Thoughts on patternmaking for shoes

I've decided to make a variant of the Chitimacha moccasin for the lower section of my boots/mukluks, although I'm still working out exactly what to do for the top section that wraps around the legs. While working on the pattern, I’ve come up against a problem I experienced before while making the moccasins. It seems the first pattern I made for the boots is much smaller than I expected it to be. I’m using a completely different book this time for the pattern and instructions but have encountered this same issue again. My conclusion is that one of the following is happening:

1. I am really bad at following patterns and measuring things
2. The people who wrote the books are really bad at writing pattern books
3. I have weird feet

Since I’m the one writing this, I’m not a huge fan of #1. That coupled with my previous abilities to sew and construct other items of clothing, furniture, etcetera leads me to think that it is one of the other two options. Given the fact that both pattern books have some age on them and are still available, I’m inclined to think that the people who wrote them know what they’re talking about leading me to conclude that #3 is the problem. I’m going to take another stab at the pattern soon, but I will have to add a larger margin to all of the measurements when preparing the pattern. My guess is that my feet are taller than normal resulting in the discrepancy, but I haven’t done an extensive study of different foot shapes to prove this one way or another.

Luckily, I was smart this time and tried to test-fit my foot into the pattern after I’d cut it out instead of waiting until after I’d transferred and cut it out of leather like I did with the moccasins. In my defense, the moccasins were the first pair of shoes I tried making so we’ll pretend that’s a valid excuse for those being too small. For this pair, I’m going to be making a prototype pair out of duck cloth once the pattern seems to fit correctly so I don’t spend a bunch of money on leather and then butcher it. I think this multi-step path, while more time-consuming, is going to lead to a much better end product. Plus, I’ll have a pair of casual boots to go with my nicer leather ones if it all goes well. Win win!