chuck123wapati

Thanks dwight, I'm thinking a good long while on the soles they are 10oz and the insole is also 10 oz. I'll know soon enough I'm sure. What is nice is they can be resoled pretty easily i think. I'm also going to make a pattern for sandals, and the Roman type of sole is a great way to do that for sure. I I've been thinking what kind of leather crafter would i be if i couldnt make my own shoes lol.

the good two tones lol. been wearing these for two days, and they are so comfy I forget they are on. Just 11.5 oz each. you can see the vamp on the dark shoe is kinda wonky, that's the third attempt, and really, when I realized you have to stretch the vamp into place. You also have to trim very close at the toe and heel awl holes and even cut out a V between the stitches in the toe and heel areas. Anyway, I have found my answer to sore feet and plastic garbage!!!

So after throwing a perfectly terrible pair of nearly brand new 100+dollar Chinese shoes in the trash. I set out on an adventure, or maybe a quest is better.. To find a pattern i can make and use daily until I die or until someone in the USA makes a damn shoe. I am so tired of the living by buying cheap plastic garbage mindset that we have been led into i could puke, especially when your feet hurt after ten minutes. Any ways i decided that a decent moccasin pattern is the answer, but I have tried and failed miserably in making my own pattern. I have about six patterns downloaded and even looked at the steampunk dudes driving moc pattern as an option. I looked at several mocs on the net and decided on the basic shape of a chukka-type moc with thicker soles. I decided that Genes pattern could work, so I set to work. First off, most moc patterns call for softer leathers than veg tan, usually moose or bison, so I knew the challenge would be to utilize the heavy veg tan for soles. I figured a form would be the answer, so I cut one out the basic shape of the insole, then also an outside form slightly bigger, double the leather thickness. So I glued in the insole, then wet-formed the sole. I used 2mm leather for the vamp and set about sewing it up as close to the exact pattern I could and followed the instructions. What I learned!!!! You need flexible or softer leather, the vamp started tearing at an obvious weak pointso was ruined before finishing, but i finished anyway to find all the bugs. There were holes in both sides at the tongue edge and there were wrinkles inside and out at the toe and heel so uncomfortable, also to small and just ugly. I also learned that you need to stretch the vamp as you go in order for the stitching holes to line up properly or your stitches wont be tight. The stitching holes were so far from the edge that big wrinkles were formed inside and out. Plus the sewing just looked like s@#t. What i did Changed the vamp from a one-piece to a three-piece design, widened the tongue so there would be no open holes in the sides of the mocs As I formed the sole, I took a ballpeen hammer and pounded out all the wrinkles and bumps on the heel and toe section. Then, after drying, I trimmed up the sole evenly all the way around. After forming i doused the sole in NFO as well as the vamp to get some flex, skived the edges of the sole, burnished, then used a round awl to punch the stitch line up closer to the edge like 1/8" or so. I did the same on the vamp, moved the holes to 1/8th inch from the edge that gave me enough room for my foot plus i lost all the insde bumps and wrinkles. Stitching was the key to a nice loking job, and i now understand why the particular stitch was used. The process to sew these is simple: but not explained in the pattern!!!! you do about six stitches, then go back and tighten them up, then do a few more. There are places where the holes get way funky but if you use a needle as a lever and stretch the vamp as you go then they all line up and the shoe forms perfectly. Any way, here are some pics and my two-toned shoes lol, I used a piece of hide that had been partially sunburned, so after screwing one shoe up i had to use the lighter stuff, which will darken up with time lol. I now have a usable pattern, and my next pair will have a gusseted tongue as well.

whats interesting is understanding why a certain stitch was used and how they work in that situation. It's rarely mentioned in patterns why the pattern maker used the stitch and how to sew the stitch correctly. In my case, the holes seemingly were way off, but as I tightened the stitches and stretched the leather into place, the holes made sense and the moc formed perfectly.

Heck yeah, treat yourself !! Merry Christmas, friend!!! You know i have studied your work to death its simply perfect every time.

That's a nice set!!! They are better than anything on the net. It's really pretty easy to make a lot of the tools we use. It's too bad more folks don't do it. Back in the day, it was a requirement for most tradesmen apprentiseship was about making your own tools as you learned to use them. Nowadays, folks can barely push a button to order them without two hours of internet research and reading 500 reviews. I made mine from stainless all thread, scrap leather and brass nuts. Chuck up the all-thread in a hand drill and turn it against a belt sander to get the profile and size you want then just polish the tip. Tighten down the brass nuts dope it up with resolene, let it dry, and do the same with the handle, and you're done. I have two double-ended lifters and also a double modeling tool/ stylus i made pretty much the same way. Can you imagine paying 30 40 bucks for a tool you can make in minutes for less than a couple bucks? I also use d2 rod and a map gas torch to forge smaller cutting tools.

Yeah, you should be able to machine sew that. That's the problem with my pattern theres no way for me to sew the sole on other than by hand, and it is a bugger for sure. i found that to get a good-looking stitch i had to take about 6 stitches, then use my needles as a lever to stretch the vamp into place, tighten the stitches, then do 6 more. My poor needles went through heck and are bent from the process. Stuff they don't tell you in the instructions. I got it down to about an hour for the sole with the last one.

Those are nice as well, they look really comfy and warm. That steampunk pattern dude has a nice pattern for that driving moc style, that's what they call em here anyway. I almost bought it, but my bank didn't like the site and wouldn't process the transaction. Mine are for outdoors as much as indoors I am thinking I'll make it even more of a chukka type moc with a fully gusseted tongue. Now that I have a decent pattern i can continue to enhance it.

I can now make a moccasin. I tried to make my own pattern a couple of years ago and failed miserably, as you can see, they worked but not much more lol. So this time I used a pattern pack from Tandy, "Mountain Man Moccasin Patterns by Gene Noland". I used pattern number three, decided to make it exactly as the pattern, and it was a failure, too. The leather tore out, and the stitching holes were so far apart they looked like crap. The heel and toe had wrinkles that I hate. But the problem I think, was my leather mostly, these moc patterns are made for lighter, more flexible leather than I used, so I had to make a form for the soles, learned that from the first pair. Veg tan won't mold to your foot with time. I used heavy holster leather for both insole and outsole, so the sole is as hard as a decent sandal. I used some 2mm for the vamps, but I still had to oil them before sewing them up, learned that from #2. A good coat of nfo gives the leather enough stretch so you can pull the stitching tight as you go. 3# came together, I think, got the form right, so i dont have puckers , made the vamp three pieces so they dont tear out and fit correctly. Skived the edges of the sole down and moved the stitching up closer and more tidy , took a hammer and pounded out the puckers in the toe and heel. Oh, and changed the top a bit . These i could wear downtown. I used crap leather as these were experiments, but now maybe I'll buy some good bison for the vamps, I kinda like the harder soles now that i can make them repeatable. funny thing the leather I used had been left out in the sun, and part had tanned darker, so now I have a light moc and a darker one lol I guess ones going into the car window for a week or so.

Jeeze thats nice work.

nope and i cant think of the tooth count right now, but it cuts heavy leather like a champ.

A table top band saw for cutting the thick stuff too.😉

or maybe Bison Brown in eco flo.

Neet's foot oil will soften and darken your leather. You can apply some, let it set for a day, and see if it needs more. Take a piece of the leather, make a strap, and test it, then match your color. The sun will also darken it somewhat with time.

that is the coolest work Ive seen for ages, man. You did a fantastic job!!

hows that AC, that will make life so much nicer. It's not to cold yet, we are getting some southern winds keeping it in the 40s, but the winds are hellish with 40 mph constant and over 70 mph gusts. in the last three days, 16 semi trucks have been blown over on the interstate here. The roads have been closed to light trucks under 50,000 lbs, so those who try to cheat also get a ticket after getting blown over, lol. The break will give you time to enjoy some of your summer, especially with a new AC. So I was working on my mocs yesterday, went to apply the nfo, took off the top, set it down, reached over it to grab a paper towel, knocked it over , glug glug, set it back up cussed like hell, reached over it to grab a paper towel, knocked it over, glug glug....... You can guess what happened next lol—going to buy more NFO today and paper towels. Say hi to Pops for me and have a great day!! Chuck

That's called working yourself out of a job lol. But I admire your attitude. Me, I could not, would not sit and make fobs all day. I can't do monotonous in any form. Right now I am down 2-0 on making a credible pair of moccasins, but i am gaining lol. My sole form worked well, but it's a bit too small, and the pattern I am using has some minor issues that I need to change.

What Fred said, and even though you will own the stamp, you can't use for profit or sell their logo without their permission. At least that is the law in the US.

Pretty good first start imo. All you need is more practice and more tools lol.

oh yeah, much better, and a seal skin key chain is pretty cool IMOl!!! you can put anything in that though a coin, token or maybe a cabochan or even a small picture. And your stitching is much more even looking.

Maybe a circle instead of a diamond with the same-sized edge on both sides of the stitches.

I haven't done a lot of Sheridan style, but I did read the book, lol. Found it on ebay about 6 months back. The book says start with your circles and lay them out, then add the flowers inside, they take up most of the circle. then add the leaves and stumps and such using the circles as reference for your flow of the pattern. What I see in the book is very little negative space between the circles. Sheridan is a very busy looking type of pattern with everything close, touching and overlapping. So you need to enlarge your circles and flowers to fill up that negative space, then your problem will disappear. If it were me, I would make my flowers larger, relocate them so they fill the area a bit more randomly, they are three rows all in a straight line so kind of boring layout. Cut some circles out of paper and use them to lay out your pattern first, move them around to get a good, interesting pattern, then go for the flowers, and then lay in your leaves and such. Hope that helps a bit.

Those are lookin good!!! ! Merry Christmas

A little harder on the stamp, and maybe just a tension problem with your stitches. Try and pull the same tension with each stitch just as a machine does. But it will be fine when finished, only you can spot the problems.

Beautiful, I looked into these too, but a grand is a little steep for me. heres a pair for 250 at Thursday boot company