Cape Breton's Magazine

a piece of leather cut for the bottom • a stitch or two at A and B and C. The bottoms, of course, will bulge, being longer and wider. You will take bigger stitches out of the bottom than out of the instep • 2/8 inch lor' in the instep, 3/8 inch long in the bottom. As you draw each stitch tight you will be crimping the bottom and bringing it up and round. It will look as it does in the photo of toe stitching. The vertical lines were not made by the stitches; a dull piece of metal has been rubbed into the center of each crimp, to help it gather smoothly and even. Sew from toe center to side (B to A, then B to C), Draw each stitch good and tight, and don't forget to come through the loop to seal each stitch, and to keep it from ripping. Once the toe is finished, slip your foot in (wearing as many pairs of sox as you think you'll want), and determine where to cut the round at the heel and how long the flaps should be to meet end to end at the center of the back of the heel. Dis? regard the awl holes you see in the photo of the finished heel. You do not want your stitches to come all the way through, not if you expect your feet to stay dry. Sew the heel from the inside, and only halve the leather as shown in the drawing. This will require a very crooked awl. Sew the bottom first, then up the back. Finish off by going back through you next-to-last stitch a second time. Then take a string and run it along the opening of the finished moccasin. Measure it and you'll know how wide to cut the leather for the bottom portion of the legging (D to E). How high they go is up to you. Tying just below the knee is good. Wrap the calfskin around your calf and determine the curve at the instep. As shov?n in the pattern, when you cut the legging, trim off a strip the full length and about 1/4 inch wide. This is your rand (some people call it the cord). Turn the legging wrong side out and place the rand as shown in the drawing and sew from top to bottom. Trim the rand flush and turn the legging right side out. Tack the legging front and back and perhaps also once on each side • and sew it on one side at a time, front to back. You take the same size bite (the same size stitch) out of both pieces of leather • and thus you will end up with the even stitching in the photograph. Cut belt-like loops about 1 1/2" apart and 1/2" down from the top, around the legging. Put a lace of leather 3/16" wide through the loops and tie it as you would a shoelace. And finally, to be larri? gans it must be waterproof. Every man you'll meet has a formula. Here is a practical one: mix beef tallow, kerosene to penetrate and linseed oil. Heat it up and apply it with a small mop. Three applications and you can stand in water* Our thanks to Donald Garrett MacDonald, North River; Barry Dixon and John Angus Daisley, Effie's Brook; Dominick Nardocchio, Sydney, who supplied us with pig bris? tles; Tommy Peggy MacDonald, Breton Cove; and Peter Kerr, Cape North. Best wishes to Cape Breton's Magazine SHAD'S SERVICE STATION GENERAL STORE & RESTAURANT Skir Dhu For photos with that Personal Touch The Ke!!/ Studio 191 Charlotte Street Sydney 564-6203, For Appointment J. W. StepKeixs Lircvited WHOLESALE AND RETAIL BUILDERS SUPPLIES HARDWARE AND PAINTS WOODWORKERS AND MILL WORK A.L. MacEACHERN TRAILER & CAMPER MANUPACTURINe LTD. Station Street, North Sydney Manufacturer of "Ranger," Travel Trailer, Pickup Campers, Mobil Homes Se Offices and Toppers Phone the Lumber Number 564-5554 Sydrxey, l oVd< Scotle' A member of the BOLD organization Cape Breton's Magazine/22 Complete Service andSRepairs All Sizes and Makes Complete line of Intertherm and Coleman Furnaces and Air Conditioners Also Service Center for DOMETIC and MORPHY RICHARDS Refrigerators THB LARGEST COMPLETE TRAILER SERVICE IN THB EAST Phone:794-7314 Evening Calls:736-3200 Write P.O.Box 121, Sydney Mines A.L. MAC EACHERN