Moccasins - getting started

[UKRay]

Have you ever set out to make something and five hours later wished you had never started? Yup, the nice soft leather moccasins for 'She who must be obeyed' that I promised and I'm currently failing to deliver...

I'm not going to show you the mess that is currently sitting on my bench. I am too ashamed... even more ashamed than the day I antiqued the dog, the walls and (it was later pointed out to me) a small area of ceiling. Let it suffice to say I'll be cutting 'em up and making some 'nice soft leather' pouches sometime soon.

I really need help here - can those of you who know how please bring yourself to share a tried and tested working pattern and a few tips and tricks? How do you start, what leather do you use and what things have you learned along the way that would help a complete fool like me to get a grip on moccasin making - preferably before my personal Pocahontas gets creative with the leather shears...

As usual, a few pictures of the process and the finished goods would make the learning less painful... Thanks guys!

[Luke Hatley]

Ray.......something like this???????

More information later.......We're off to the Mall.....

[ArtS]

How to you sew up the front to curve up and match up right? Dumb question I guess but...

Art

[UKRay]

How do you sew up the front to curve up and match up right? Dumb question I guess but...

Art

No Art - definitely not a dumb question. This whole moccasin thing is a whole lot trickier than I first thought. I reckon you have to be a pretty good leatherworker to make them look right. I'm really looking forward to finding out how it is done.

Now, if cousin Luke wasn't a shopaholic we might have had some answers by now...

Edited September 27, 2008 by UKRay

[ArtS]

I made one pair last year that didn't turn out so good. I tried to make them match my footprint outline but they ended up too big, especially in the front.

I haven't tried it since but I want to. They weren't very comfortable. I'd like to sew the front instead of lacing them but I'm afraid it would end up all cockeyed. Lacing was easier to match up holes.

Art

Edited September 27, 2008 by ArtS

[UKRay]

I made one pair last year that didn't turn out so good. I tried to make them match my footprint outline but they ended up too big, especially in the front.

I haven't tried it since but I want to. They weren't very comfortable. I'd like to sew the front instead of lacing them but I'm afraid it would end up all cockeyed. Lacing was easier to match up holes.

Art

Those look like a pretty good pair of moccasins to me. So how did you get the idea for the pattern shape, Art? Did you start with a commercially produced pair or was this an entirely home made thing?

I'm sure I read somewhere that moccasin style varied according to the area in which they were made and which native American people made them - is this right? Yours are roughly the same as all those I have seen here in the UK, but I'd really like to see some examples of the different sorts.

Edited September 27, 2008 by UKRay

[ArtS]

I had a pair of store bought that I liked and someone sent me a pattern that was close to it.

[UKRay]

I had a pair of store bought that I liked and someone sent me a pattern that was close to it.

That looks like a fairly straightforward pattern Art, I guess the problem lies in trying to get the size right. Has anyone else got any suggestions about this? How do you do it?

[ChuckBurrows]

One of the easiest and most authentic patterns is the side fold aka side seam moccasin - here's one pattern:

http://www.womenofthefurtrade.com/wst_page11.html

[BillB]

There are lots of different styles of moccasins. Here is a web site that explains how to make the North Woods style Native American Moccasin.

http://www.jumaka.com/moccasins/MakingMocc...nstructions.htm

or

http://www.nativetech.org/clothing/moccasin/moctext.html

or

http://www.siteduck.com/skills/mocs/index.html

or

http://www.natureskills.com/how_to_make_moccasins.html

These have no resemblance to what folks call moccasins today thanks to the shoe industry.

Here is a website that has a video for sale on another style "moccasin", sort of a "High Top" getting close to a Muk-Luk.

http://www.sodhoppers.com/html/moccasins.html

BillB

[RuehlLeatherWorks]

I've made plains style hard sole mocs (Not my favorite) and some nice center-seam woodland style mocs. The center seam ones turned out very nicely and once the bottom wore through, I cut the sides off and made a hardened sole for them out of tooling leather.

http://www.nativetech.org/clothing/moccasin/mocinstr.html

This pattern is pretty close to the one I used, though I did set it up using both feet next to each other. I simply placed on foot down, measured out about half an inch from the send toe, out (Forward) and then drew two arches going to either side. This way you don't end up treading on the seam. I also made the side flaps a separate piece since you can bead and decorate them easily if they are removable.

These fit great and once you have a good pattern, you can make hard sole mocs easily without using too much of the soft leather (Of course you'd need veg tan leather for the soles).

[UKRay]

I've had a look at all the suggestions and will be having another try later this week. Thanks for all the great leads and special thanks to those kind folk who have offered patterns. I really am most grateful.

Ray.