Hand Made Mukluks

[Pandabean]

I was on Woodsmoke's Mittens and Mukluk making course last weekend, which was great and different to a normal bushcraft course but it was well worth it. But typical it was sunny for most of the days but all the work was done inside the boathouse. I also realised how much sewing I can actually do and put up with, which was a surprise.

Anyways here is my first complete mukluk, complete with felted wool liner. So I will be hoping around in the snow for a while until I make the other one, which really shouldn't take that long, just got to add the trim.

The leather was moccasin splits, and the canvas is what is used on canvas tents, so heavy stuff and interesting to sew.

This is the full thing with the wool liner inside, which still needs to be trimmed and blanket stitched.

The canvas gaiter laid out before the stitching for the fold was covered by trimming.

The felt boot was made without sewing and using multiple alternating layers of wool which was then felted and moulded to my foot and fits really nicely.

I will post up a picture of them being worn when I get the other mukluk finished, which hopefully should be this weekend. Then it will be time to start on the mittens.




Please let me know if the pictures are not showing as I have copied the links straight from Facebook as I can't use Flickr at work.

 

[kiltedpict]

See them fine Andy- nice work mannie!

 

[RonW]

Looks very good!

 

[cowboy]

good job dude, they look great! I mean it looks great..

 

[sasquatch]

Nice one, those would make the course worth it on their own! Looking forward to seeing the mitts to match...

 

[Toddy]

Oh excellent
I love my felted boots just so eminently practical and comfortable.
Be interested to see the mitts when you're done too

cheers,
Toddy

 

[John Fenna]

Excellent work!

 

[Ogri the trog]

Superb, very well done!

Ogri the trog

 

[blacktimberwolf]

They look great........Just a wee question,.....Is the suede moccasin part waterproofed in any way ?.....

 

[Pandabean]

Thanks all.

No the moccasin part is not waterproofed. The whole idea is that they are supposed to be able to breath and stop the build up of sweat on the inside which would then freeze. So in reality they are only useful in dry snow conditions. You can add rubber soles to them for use on hard surfaces such as pavements and rock but as far as I know they wouldn't be as flexible for use on Snowshoes.

The canvas is part waterproofed, I think as it is outdoor grade.

The other shoe is nearly done, all it needs doing to it is the ribbon attached and then attached to the moccasin and its ready.

Yeh Toddy the felt boots feel lovely on, planning on making some slippers for round the house, but for that I would need to add a sole, which I think can be done with felt and then have PVA glue applied to it to harden it up.

 

[leon-1]

Very Nice work.

 

[Toddy]

If you make your felt houseshoes with heavy wearing wool for the sole, Scottish Blackface or the grey fleece from Derbyshire, then you get (well I do) over a year's wear out of them anyway
Paint on rubber makes great soles though.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[born2roam]

Can't see the pics....untill I hit reply... then scroll down and I do see them? Is that impatience or...

Anyway... nice work mate!

Grtz Johan

 

[Pandabean]

If you make your felt houseshoes with heavy wearing wool for the sole, Scottish Blackface or the grey fleece from Derbyshire, then you get (well I do) over a year's wear out of them anyway
Paint on rubber makes great soles though.

I guess I could do that, but these boots were made using the former method and applying layers on top of each other. Guess I could put heavier wool on the bottom.

I was quite surprised at how much the wool actually shrank when working it to my foot.

Spray on rubber? Thats a new one on me.
Its mainly for something to help reduce the wear on the sole and for preventing slipping on smooth floors.
How much do they wear down? Right down til there is a hole in them?

 

[treadlightly]

Now that is a worthwhile course. Superb stuff.


I have worn felt slippers with a very thin flexible leather sole stitched onto them. They last a long time indoors.

 

[leon-1]

I know that in the states they tend to use stuff called "Shoe Goop" or "Sole in a Jar" for making the soles of moccasins last longer.

Effectively think barge cement and rubber shavings.

You can make the stuff yourself as it's quite expensive to buy pre-made.

 

[treadlightly]

I know that in the states they tend to use stuff called "Shoe Goop" or "Sole in a Jar" for making the soles of moccasins last longer. Effectively think barge cement and rubber shavings.You can make the stuff yourself as it's quite expensive to buy pre-made.

Shoe goo is very durable stuff and available over here.

 

[leon-1]

Shoe goo is very durable stuff and available over here.

Although it sounds similar (shoe goo and Shoe Goop) these are two separate entities. Shoe Goop and Sole In A Jar are the same product. They are effectively Barge Cement (in capitals as it's a product name) and shredded car tyre granules.

Shoe goo is a similar product to McNett Freesole which I have used for coating the underside of moccasins before, however it didn't last as after a period of time it de-laminated from the underside of the moccasin sole.

It would be interesting though to see how it would work with felt as in theory once it had soaked in to the structure of the felt it would be impossible to remove it.

 

[Pandabean]

Now that is a worthwhile course. Superb stuff.


I have worn felt slippers with a very thin flexible leather sole stitched onto them. They last a long time indoors.

Yeh, it was definately worth it, just alot to do in such a short time. Perhaps if it was a day longer we may have finished the mukluks and most of the gloves.

Would you have put the leather on suede side facing out and the smooth side facing onto the boot? I do have some goat hide that is pretty thin yet strong that I guess I could use for that purpose.


This was one of the photos taken by Willow (instructor), so hope she doesn't mind me posting it on here. But it just shows each of the mukluks we had and ended up doing a fashion posing session at the end.

 

[sandbender]

Inspiring stuff. Thanks.