How to Make Moccasins Out of Sneakers

If you want to enjoy the look and style of moccasins but still enjoy the sturdy tread and foot support of a pair of conventional sneakers, you can just turn an old pair of sneakers into moccasins. Keep in mind that if you make moccasins out of very bulky sneakers, like heavily padded skater shoes or basketball shoes, your moccasins will be very bulky too; you're probably better off using the lightest, lowest-profile sneakers you find comfortable.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Old sneakers
• Leather or suede
• Marker
• Sharp scissors
• Hot glue
• Awl
• Fake sinew

1. Remove the laces from your sneakers.

2. Wash the sneakers, either by hand, using a scrub brush and soapy water, or in a front-loading washing machine. Remove the liners and air-dry if possible. Let the rest of the sneaker dry out in a sunny place or on a boot drier.

3. Lay your dry, clean sneakers out on separate pieces of leather or suede. Each piece of leather or suede should be at least as wide and long as the sneakers are tall. The nicer side of the leather or suede, the one you want to be on the outside of your moccasins, should be facing down.

4. Use a marker to trace around the outside edge on the sole of each sneaker.

5. Pierce sharp scissors into the center of the shape you traced, then cut around the outline of the sneakers. Make sure not to cut past the outline into the surrounding leather yet.

6. Make one cut through the outline, straight through where the heel of the sneaker-shape is and perpendicular, away from the shoe, out to the edge of the surrounding leather.

7. Place each sneaker back in the appropriate sneaker-shaped hole you cut.

8. Place a thin bead of hot glue around the bottom outside edge of each sneaker sole, then gather the leather up around it, using the slit in the back of the leather to overlap the leather so it runs smoothly around the outside bottom of the sneaker.

9. Press the leather into place around the outside of the sneaker and hold until it's firmly secured. Trim any extra away from the overlap in the back. The pieces should overlap by no more than 1/2 inch.

10. Pierce holes through the overlapping leather pieces in the back of the sneaker. Make the holes 1/2 inch apart. Pull fake sinew through the holes, then knot the ends of the sinew, to join the overlapping pieces of leather together. Alternatively, you may continue using hot glue if you wish; just apply hot glue to the outside of the sneaker, then press the overlapping flaps of leather into place.

11. Make twin slits down the leather in the front of each sneaker, paralleling the lines of the sneaker's tongue. Lap the two outer edges of leather over the "tongue" flap you created. Either hot glue all of this to the sneaker--then apply hot glue between the layers of leather to hold them in place--or stitch the pieces together with your awl and fake sinew.

12. Slip your sneaker moccasins on.