bootkiller Report post Posted February 24, 2011 Howdy folks! I'm Vince, born and raised in St. Louis, MO. I dabble in a lot of things: cooking, sewing, martial arts, homebrewed beer, and now leather. I was active in the SCA for years, but now not so much. (Three small children and a limited income will do that to you.) Anyway, I'd always been curious about leatherworking and cordwaining but never really got into it until recently. My oldest daughter has a boot fetish and unusually narrow feet, so shoes that fit properly can be expensive. I found some old black suede I'd used for armor and started researching moccasins. Of course, in order to work all the kinks out of the process I had to make a pair for myself, out of an old deerskin. I now have very nice house slippers, and soon my oldest will have supercool bespoke knee-high moccasins. (I'll get pics as soon as I find the camera) I'm interested in making useful things (clothes, shoes, belts, bags, riding crops... my daughter likes horses too, not what you think, really!) and I look forward to picking everybody's brains and asking incredibly naive and ignorant questions. Thanks, Vince Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TwinOaks Report post Posted February 24, 2011 Vince, welcome to leatherworker.net! We've got a lot of folks from hobby crafters to professionals who will be happy to help you out as you progress. Pull up a chair and stay a bit. Jo will be in with fresh coffee a little later, bathrooms are down the hall. We're glad you found this little corner of the internet, and look forward to seeing some of your work. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillB Report post Posted February 24, 2011 Vince, Welcome to the forum. As TwinOaks has already stated, lots of folks here interested in leather and all the things you can do with it. Walk around, meet everyone and join in the conversations. The coffee is great and the donuts are free. I noticed you are into making moccasins. My wife and I have been wearing moccasins for several years now as our normal foot wear. Here are some sites you might like to look at. www.natureskills.com/how_to_make_moccasins.html www.sodhoppers.com/html/how_to_make_moccasins_video.html www.womenofthefurtrade.com/wst_page11.html www.mukluks.com BillB Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King's X Report post Posted February 24, 2011 Welcome to the forum and greetings from Central Texas! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chief31794 Report post Posted February 25, 2011 Welcome Aboard, Ken Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bootkiller Report post Posted February 25, 2011 Thanks for all the warm welcomes and informative links. You're right, Bill, the coffee is good. :-) I found a really good, step-by-step tutorial on Northern Plains side-split seam moccasins on a primitive technology forum, and that's what I used for my current pair. I posted a link to it over in the footwear section. I've done some work with medieval turnsole shoes, which translates to the Sioux rawhide-soled mocs really easily, but requires a more precise pattern. So far I'm digging the whole handmade moc thing, and eventually hope to make something I can wear to work on a daily basis (business casual office, doncha know). Thanks again, Vince Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
