Moccasins. Supplies needed for Moccasins

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Moccasins. Supplies needed for Moccasins"

Madlyn Barrett
5 years ago
Views:

Moccasins Supplies needed for Moccasins Leather- Alaska split hide comes in several colors & is good for indoor slippers, I think if you want to wear them outdoors you should use Moose hide as it is

1 Moccasins Supplies needed for Moccasins Leather- Alaska split hide comes in several colors & is good for indoor slippers, I think if you want to wear them outdoors you should use Moose hide as it is thicker & wears better. I think you could try this with heavy denim if you donʼt want to go out & buy leather but you couldnʼt wear them outside& they wonʼt wear near as well Iʼm not sure if itʼs still available but there used to be a product called crepe rubber sole you could buy & glue in the bottom to make them wear better outside & be less slippery I buy supplies from Winnipeg Outfitters & I know they will ship to the US if you can't find it locally Hide is sold "by the piece" & usually you can get several pair from each piece Link to Alaska Split - this is also more economical Link to Moosehide- it does come in different grade but you must use #1 grade or the hide may have holes in it.

2 If you are doing beadwork, you need seed beads but they should be available to most locally If you want to add Rabbit fur you will need to buy 1 hide as it it cut in 1.5 inch strips, (Note: you have to cut the fur from the back with a scalpel or razor blade knife & just cut the hide, not the fur). one good hide will be enough for about 2-3 pair. Please note, I like the look of fur but it wears out long before the moccasins do as your pants rub on it so now when I make them for myself I don't add it. Leather thread- it's stronger than regular thread so your moccasins will last for years Both beading & sewing leather requires special needles, the beading needles are very fine wires, not the ones with the large eye & leather needles are usually labelled "Glovers" needles Lining- I usually line my slippers with fake sheepskin fabric that should be available in most fabric stores Please note: I'm not trying to be a salesperson for Winnipeg Outfitters, I just thought I should show exactly what is needed & s place you can get it if not available locally Halford Hide & Fur in Edmonton Alberta also sells supplies I'm not going to look up all the links for Halford but you can check prices if you like. They do sell the book that I was sold when I took a class about 35 yrs ago to learn to make these but you don't need the book, hopefully I will give you good enough instructions that you won't need it but I will provide the link if you are interested I'm not going to show you how to make leather mitts but I have made lots of them as well. There's a book with patterns for them from the same designer that I use. If you scroll around the Winnipeg Outfitter site you will see the fancy mitts that can be made. I will post photos of what I made if there's interest.

3 Patterns for moccasins. As a general rule, add 1/2 in length for each size. Unless a very wide or narrow foot, don't change width. Making your own patterns Draw your footprint on a piece of paper.(see photo showing my footprint on the pattern) The width at the back is the distance from the centre of your heel up to the ankle bone bump on each side. The front part of your foot you add 3/4 inch (if your foot is very thick add 1 to 1.25 inches to account for this). Once you have a symmetrical piece for the toe area, just take a ruler & draw an angled line to the heel of your moccasin. ( I hope this makes,sense.) I will attach 2 photos showing only 1/2 of my pattern so hopefully you get the idea You will see, my foot isn't exactly centered. (Sorry, when I typed this up, I put the photos in as I went but I canʼt copy them in place, I will add them at the end.) Examine your leather carefully before cutting, there are often some tiny nicks from the skinning that are barely noticeable, see photos. It wouldn't be the end of the world if one of these ended up on the toe piece but you don't want one on the sole. There is no grain to leather so you can move the pieces around to make the most use of your piece. In addition to the pattern pieces you will need a strip of leather approx. 1 inch wide, the circumference of the toe piece & if you have pinking shears I like to use them for the edge that will be exposed, I'll show you this when we come to it. It depends whether you want to cut this flat or have a rolled trim, weʼll get to that later You will also need a strip about 1/2 wide for the heel seam. Adding these pieces adds strength to the seam. Patterns for moccasins. As a general rule, add 1/2 in length for each size. Unless a very wide or narrow foot, don't change width. Making your own patterns Draw your footprint on a piece of paper.(see photo showing my footprint on the pattern) The width at the back is the distance from the centre of your heel up to the ankle bone bump on each side. The front part of your foot you add 3/4 inch (if your foot is very thick add 1 to1.25 inches to account for this) once you have a symmetrical piece for the toe area, just take a ruler & draw an angled line to the heel of your moccasin. ( I hope this makes,sense.). I will attach 2 photos showing only 1/2 of my

4 pattern so hopefully you get the idea You will see, my foot isn't exactly centered. ( sorry, when I typed this up, I put the photos in as I went but I cant copy them in place, I will add them at the end Examine your leather carefully before cutting, there are often some tiny nicks from the skinning that are barely noticeable, see photos. It wouldn't be the end of the world if one of these ended up on the toe piece but you don't want one on the sole There is no grain to leather so you can move the pieces around to make the most use of your piece. In addition to the pattern pieces you will need a strip of leather approx. 1 inch wide the circumference of the toe piece & if you have pinking shears I like to use them for the edge that will be exposed, I'll show you this when we come to it. It depends whether you want to cut this flat or have a rolled trim, weʼ ll get to that later You will also need a strip about 1/2 wide for,the heel seam. Adding these pieces adds strength to the seam. Patterns for moccasins. As a general rule, add 1/2 in length for each size. Unless a very wide or narrow foot, don't change width. Examine your leather carefully before cutting, there are often some tiny nicks from the skinning that are barely noticeable, see photos. It wouldn't be the end of the world if one of these ended up on the toe piece but you don't want one on the sole

11 Beadwork for moccasins. Here are photos of beadwork so you know what I'm talking about. Some of these are very intricate and would take weeks to do. ca&biw=1024&bih=672&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=j9nhwy_qeifgjwox_inydw&q=images+of+native+ameri can+beadwork+for+moccasins&oq=images+of+native+american+beadwork+for+mocassins&gs_l=mo bile-gws-img i10k j mobile-gws- img b9dsyzkjm4 Since I'm somewhat technically challenged I've gone to YouTube & found a couple of videos showing the "how-to." Over the last almost 40 years, I've made many pairs of moccasins, mukluks & mitts with beadwork on them but have never put a piece of paper on the back as shown in the first video. I've never had trouble with the hide stretching but feel free to try it how you wish. You can be as fancy or plain as you wish but be aware, beadwork is very time consuming. The flower designs are more forgiving than diamonds as you have to get your lines of beads straight so if you are a perfectionist the slight "wobble" might drive you nuts.

12 Another thing to remember is that the edges of your piece are being sewn to the bottom of the foot so don't get your design too close to the edge. Also if you are using fur around the top, move the design closer to the front of the toes or it will be covered by the fur. The second video shows exactly how I do it. Because I'm worried one of the threads may break over time, (you see very old pieces missing some beads), at the end of each row or section, I take both my needles to the back side of the work & tie a knot. This way, if a thread breaks over time, only a few beads will become loose. I will attach close up photos of the beaded designs on some of my things. I have trouble using a thimble so I use a scrap piece of hide to push & pull my needles through. Please be careful, sometimes the hide is so tough your needle will snap & give you a nasty cut. The beading needles are very fine & have a really small eye. I use a needle threader to thread them & always use a double thread to string the beads. Moccasins - gathering sole to toe piece You must use a Glovers needle for this sewing Match up the Center front of sole and Center front of toe with right sides together. Place strip in between with right side facing toe piece. Start with a couple of stitches through the Center and pull all stitches very tight. Watch your fingers, this thread is hard on the hands & sometimes when you are trying to punch the needle through it will ram back into your finger. I cannot use a thimble so use a scrap of leather to push the needle through. Make very small tucks in the sole piece and sew to toe piece until the marks at number 2 match up. Then sew the rest of the seam flat to number 1. When you get to the end, make about 3 back stitches so itʼs really secure. Itʼs best to make sure when you start you have enough thread to sew the entire seam. I also put a knot about every 3 stitches; if the thread should break, only a small area will come undone if you do this. Please note, I ʼve got moccasins that are 10 years old & have never had them come undone.

28 Once you get your moccasin foot done, sew your lining in the same way. More photos:

37 And more. I hope you can read the notes with the photos, when I found I couldn't insert them where I wanted I thought that was the next best option. Once you have the fur sewn in place, just pull it to the right side and glue it down with a fabric glue. If you wish to use a leather trim instead, measure the distance around the back of the opening from one side to the other. Cut a strip of leather about 1.5 inches wide - the length of this opening. I like to cut the outside edge ( the one not sewn to the opening) with pinking shears as it makes it look a little nicer and slightly rounds the front edge. If you choose this option you should also round the instep edge of the toe piece- see pattern making instructions- and again it looks nice if you use pinking shears on that edge. I just use the fabric glue to glue the lining in place across this on the inside but you can stitch it too, depends how well your thread matches the leather. If you have a heavy duty sewing machine you can sew the strip in place on that. I find trying to sew the rabbit fur on the machine doesn't work real well Once the leather is sewn in place, just pull it to the right side and glue down. I will attach a photo of my slippers but please note, they are a little grubby looking as they are probably 10 years old. The tucks look better after they are worn

39 Usually I do diamonds or flowers but thought I would try this pattern, itʼs far from perfect

40 The very first photo shows moccasins with the extra strip of leather rolled & stitched along the toe seam. The last photo shows this strip trimmed flush with the seam, it is just a personal choice. I prefer it trimmed.

42 Here is the pattern I used for the dragonfly. I just counted the beads. For diamonds or flowers, you can just look at a photo & count the beads.

43 Here is some beading motif that I put on mitts made for my DIL & niece for Christmas a couple of years ago & mukluks for niece.

46 A couple of things of note. For making your pattern, if your foot is the same width as mine but longer, just use the pattern I provided & lengthen it, that might be easier than starting from scratch Babies & toddlers have really fat feet so they are more difficult to fit. I will see if I have anything made for them, Iʼm not sure I do as it takes so long to make them, I usually make them only for older people so they will fit a long time.

MAKING MOCCASINS By Oliver Cameron with Ole Wik

MAKING MOCCASINS By Oliver Cameron with Ole Wik Tell me about making moccasins. 1 I have several patterns. There s one type of moccasin that was made in the southeastern states that has a lot of pleats