I have decided to manufacture myself a pair of moccassins.
No real reason per se except I think it will be interesting and its something a little different to try out.
It will definitely be the most advanced leather work I've undertaken so I thought a work in progress thread would add to the motivation to keep myself going with it and also share with you lovely folk the trials and tribulations I experience.
moccasins have a wide range of styles.
Reading through A Pilgrims journey vol one by Mark Baker he speaks of centre seamed moccasins. But to my eyes they look too much like pixie boots so they're out.
Further browsing of both my own book collection and the internet I saw an inspirational blog post by Mr Joe O'Leary for a hybrid woodland moccasin boot type thing I also saw two patterns in a couple of books (I will list books, chapters page numbers etc shortly) for woodland moccasins.
I like the look of them much more and wouldn't feel as daft wearing them.
So thats the style decided upon.
Books I will be reffering to
Wildwood Wisdom by Ellsworth Jaeger.
ISBN-10:0-936070-12-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-936070-12-4
Chapter two titled Outdoor Clothing
Pages 39 to 41 plate 18 on page 40 illustrates pattern and stitching he recommends.
Woodcraft and Camping by Bernard S Mason (no longer in print but worth the effort to track down)
ISBN 0-486-22951-8
Chapter 19 titled Buck skin.
Pages 435 to 439 detail the process fig 225 on page 436 has much more detailed pattern.
Page 438 fig 226 shows another style illustrated.
Both the above books have detailed and slightly baffling to the uninitiated (eg me) explanation of how to sew the moccasins.
So I've found what I want. I've got two explanations of how to do it.
The next stage is to mocc (boom boom thank you I'm here all week....) up a template from some old news paper and then test the theory and stitching techniques on a piece of skinned sofa leather before I risk trying it on the much much nicer leather that Leon1 sent.
Photos of the template and mocc up to follow when I have made them.
Hopefully folk will find this interesting if not well at least I've documented it for my own reflection.
Sam
No real reason per se except I think it will be interesting and its something a little different to try out.
It will definitely be the most advanced leather work I've undertaken so I thought a work in progress thread would add to the motivation to keep myself going with it and also share with you lovely folk the trials and tribulations I experience.
moccasins have a wide range of styles.
Reading through A Pilgrims journey vol one by Mark Baker he speaks of centre seamed moccasins. But to my eyes they look too much like pixie boots so they're out.
Further browsing of both my own book collection and the internet I saw an inspirational blog post by Mr Joe O'Leary for a hybrid woodland moccasin boot type thing I also saw two patterns in a couple of books (I will list books, chapters page numbers etc shortly) for woodland moccasins.
I like the look of them much more and wouldn't feel as daft wearing them.
So thats the style decided upon.
Books I will be reffering to
Wildwood Wisdom by Ellsworth Jaeger.
ISBN-10:0-936070-12-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-936070-12-4
Chapter two titled Outdoor Clothing
Pages 39 to 41 plate 18 on page 40 illustrates pattern and stitching he recommends.
Woodcraft and Camping by Bernard S Mason (no longer in print but worth the effort to track down)
ISBN 0-486-22951-8
Chapter 19 titled Buck skin.
Pages 435 to 439 detail the process fig 225 on page 436 has much more detailed pattern.
Page 438 fig 226 shows another style illustrated.
Both the above books have detailed and slightly baffling to the uninitiated (eg me) explanation of how to sew the moccasins.
So I've found what I want. I've got two explanations of how to do it.
The next stage is to mocc (boom boom thank you I'm here all week....) up a template from some old news paper and then test the theory and stitching techniques on a piece of skinned sofa leather before I risk trying it on the much much nicer leather that Leon1 sent.
Photos of the template and mocc up to follow when I have made them.
Hopefully folk will find this interesting if not well at least I've documented it for my own reflection.
Sam
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.....see instead of newspaper, find yourself some old heavyweight fabric. Furnishing fabric meant for couches, etc., is brilliant for shoe templates. It lets you sew it together and put it on and walk in it. The stitching might not last all that long but it's long enough to adjust fitting, etc.,
