Deerskin Moccasins by markman8

 Stitching the Back Leather Part Adding some seams to the upper part of the back leather part is a necessary process as this part comes in contact with the trousers probably and will need more support than only the cement glue.  Starting here is to measure the distance from the edge done on the other seams of the shoe (for me as I have already constructed it).  If this is your first pair of shoe you can have a relative distance from the upper edge of about 3-6mm.  I did measure the previous shoe using the dividers and mark that distance on the newly build back part. Refer to the analogous video added at the end of this post to see the process. Use the pricking/marking tool to mark the stitch distance evenly.  I used the wheel which makes the most sparse markings.  You can decide which ones you like the most.  Sparse stitches or dense ones. From here onwards use the Stitching Pony to clamp this piece of combined leather, prepare your thread (by cutting it to the appropriate length and w

 The Vamp Moving to the upper leather parts, starting from the camp, the process goes the same as on previous parts.  That is first mark using the vamp blueprint the outline on the deerskin leather hide.  I did this using a piece of chalk. Designing the blueprint of the vamp came to be one of the most challenging parts of this project.  It took three to four tries to find the proper width.  The shape was something that I have already decided on.  The shape comes from the Apache shoes described in the book used for this project.  The width though was something that I had to test on my dummy single pair of shoe before finalizing it.  This is the ideal width for the sole used.  Changing the shape of the shoe (something that I have to consider in future projects) means that the whole testing process for new blueprints has to take part once again. The design process is something that should not be taken lightly.  A bad designed shoe will end up as a bad fit shoe.  Your size might be ideal y

 Preparing the Rubber Sole As mentioned on my previous post, there has been a mistake in the construction process.  Be aware of that.  The piercing of the lower leather part should have already taken part just after the bonding of the reindeer leather with the sheep lining leather.  Thus using the lower part blueprint with the holes already designed and pierced the lower leather part should have been marked and pierced. At this point there is no going back and this job will be done after the rubber sole has been glued on the crepe sole. Preparing the rubber sole involves scratching its surface with 60grade sandpaper.  Not much.  It is already prepared for gluing by having grooves by design.  I use the sandpaper perpendicular to those already designed grooves. The crepe sole has already been prepared i.e. sanded so there is no need by now to do the same thing.  By the time there are vulnerable stitches on the crepe sole you should not touch any more this surface.  Use only a brush to cl

 Preparing the lower shoe part After the inner leather sole has dried out from gluing you can move on to the next step which is marking first and then stitching the whole lower leather part with the crepe sole. As mentioned in previous posts this is a difficult part and requires lot of patience and finger ... endurance. The tools you will need for this job are: Dividers Prinking/Marking tool Awl Stitching Pony Saddler's needles Linen Thread (or nylon if you prefer) Thread's wax A pair of thread's scissors On the prinking/Marking tool choose accordingly the wheel.  I have chosen from the 4 wheels provided the one that marks the most apart.  Sparse stitches for me are the best here for two reasons.  One and the main reason is to finish and feel your fingers at the end comfortably and second because there is no need to have dense stitches on a crepe sole. First use the dividers to a logical but not very wide spaced apart opening so to mark round the leather inner sole where th

  The Inner Leather Sole As the lining of the shoe is made from sheep skin leather I decided to use an inner sole from the same leather that the outer shoe is made.  Deerskin.  More specifically Reindeer skin leather.  This will make the area where I step onto the shoe more durable and will last more I suppose. Making and cutting the inner reindeer leather is done with the same technique as the rest of the leather is done.  Using chalk for marking and the roller cutter for cutting the leather. And bellow fitted on the lower leather part (lining side) as if will be glued and later stitched together with the crepe sole. Ken Diamond here makes three rows of stitches.  Stitches that will last long hold the inner leather sole with the lower part and the crepe sole.  Though he does not use an outer rubber sole for protecting those stitches in some of his shoe designs so I suppose this technique is a must. Stitching as we will see later on those parts together  is the most difficult part as f