I was going to wind up back here anyway,” McFarland said. “I have no regrets. I really love being here.”

The shoe repair industry has been dwindling for decades, with only about 3,500 repair business scattered across the country. Between 2018 and 2023, the number of cobbling businesses has shrunk 2.4% per year on average.

“The problem is, nobody’s learning the craft,” said McFarland, who is training his nephew to one day take over his shop.

Remaining cobblers like McFarland are struggling to manage the demand.

“It gets a little hectic trying to keep up,” said McFarland, whose daughter, Tori McFarland, 25, launched his social media presence just before the coronavirus pandemic, drawing in even more business.

As McFarland’s videos began to take off, people across the country who were struggling to find local cobblers started asking if he would accept mail-in shoe repairs. While he had never done it in the past, McFarland said, mail-in orders now make up about 50% of his business.

McFarland is an advocate for buying high-quality shoes and mending them as needed, rather than purchasing inexpensive and trendy shoes that tend to not weather well. He said he frequently fixes shoes that are more than 40 years old. When he’s finished with them, “they’ll be good for probably another 30 to 50 years if you take care of them,” he said.

“With all of the stuff that we have on this planet — stuff that is made out of plastic and polyester and stuff that is not going to biodegrade in the landfill — we need to keep it in the rotation for as long as possible,” said Rebecca Harrison, 32, the founder of Old Flame Mending, a tailor in Avalon, Pennsylvania, that specializes in reviving old garments.

“Good material can always be revived,” McFarland said. “It can last a lifetime.”

COURTESY OF JIM MCFARLAND Jim McFarland with his father, who taught him how to be a cobbler.