One-Piece Plains Moccasin

Posted by CraftFoxes Staff on Sep 14, 2011

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The terrain determined what type of moccasin was worn. Archaeological finds have shown that sandals seemed to be the forerunner for American footwear, though.

Now determine what kind of terrain you will make your moccasin for and go from there. If you are going to be on rocks or hard ground with cacti around, soft soles are not what you want. On the other hand, if you're going to do some stalking in wooded areas on soft forest floors, the one-piece Plains-style soft-colored moccasin would be just the thing.

Excerpted from Crafts and Skills of the Native Americans by David R. Montgomery, published by Skyhorse Publishing. Image from flickr.com/taliachristine.

Tools and Materials:
-Soft leather
-Tracing pencil or chalk
-Measuring tape or ruler
-Scissors
-Thread & needle or sewing machine
-Leather strips

Source: ,Amazon.com: Crafts and Skills of the Native Americans: Tip...

Step 1

Zoom Image

Begin by drawing pattern of foot on the flesh side of soft leather.

Step 2

Locate the point 1 about 1/2" from the tip of the toe.

Step 3

Draw a line from point 1 to 5 a 1 1/2" long.

Step 4

Draw a line from point 1 to 2. Point 2 should be 1/4" from the sole outline (Step 1). Then draw a line from point to to 3. Point 3 should be 3" from the center of the center of the heel and 1/4" below it.

Step 5

Draw a line from point 3 to 4, about 6" long. Draw a dotted line from point 4 to point 5 (Step 2). Cut out drawing that is made and fold over on dotted line.

Step 6

Draw around the cut edge for the other side and cut out. Points 7 and 8 are flaps cut at an 6" long.

Step 7

Points 9 and 10 are 1/2" deep and 1/4" wide. Fold so that points 6 and 3 touch and sew (inside out)from points 5 to 1, 2 and then 3. Lastly, sew the heel.