Pucker toe moccasins

[colmoultrie]

My 9-yr old daughter started bugging me for mocs, pointing out that I'd made a pair for her little brother two years ago that came out so big he still fits into them (at least this summer). Well, I didn't have any deerskin, but I had a cheap (really cheap) veg-tan split, so I figured I'd relearn or continue the learning curve with it, and by the time I got any good, she'd outgrow them anyway before wearing them out. I used heavyweight hemp for stitching - better than artificial sinew, and what a white guy might have used, at a guess.

Here's how they came out:





Any comments or suggestions are welcome, as this is only the second pair I've tried. I know I still have a lot to learn.

 

[Luke MacGillie]

I would suggest ordering Mike Galban's DVD on how to make pucker toe mocs.

Here are the set of instructions on how to do pucker toes that I have used for the last 15+ years

 

[colmoultrie]

Thanks. That's the diagram I was looking for, but couldn't find online the other day. The diagram I used had the baseball stitch to make the pucker, leaving out the running stitch for the pucker. I'll use that in the future. Much appreciated.

 

[Luke MacGillie]

The baseball stich to make the pucker might be in one of MR Harrington's works on the Lenape. Im not so sure it is period correct.......
Dad used to make that style for me when I was a kid, but it requires you to have a last, or sew them around the persons foot to get it to work correctly.

I can say that this pattern is much, much closer to the numerous suviving mocs that I have examined over the years.

Something you can do to make this pattern even better is to use a pair of thongs to do the puckering.

The first thong goes in the same place as the running stich shown, and the second thong goes about an inch or so in from the edge, pretty much just like making cartridge pleats on shirt wrist bands......

 

[old ugly]

awsum!
id wear them.

 

[colmoultrie]

That second thong would probably help. Thanks. As to the baseball stitch not being used to create the pucker, I'll remember that for my next attempt. The use of cowhide, not deerskin, is a bigger issue in my mind, but I suppose I went with the reverse of the common rationalization: if they didn't a have it, they wouldn't've used it. Probably has slightly more historical truth than the common formula anyway. :grin:

 

[S.Kenton]

I'd wear them!!!!!

 

[Rickey Brown]

Did you sew them inside out? That way the seams are on the inside but they look :hatsoff: good anyway