So, what is a Schmoccasin?
We’re here to support shooting our muzzleloaders, and few things will stop you in your tracks as bad footwear or aching feet . The Schmoccasin is what happens when some timberwolf loses his Indian bride and has to Kluge some footwear with nowhere near the skills that charming dove had. It’s what some ranger makes or repairs in a hut at Lake George and has to take care of himself before the next patrol or some poor soul on the verge of Brandywine has to come up with because the Continental Congress couldn’t get him a pair of shoes. Worse than that, it’s some guy whose state federation ran out of trail walks for the season and he needs something to do while sulking because the Baltimore Ravens just beat the snot out of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
For many of us, whether on the firing line or rendezvous, a slipper like piece of footwear with an insert may be the last option for bad backs and bad feet.
This is not going to be a…” how-to”… to make moccasins. Rather, this is about some techniques to come up with to make whatever you craft more serviceable. We’ll deal with pattern making and adhesives here, stitching the toe in the second post and stitching the heel in the third post.
Schmoccasins will get by at an encampment or be more than suitable for a trail walk. Not exactly a chick magnet. The best example of a schmoccasin is a sample referred to as the …”Ligonier”… moccasin. It is so called because it was found around Fort Ligonier in Pennsylvania. Here’s a really good example worth checking out as produced by Arrow Moccasins;
When you’re a shoemaker and you look at the original you hear it talk. It is so crudely made and faithfully reproduced as such here that you gotta wonder if the guy who wore it had to re-sole the center seams he patched together for a decent way of going barefoot. The quality of Arrows product is worth keeping this one in mind on the buy side of a make or buy decision.
If you’re going to make your own, then you gotta have this book:
There’s also a wide range of tutorials on YouTube, but as with everything on YouTube you have to discriminate between the really smart and the idiotic. For my money, during all the years I went trekking, the best pattern I had was this pattern called a Ojibway Moccasin. Here’s what I favored;
It combines a center seam with a pucker, and I used to build them to last with a thick, soft sole so my feet would also last. I judge it comes out of the Northwest, Great Lakes and Canada, and appears to have been used by everybody….Courier, Voyageur and Great Lakes First Americans.
So, when you pick your pattern or style, understand that all pattern making tutorials are going to end up with something like this;
You’ll have all sorts of measurements and marking techniques. The ones shown below were either taught to me or invented out of necessity. Take a look at this pattern, where all the marked holes get punched into the pattern so they can be drawn reliably on the leather. I like rights and lefts, so my patterns are always extended a little along the ball of the foot by about 3/8ths of an inch.
The first thing that has paid dividends for me was using poster board, which will hold up with time. Look closely at the foot pattern. I found that cutting slots all along the foot at interval helps when placing inner and outer soles. You just draw the pattern, cut it out, flip it and and the pattern to draw the slots again on the opposite side. It is almost perfect in lining up inner and outer soles.
Notice on that part that will become the vamp there are two rows of holes. Although you ain’t gonna win any prizes at Pow Wow, this will prove helpful when stitching the pucker on the vamp. The number of holes in the bottom part has to equal the number of holes in the vamp. Because the holes in the outer part are spread further apart from the vamp, gathering them will help you to get an even pucker. So will the double row of holes on the vamp.
A couple of YouTubers use their fingers to space the holes. Many of the Moosehide Vendors actually use shoe lasts. Whatever works for you. Whether you are going to use a punch or an awl, it is a good idea to punch all the pre-marked holes before you have to stitch.
Now, then….ADHESIVES…
I have always been a fan of contact cement. The reason for this is the ability to make a wicked awesome bond with a heat gun. A Hair Dryer will work, but not a well as a heat gun. Folks have to have a lot of ventilation in the work area. The stuff stinks to the point where you can get a headache or get nauseated without a lot of air in your shop. If it has a drawback, it is that softer leathers almost always need a second coat because the stuff soaks into the leather and doesn’t have the traction to bond.
Cyanoacrylates or craft glues almost never work well on leather the way we use it here, but contact cement is likely to last longer than the life of leather. The reason for drawing the inner AND outer soles on this piece is facilitating exact placement of the sole leather. That’s going to be important in the upcoming stitching post.
The Inner Sole should be of softer leather rather than stiff cowhide. If you are going to use an outer sole, glue it rough side to the ground. That will help their slippery nature. Look at the pic for a minute
Slap my face and call me Heretic, but if you’re using a heel pad in your shoes, you might want to place one of those Dr. Scholls bad boys here.. When affixing BOTH the inner sole and the heel pad, realize that heated contact cement offers you one shot at placing the piece where it is supposed to go. The sole will fit in the marks you made. If you are using a heel pad, try to line it up so that your right pad is in the right schmoccasin and the left pad is in the left schmoccasin. TRY TO PUT THE FLAT PART OF THE INSERT 1/16TH OF AN INCH INSIDE THE INNER SOLE EDGE. This will let you round the heel around the curve of the pad when stitching. Makes a difference when you’re making your next shot at about the fourth hour on the line while tied for first in a Turkey Shoot.
If you want an outer sole, you have the position outlined earlier on the outer sole of the schmoccasin. I always cut my outer soles about a quarter of an inch wider than the inner sole when I stitch them on.
Shoemakers tend to cut oversized and trim when it comes to soles and heels. Hence the hook knife. That’s far easier than trying to jockey an exact fit of an exact part.
Lastly, As long as we’re into the heretical, I have never met a pair of leather Mocs or shoes that were not slippery. The only remedy for that I have ever found was a shoe goop compound made of contact cement with a heavy dose of rubber tire dust thoroughly mixed in. There are two YouTube tutorials on how to do this…do searches on …”sodhoppers”… and…” lure of the north”.
Here’s the pair I am working on with an outer sole or welt piece prepped for a final sole of the shoe goop mixture.
The videos on YouTube show it as well as I can here, and I am already up to about 1400 words here, so good luck. We’ll stitch up the toe in the next post and the heel in the last post. Your homework is basically not cursing when you make a mistake…
