Footwear

A method of making an article of footwear comprising pre-forming from flexible sheet material a component which provides a sock for underlying the foot and one part of an upper, which part comprises two side panels to extend respectively along opposite sides of the foot, the sock and side panels being formed either integrally with each other or in separate pieces which are connected together to form said component, placing said component on a last which defines the internal shape of the finished article, then enclosing the last and said component in a cavity mould having within it sealing knife edges which serve to nip said part of the upper to the last at locations adjacent but spaced from the edges of said part of the upper and to close the cavity of the mould, said cavity mould being shaped in relation to the last and said component to define therewith a sole unit and, integrally with the sole unit, the remaining part or parts of the upper, and injecting into the mould cavity a plastics material in a settable liquid form thereby in a single moulding operation to form the sole unit of the article and the remaining part or parts of the upper, the plastics material also overlying edge portions of said one part of the upper on the outer face thereof.