Hard sole mocs tutorial

[Blackbear]

I made a pair of hard sole to wear around everywhere. Sole is latigo, upper is commercial tanned elk. They don't look so pretty anymore because in the summer that's all I wear unless it's raining but they are holding up rather well.

[powwowbum49]

Charliemom

Boy I couldn't imagine a moc with a vibram sole on it...LOL...be like dancin in huntin boots. I do know folks that will make their mocs and then take them to town and have a second leather or foam sole glued onto them. Even knew a guy that used a flip-flop sole as the sole on a moc.

Rawhide soles last very well but they are slick on concrete...not to bad on grass though. Nice thing about them is that they will form to the persons foot as they are worn and get damp. Just for your info...rawhide moc sole leather is not like rawhide for a drum or commercial rawhide. It has the flesh side scraped clean and them fur side is dry scraped leaving the scarf skin and some small amounts of hair on it.

Latigo isn't too bad and is easier to work with than rawhide but wears out faster. The most important thing about making good mocs that will last a long time is to use good hide, uppers included. Commercial hide will always wear out faster than brain tanned. If I am using commercial I like to use elk or thicker...in fact elk is my all around favorite for hard sole mocs, moose for soft soles

[charliemom]

If I make a pair of mocs out of canvas I also put about a 3/8" wide strip of leather around the edge all the way around the top. So it would be over the bias tape. Then I sew the moc top to the sole. My son is a grass dancer and does alot of dancing with his toes. This extra save the beadwork. He can drag his toes and not be rubbing the beads off.

I haven't tried the latigo soles. I just take my mocs down to the leather store and have them soled. They both glue and sew on the thick leather soles or vibram soles. I will have to try the rawhide soles. Do they get slippery on grass? How long do they last? My kids dance just about every weekend for usually 5 sessions in different weather conditions. Soles usually last about 5 pow wows.
Thanks

[MAROONDANCER]

pwb;
okay will do . like i said earlier the beadwork on mine just popped off while i was turning it inside out . so I was just wondering if this technique is easier .
thanks for the help

[powwowbum49]

MD

If you are unsure whether you have made the upper pattern right and do not know if it will fit ok...then I would suggest doing the beadwork after you have put the moc together. For an inexperienced moc maker it is very easy to make mistakes and if the beadwork is already on the upper before it is sewn together you can't just take it apart and adjust it.

As to the hole question...I am assuming you mean those that are prepunched in the sole. These hole should NEVER come out on the bottom of the moc sole, because if they did you would be walking on the threads that stitch the mocs together and would wear them in two in short order causing your mocs to come apart. These hole should be punched at an angle so that the hole start on the top of the sole and comes out in the side of the leather. Go back through the pics I attached to this tutorial and find the one where I am punching the holes in the sole. You can see how I am angling the holes so they come out the side of the sole.

[MAROONDANCER]

hey pwb49: is it best to punch the holes at an angle or just straight down ? this came up in my first pair .also which do you suggest beading first or second ? just a couple of quick questions. I might have some more soon

[MAROONDANCER]

HOW did the beadwork pop off?

well it's simple really , i only beaded on the top half of the skin . the skin is so thin that it just broke . i'm designing my pair for NOAC this summer , and I'm using german tanned in the white (smoked) and rawhide as far as I can see. my other moccs are a mess . the left mocc is kinda wierd because as soon as you put it on the sides poof out and look wierd . I musta cut it too big but it's too late now . my other pair will kich a$$ I have the beadwork set out and all my friends say it's awesome design . well I'll let you know how it turns out

[hockeyfan_019]

Thanks for all the info! I'll try things out soon!

Tom

[powwowbum49]

Hockeyfan

My welt is not precisely cut but is about 1/4" in width. I try not to go thinner than that for the reasons you spoke of. If it gets a bit wider than that the excess can be trimmed off after the mocs is popped. It doesn't extend to the inside because like I said in the earlier steps...I align the edge of the upper and the edge of the welt as I am sewing it together. By doing this any extra width just sticks to the outside of the mocs and can be trimmed easily with a sharp pair of scissors.

I haven't made a pair of 2 piece soft soles in years, cause there are way to many little rocks that hide in the grass of the dance arenas around here and like you I must be a tenderfoot...LOL! Yes, the holes I prepunch do come out on the side of the sole. It is done this way so you are not walking on the thread used to sew the upper and sole together with and thus wearing it in two quickly. When you are prepunching the holes in the sole it will very on the thickness of the sole leather and the angle you are punching how far in from the edge you will need to start the hole at. Heavy hides like rawhide can hold shorter punched hole but softer hides like russet need deeper prepunching. I do no less than 1/8" in, but prefer to start the holes 1/4" or even slight more so that there is less chance of the stitches pulling free over time. Be careful prepunching cause if you run the awl too far into the hide you can and will bust out the sole leather. If this happens do not panic just move over to where the next stitch should be put another hole in, just be more careful this time. Then when you are sewing just skip the bust out hole and go to the next one you did. The upper hide will be brought in to the meet the prepunched holes on the inside (top) of the sole.

These particular mocs I showed in this thread have russet leather sole. I chose this because the mocs are for a kid and they outgrow them so fast that the sole does not have time to wear out. I prefer not to use that kind of leather when making mocs for adults since adults will use a pair of mocs until they fall apart and need new soles put on. Yes, you can just tear the mocs apart and reuse the upper in most instances, especially if you used good leather for the original uppers.

If you do decide to try and make some hard sole mocs, they can be quite comfortable and when you put a tennis shoe insole in them you think you have tennis shoes on. The down side to hard sole mocs is they can be kinda slick. To avoid this some folks put 'Shoe Goo' on the bottoms of their soles to give more grip.

Hopefully this answered your questions.

[hockeyfan_019]

Excellent post PWB! Very detailed and described, very easy to follow!

Just a few questions though...

I noticed that you welt looks a bit "wide". I've always tried to keep it real thin, because I was concerned that it might get too "bunchy" in the inside around the toes. BUT, when I've tried to get it too thin, it breaks too easily. Do you trim it after sewing?

When you are stitching onto the sole, I noticed that the upper tends to lay all the way across the sole to the punched holes in the top. Since I've only done soft soles before, I'm used to the upper and sole meeting along the edge, not overlapping... How far should this overlap? When you punched the holes with the awl, it exits the sole on the edge right? Is that latigo or rawhide?

Very informative. I may have to try some hard soles now! My soft soles are comfy, but when stones get kicked onto the lawn or the walk, they hurt! I guess I'm just a tenderfoot!

Thanks!
Tom

[powwowbum49]

STEP 24

Now you can put on a tongue in the desired shape you want. You may also want to run a lace through the upper of the moc as per the tribal style you have chosen to do. I prefer to use an awl to punch the hole for the laces through the hide rather than cutting slits in it.

Once these things are done your mocs are ready to try on. If you chose to bead them after sewing them up then you have a bit more work to do. If the uppers were beaded first, then you may have a bit of edge beading and embellishing left but should be pretty well finished.

Good luck and if anyone has any more questions feel free to fire away.

[powwowbum49]

STEP 23

Now pop the heel back up and stretch and flatten the seam. You do this by pulling the leather in opposite directions and using your finger nail to push on the seam from the inside. You may also need to cut off the excess welt at this time leaving about 1" worth of welt sticking out.

[powwowbum49]

STEP 22

I continue whip stitching the heel seam up to the desired point and then I stop and go back to the other thread and do the same thing up the heel seam. Once the second thread meets the spot I stopped with the first thread I tie the two together and then burn the ends down.

[powwowbum49]

STEP 21

Next I swing the sides back over the sole so I can sew the heel seam together. I first criss cross the threads again as I did at the toe when I started sewing and then I tie a knot in the threads. Next I use one of the threads to start whip stitching the heel seem together.

[powwowbum49]

STEP 20

At this time I cut the side to side slits that will form the opening for the tongue and the flaps. I lay the upper down against the sole and then slide my scissors in, align my cut and make it, and then repeat on the other side.