Hedgehog Keychains and Moccasin Boots: Weekly Update

Hedgehog Keychain

I am working on a bag for a friend and it was mentioned that the recipient (his lady friend) liked hedgehogs, so I thought I would try to come up with a fun key chain. I am already adding a key hook to the bag, so I thought a key chain would be a nice addition.

He contacted me Monday afternoon interested in possibly a screen printed design on the bag, so here are a couple ideas I came up with!

DIY Baby Puckertoe Moccasins

Not feeling the tutorial? Buy them instead at ceruleanjay.com

I had a friend ask recently about a pattern for my baby moccasins, so I thought I would try to make a quick tutorial about the general process I go through to make my baby moccasin pattern.

Here is a quick graphic showing how I develop the pattern. It is very similar to my Ojibwe Style Pucker-toe Moccasin tutorial, but scaled down and proportions slightly altered to accommodate those little tootsies! I would probably use this pattern for up to 3 years of age. I would want to get a 3 year old to test the doubling width proportion I am using here before applying this pattern past this age.

Leather Messenger Bag Project

This past week I created a bag for a former coworker of mine. It is very similar to the one that I made for myself, though I added an interior pocket and buckles to the front. It was very rewarding to add in the zipper, since when you hand stitch everything anyway, zippers are much less a nightmare than when using a sewing machine.

I have been using Eco Flo brand Leathercraft Cement to hold everything together while I stitch on this project and have found that it works quite well for this. It doesn't seem to be the strongest of glues, so I don't think I would use it by itself, but it acts splendidly for keeping things nice and flat and smooth while stitching.

Developing a Moccasin Boot Pattern using Prototypes Part 2

Last time we had concluded with a prototype to fit the shoe last.

Assuming everything looked good and fit properly, you could conceivably be done at this point. However, my husband decided he wanted a slightly taller boot, so i cut out a rectangle shape and added it to the top.

Developing a Moccasin Boot Pattern using Prototypes

I thought I would share a little about how I developed the pattern for the current project I have just completed, my Moccasin Boots.