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KINGSMERE CRAFTS
HAND-CRAFTED LEATHER GOODS
Moccasins - continued
Now on to the actual making of a pair of moccasins, or at any rate the version that can be seen in the pattern, see Fig 4, though other designs are not greatly different, it includes a gathered toe, turndown flap, heel tab and thong tie.
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Your choice of leather is not exactly critical - what you want is a piece with a degree of softness and a thickness of about ⅛" - ³/16", for example a chrome-tanned cowhide, or thinner grain splits used double-thickness with the sueded side out.
A sole is necessary, unless you have exceptionally tough feet, and a thick tooling hide is all that is required, bearing in mind you are aiming for a finished sole thickness of ³/16" - ¼"
Making your pattern
The important measurements for you to take are from the heel to the toe (to be referred to as HT) and around the widest part of the foot, known as W, see Fig 3. HT will give you the sole length and W the final measurement of the toe at the widest point, see Fig 5.
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Figure 4 shows a pattern I have used myself, all the proportions are accurate and the squares will enable you to work out your own foot size. AA and BB combine to give W plus ³/16" - ¼" which allows for seaming, which although giving a close fitting initially you'll find with wear is a good fit, as the finished moccasins do stretch. If you look at Fig 4 again the space between TT should be that between the tip of the sole and the base of your big toenail, about 1 ⅛" in the average adult, while HH should be roughly ¾".
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To make a pattern to fit, trace around your foot on a large sheet of paper, stand with your weight on the foot you are tracing and measuring, holding the pencil as straight up and down as possible. Draw in the line HT then another line three fifths up HT crossing at 90º. The two A's lie along this line. Next, how wide at its widest do you want the tongue of the moccasin? Usually between 2½" - 3½". Take that from the W + ³/16" - ¼" measurement and you get the exact AA distance. You should now be able to draw a pattern of similar proportions to the above.
Whilst the tongue is symmetrical the toe-piece of the upper is not, following as it does the line of the sole, generously on the instep side and round into the flap.
It will, as with the Viking shoes (pp 55 - 56), pay to have a trial run in a material other than leather if only because of the possible waste occurring otherwise. Also, when using single-thickness grain leather you have to overcome the problem of having flaps with the grain side visible. The way to do this is by cutting them separately and sewing them on to the rest of the upper as shown at the top left in Fig 4.
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