"做鞋样儿" meaning?

[brickroadforsale]

Hi guys, 

I don't know Chinese so I used a dictionary to translate this sentence:

"他仗着家里殷实, 整日游手好闲, 最爱跟街坊里倚在门户做鞋样儿的寡妇小媳调笑."

The dictionary gave me the word by word translation and I can understand the general meaning of the statement, yet the phrase "倚在门户做鞋样儿" confused me much.

Can anyone explain this to me? Thank tremendously!

P/s: Please let me know if you need to know more about the context of the sentence.  

 

[Jim]

鞋样儿 are the stiff paper patterns you use to make insoles for cloth shoes (ETA think they can also be the paper patterns for the other parts of a shoe but I'm not sure, might even be a synecdoche for making cloth shoes generally), so I think here it's telling you what the 寡妇小媳  that he flirts with does (for a living?); the 倚在门户 means she's working sat just outside her doorway (might be the gate to his compound I suppose), presumably to pick up passing trade. 

[Publius]

It means the women are leaning against the door frame (a suggestive posture even in Western culture I believe) while doing their needle work.

[brickroadforsale]

Thank for giving me the in-depth explanation.  I think I can translate the sentence into the following:

"Resting on the family's wealth and being idle all day, he often flirts with indecent women around with great affection."

 

By the way in this sentence: "琼娘起身倒水的功夫, 将翠玉的举动看在眼里"

Does "起身倒水的功夫" mean "in a twinkling"?

 

Also, do you recommend any dictionary or resource that provide the meaning of Chinese common phrases, idioms, parables, and slang for foreigners?

Baike is very helpful to me, but the more resource, the better