Sodhopper style boots pattern!

[Ernildir]

I look forward to the pics and whatever insight you can share into successfully working through this project.

[Ernildir]

I am cutting out my pattern at the moment (from wool, to make "mocc socks" for practice before I try the real thing), but I don't understand why the instructions have us cut the heel out separately from the back of the leg. I don't see why it should not just be one piece. Could someone please explain this? If it's not really necessary, it would be nice to have one less seam.

Thanks.

[Yavion]

I don't know why Sodhopper does that specifically, but I would guess that it is to create what is called a "heel counter." This is a part of the shoe that cups the heel and provides support and keeps you from sliding off of the back of the foot board.

I'm sure we've all seen it; someone wearing good ol' Minnetonka mocs with their heels wearing through the sides of the leather because they've slid off of the foot board. So sad.

[Ernildir]

Hmm... I don't know what a foot board is or what it means to slide off of it, but I gather the idea might be that holes are often worn through at the heels so we put seams there because it is more difficult to wear a hole through a seam?

Thanks.

[Yavion]

Take a pair of your shoes that have a removable insole. That big under that? That's the foot board. If they're turn shoes or some styles of moccasins there won't be a foot board, just the outline of the sole. You still don't want to slide off of the sole. You see those mocs where there are holes next to the heel riiiight near the sole? The heel counter will aid in stopping that.

[Ernildir]

Thank you. I still can't say I understand how any of that works, but I suppose I should probably just go along with it when I construct my moccs to be safe. Do you think I should bother separating the heel from the back of the leg just for these socks I'm making, though?

[Yavion]

Honestly, I've not seen the pattern, but if you're making these "moc socks" as a mock up of the actual leather ones you want to make later then you should follow the pattern as closely as you will for the leather ones.

[Ernildir]

New question... the guide instructs us to use glue before stitching. Does anyone know what kind of stitch it wants? This one?



I don't see how I could both use glue and implement that stitch, unless I forego the fundamental backstitch/running stitch between the reinforcements and just use glue there instead. Or does this project require a different sort of stitching?

[caedmon]

No, you don't want to use a reinforced running stitch for shoes. It is best to use a lapped stitch, which looks like this:

lapped.jpg (36.32 KiB) Viewed 12397 times

This also makes gluing and cutting easier.

[Ernildir]

Interesting. Thank you. So there should be a visible edge of leather along all of the seams?

I'm not seeing that in the pictures in the guide... is it just well-concealed, or hard to see with such small images, or a result of the unfathomable magic of the sewing machine?

[kaelln]

Hi Ernhilder! There is a visible edge of leather, it's just hard to see in the photo. Except for the sole, which has been turned inside out.

[Ernildir]

Hi Ernhilder! There is a visible edge of leather, it's just hard to see in the photo. Except for the sole, which has been turned inside out.

Thank you for the confirmation!

But now I'm confused about something else. Does the sole not use a lapped stitch, then? --what does it mean that the sole has been turned inside out?

[kaelln]

Hi Ernhilder! There is a visible edge of leather, it's just hard to see in the photo. Except for the sole, which has been turned inside out.

Thank you for the confirmation!

But now I'm confused about something else. Does the sole not use a lapped stitch, then? --what does it mean that the sole has been turned inside out?

If you look at the last photo in the sequence above, you'll see the boot turned inside out. IIRC, the author sewed everything on a sewing machine. You can use the same stitch for the sole that you use for everything else. Caedmon recommends the lapped stitch, which has the virtue of being fast and using less thread that the stitch I commonly use, which is the saddle stitch. All you have to do when you're ready to sew on the sole is turn the boot inside out, line up the sole and stitch away!

[Ernildir]

Ah, I think I see it now. The guide uses the same stitch for the sole -- just going at it from a different direction, and in a way that also hides the edge. I think. That's what I'm seeing now anyway.

Thank you all!

P.S. Would it be unwise for me to stitch this using linen thread? Should I use something else?

[caedmon]

...the stitch I commonly use, which is the saddle stitch.

Kaelin, does this work for you on garment leather? I've only used the saddle stitch on vegetable tanned leather because I had thought that the soft garment style leather wouldn't work well with the saddle stitch.