I’ve been working with Perfidious Albion - the Edinburgh University Medieval Society to help them make shoes which are suitable for the viking or medieval period, and have found a lot of useful references, so I thought I’d collate them all here.
The general rules are:
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Shoes were for the most part practical, rather than fancy - they didn’t have elaborate bells, buckles, straps etc on them.
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Turn-shoes are the order of the day for most people - that is, shoes stitched inside out then reversed so the stitches don’t show or get worn in wearing.
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Shoes were generally made in 2.5-3mm thick veg-tan leather, though thicker leather was often used for the soles. It is important to not wet the leather during construction, as when it dries it will harden and be unconfortable. the best option is to treat the leather well (with neatsfoot oil or similar) so that it stays supple and waterproof.
The general principles for turn-shoe making are very well documented, with a nice simple pattern and detailed instructions at the Simple Medieval Shoe page.
For a large range of illustrations of both the shoes themselves, and suggested templates, see Marc Carlson’s Footwear of the Middle Ages.
