Making Leather Moccasins

Use pebbled leather to create interesting one-of-a-kind moccasins.

While moccasins are a popular style of shoe today, they are originally a custom of the American Indian tribes. Moccasins can be very comfortable, especially for people with foot problems. There is nothing quite like a custom-made pair of moccasins for the comfort of your feet. You can even personalize your moccasins by embellishing them with your own bead designs.

Things You'll Need

• Scissors
• Brown paper bag
• Marker
• Leather, 1 yard
• Artificial sinew
• Leather or glover's needle
• Thimble (optional)

Instructions

1. Cut open a brown paper grocery bag and flatten it on the floor. Place your right foot on the bag, with heel ¼-inch above the bottom edge of the bag and trace the shape of your foot onto the bag. Make a second line, drawing from the ball of the foot around the top of the foot, ¼-inch larger than the original foot tracing. Stop at the widest part of the foot pattern, by the smallest toe, and make a line straight down from that point to the bottom of the pattern. Cut along the outermost line of the pattern, starting at the bottom and stopping at the inside ball of the foot. Fold it over to the left, creating a crease from the ball of the foot straight down. Trace the shape you cut onto the blank paper underneath. Cut along the traced line.

2. Trace the pattern onto the shiny side of the leather, which will be the inside of the moccasin. Cut out the leather pattern. Fold the pattern, shiny-side-out, second side underneath the first, and pin it to hold it in place.

3. Unroll and cut a length of artificial sinew, equal to the length of your arm, from your shoulder to the end of your index finger. Split the sinew apart, using a third of the width of the strand. Thread a leather needle, also known as a glover's needle, with the sinew. Insert the threaded needle an inch below the small toe, 1/8 inch from the pattern edge, to pull the sinew through the leather. Use a thimble to push the needle through the leather, if necessary. Remove the needle. Pull the ends of the sinew out to equal length and tie a knot at the moccasin. Thread the needle again, with one piece of the knotted sinew. Whipstitch from this mid-point to the bottom of the pattern. Tie off by knotting the last three stitches. Run the needle back through the last five stitches and trim. Thread the needle with the other half of the sinew and whipstitch from the mid-point to the ball of the foot, repeating the tie off.

4. Turn the leather over and fold in half vertically to make a crease. Measure and mark a line down the bottom half of the crease. Fold in half horizontally to make a crease which should fall at the top of your vertical line. Mark on the horizontal crease, only an inch on either side of the vertical line, creating a T-shape. Avoid cutting the bottom piece of leather. Cut only the top piece of leather along the lines of the T-shape.

5. Hold the moccasin so the open flaps created by the vertical cut of the T-shape are running horizontal along the top. Flatten it along the back edge, placing the two heel pieces together. Whipstitch along the side, or heel, from the top, stopping ¾ inch from the bottom and tie off. Make a ¾-inch cut just beneath the stitching, ¾ inch up from the bottom edge of the heel, parallel to the bottom. Tuck the tab created by the ¾-inch cut into the moccasin and whipstitch it closed.

6. Turn the moccasin inside out. Cut the tab into a semi-circle and whipstitch it to the heel.

7. Mark a line 3 inches long onto a piece of leather. Mark a dot 1½ inches above the center of the line. Use the dot as a guide point to draw from each end of the line, creating a semi-circle, to use for the tongue. Cut out the tongue shape and stitch the it to the shoe shiny side up, leaving ¼-inch at each end of the tongue without stitching.

8. Cut a ¼-inch-by-24-inch strip of leather to use for the shoelace. Measure an inch back from the front of the side flaps on each side, making marks an inch down from the top of the flaps. Continue to make marks, an inch down from the top of the flap, every 1½ inches, until you reach the back seam. Fold the leather and cut a small slit, to lace the shoelace through, at each mark. Lace the moccasin.

9. Repeat the entire process for the left moccasin.

Tips & Warnings

• Sew on seed bead adornments, if desired, before sewing the leather together. Make a test moccasin from a scrap of fabric to try on the fit and determine the exact placement of seed beads.

References

• NatureSkills: How to Make Moccasins; Sharon Buczaczer; June 4, 2009
• YouTube: Making Moccasins; March 2010