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Moccasin Tutorial

Part 3: Making the Pattern

Stand on the paper or cardboard in your bare feet with your full weight. Trace each of your feet, making sure that the pencil is straight up and down and not slanted inwards towards your foot. Cut out the outlines. If your feet are of similar length and shape, you can use the same cut-out for both the right and left pattern. Otherwise, make a pattern for each foot, and label left or right.

On another piece of paper that is at least twice as wide as your foot, line up the bottom edges exactly and fold it in half with a sharp crease. This crease will become the centre line. Place the outline of your foot with the big toe by the centre line. The widest part of your foot should be about ¼ inch from the centre fold-line and the heel about ¼ inch from the bottom of the paper. Make sure the outline is straight up and down or you will end up with crooked mocs. You can tape the outline to the paper.

Draw a line ¼ inch from the outline, beginning at the toes and tracing down the short side towards the centre fold (ie the inside of your foot). Stop at the fold line. On the other side (ie the outside of your foot) make a mark that is ¼ inch wider than the widest part of your foot. Draw a line straight down from this point to the bottom of the paper, making sure the line is exactly the same distance from the centre line all the way down. This is the pattern for the Sole portion of your moccasins.

Cut out the Sole outline, starting at the bottom of the pattern and cutting around the toes until you get to the centre line. Now fold the pattern over at the centre line, and cut around the outline of the sole. When you open the paper you will have mirror images. Your pattern will look like this, with a Sole or bottom side, and a Top side:

Take the Top part of your pattern and fold it in half lengthwise and again widthwise. Unfolded, the intersecting crease lines mark the centre of the Top, like this:

Using your ruler, draw a line from the bottom up to the centre crease, as shown in the first photo below. Now centre a 2 inch line (1 inch on each side of the vertical crease line) across the middle crease line, so you end up with a T, as in the second photo:

That's it for the boot part of your moccasin. Your finished pattern should look like this:

You can either prepare a paper tongue pattern or trace a pattern directly onto your leather with a pencil. It needs to be 3 inches wide by 4 to 6 inches long.

Note: Using this one-piece moccasin pattern you can choose an option for uppers from one of the three photographs shown in Part 1: Introduction. No upper, a short upper, or a tall upper all work and function well depending upon your preferences. If you choose to make an upper, first decide on the height you want (between ankle and knee height) and determine that height in inches. The width of the upper needs to be at least 6 inches more than the total width of your moccasin. To determine the width, lay out your moccasin pattern and measure across the widest part with a ruler and add 6 inches or more. This ensures that you have enough width to wrap around your leg. Uppers are typically trapezoid-shaped, with the widest part at the top of the moccasin and the narrower part stitched to the moccasin boot. You can either make a paper pattern for the upper or trace a pattern directly onto your leather.

For this project I've chosen a fourth option and that is to make irregular shaped uppers utilizing the hind-leg portions of a large deer hide. Details are provided in the next section Part 4: Cutting out the Pattern.

Moccasin Tutorial

Part 5:  Sewing the Moccasins

For instructions on how to sew your moccasins together refer to the Whipstitching Tutorial at

Sole and Top:  With right sides together, whipstitch from the big toe down the short side to the centre fold line.  Make your stitches about 1/8 inch apart and about 1/8 inch from the edge.  Neat, evenly spaced stitches will show in your finished work and are worth the effort.  Pulling each stitch snugly helps the sinew “disappear” into the leather. Cut off the sinew at the fold line.

Begin stitching again at the big toe and whipstitch down the long side all the way to the bottom.  Keep checking to make sure the leather stays lined up at the bottom; it’s easy for it to creep out of place.

Now cut out the T.

Heel and Tab:  Fold your moccasin in half and whipstitch the back of the moc until you are ¾ inch from the bottom, as noted by the line drawn at the back of the moc in this photo:

Now take your scissors and make a cut ¾ inch long, straight across, on that line:
  

Stand the moccasin up and it will look like this.  Note the tab you’ve created.

Now push the tab all the way through to the other side:

Whipstitch the back of the heel to the sole, from the inside:

Now at last you can turn your moccasin right-side out.  Run a wooden spoon firmly along the seams on the inside of the moc to smooth and flatten the seams.  Put your moccasin on and pull the tab up the back of your heel until it is a smooth fit and mark that spot on the heel.  Remove the moc and trim the corners of the tab to make it round. 

Lining up the middle of the tab with the mark you just made, whipstitch it beginning at the top and down each side, making sure it stays centered on the back seam.  When finished it will look like this:

Tongue:  With your moccasin still right-side out, centre the tongue right-side down across the T in the top of the moc.  Whipstitch the tongue and the top of the T together.  There will be a ½ inch overlap at each corner.

At each of the corners, put the tongue underneath the ankle part and stitch 3 or 4 reinforcing overlapped stitches to help prevent tears and stretching:

This completes the boot part of your moccasin.

Uppers:  Sewing directions from this point depend upon the type of upper you chose. For regular trapezoid shaped uppers the widest part is at the top and the narrower part is sewn to the boot of the moccasin.  The inside of the upper wraps over the outside.  Specifically, on your right foot the upper wraps in a clockwise direction (from inside to outside, ie left over right), while on the left foot it wraps in a counter-clockwise direction (ie right over left). Whipstitch the upper to the boot with right sides together, beginning with the short side on the outside of the moc.  You can see how this was done in the photos below:

Normally this is how uppers are stitched on, regardless of their height.

However, I had to make an adjustment in order to accommodate the unusual shape of the hind-leg section I chose for uppers on these moccasins. The widest part of the upper (ie the part that was cut straight) needed to be stitched to the boot, leaving the edge (ie the top part of the upper) to be folded over.  Moreover, I wanted that fold to be on the outside of my leg rather than on the inside where they would rub together when I walk.  Therefore, I whipstitched the short side of the upper to the inside of the boot, resulting in uppers which wrap outside over inside.  Refer to the pictures below.  Note that on the right foot the uppers wrap in a counter-clockwise direction (ie right over left) while on the left foot it wraps in a clockwise direction (ie left over right).

Thongs:  Lastly, insert the awl through both the moccasin and the tongue as shown.  Align the holes and insert the end of a thong and tie a knot in it.  Repeat for the other three thongs.

Now go dance and play wildly.

Please post a photo of your finished moccasins for the rest of us to admire and learn from.

Any suggestions which you feel would improve this tutorial will be graciously reviewed.

Best of luck!!