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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - If it wasn't for the pleating, making a pair of moccasins wouldn't be so hard.

Students in Class 6 at Bompas Elementary School all agree it's the pleats that are needed to join the slipper bottoms to the uppers that make the prospect of sewing moccasins daunting.

Angela Lu, left, and Michael Gast proudly display the moccasins they made as part of a Class 6 project at Bompas Elementary School in Fort Simpson. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

Under the guidance of Louisa Moreau, all 21 students in the class are learning exactly what it takes to make their own moccasins.

"You have to make the bumps not too big or too small," said Michael Gast while explaining the pleats.

To make it even more difficult, the stitches in the pleats have to be in just the right place, not too far or too close to the edge of the hide, said Gast, 12.

Displaying his finished product on his feet, Gast said he got the pleats on his first moccasin right on the first try but had to make two attempts on its counterpart.

"I think I did a really good job," said Gast who was one of the first students to finish the project.

While sewing the beaver fur trim onto her moccasins, Winona Cli-Letcher, 12, concurred that the pleating causes the most problems.

"At first it was tricky because I didn't know how to make the loop," Cli-Letcher said.

Another layer of difficulty comes from the fact that you have to pull the sinew really tight or the stitches will show when you turn the moccasins right side out, she said.

Like most of the other students in her class, Cli-Letcher has worn many pairs of moccasins but this is the first time she's made a pair by herself.

"I was kind of excited because it was my first pair," said Cli-Letcher who plans to wear them around her house and at school.

It's important that the students, especially the girls, are learning how to make moccasins, said Moreau, a local artisan.

By learning when they're young maybe later the students will become interested in learning more about moccasins and working with moosehide, she said.

Sewing moccasins is also good for other skills.

"It teaches them a little bit of patience," said Moreau.

The students started on their moccasins in January when they sketched out a rough design for their uppers that Moreau transferred onto hide.

The students worked on their beading at school whenever there was time available during the next few months.

"Some of them did really nice work," Moreau said.

"I'm just impressed with a lot of them."

On May 19 Moreau started working with the students in small groups to assemble their moccasins.

She agrees that pleating is the hardest part for students and also for adults.

You need to know where to put the big and small pleats so the moccasin fits the shape of a foot, she said.

Despite the difficulties, Moreau encourages the students to keep trying.

"It's been fun. I enjoyed it," she said.