Shoes, shoes, shoes

So my confidence level was back up where it belonged J I did really well on the drawstring dress… all 3 seams of it, ha ha. And you remember I told you that I had purchased some Liberty Jane Patterns? Well apparently when you sign up for her newsletter, she sends you a coupon for buy 3 get one free after a few, so you got to read the newsletters when they come in.

The newsletters are actually pretty cool: they talk about new patterns available and provide links to stuff real people like you and me (well okay not me because these people actually know what they are doing…)

So I decided to redeem my coupon – I picked out the patterns I wanted – but I have to tell you it was a struggle – I wanted ALL of them. I knew I wanted shoes. I just had to figure out how they made all these cute cute shoes. I have the Simplicity, McCall’s and Vogue patterns that all have shoes, but none of them had soles…

I knew they used craft foam, but I wasn’t sure how to attach it properly to make a sole. SO I bit the bullet and got the shoes pattern. I picked out the cute slip-on one.

Now before this project, I had never used a glue gun before. (I know, some of you craft gurus are shocked!) But my husband showed me how (don’t ask why he knows – he grew up with women, maybe that’s why – or maybe he’s just awesome like that? Who knows?)

So I started my shoe project: the sewing was relatively simple. The only thing that made it difficult was how small the pieces were, but then all doll clothes are, so what evs, same ole same ole. There were a lot of parts and pieces to this, but the instructions are so well written, and so concise that I was able to follow them to the letter. Nope, no confusing parts for me J

Then came time to attach the soles. The sole calls for 6mm foam – I didn’t have 6mm, so I glued 3 pieces of 2mm together. Just a heads up guys: this doesn’t work… use the 6mm it asks for… My 2mm pieces did not want to stay together – one 6mm piece would have been better. The 2mm gets wrapped around the whole shoe and BAM! Awesome doll shoe!!

Check it out!! How great is this??? Thank you Liberty Jane!!

I don’t think the pictures really do the shoes justice – I’m going to try to take some better ones.

 

 

 

PART 2 – I know you love my part 2’s J 

I was so stoked to be making shoes (and convinced my calling in life was now to be a doll shoemaker – ha ha ha) that I decided to test out something I saw on the internet (Pinterest of course J)

I had seen a lovely lavender ribbon sandal on pinterest and wanted to emulate it. I had some great black ribbon from the ballet outfit, so I used that.

I cut out a sole – one from 6mm and one from 2mm and placed the ribbon between them (so you wouldn’t see the ribbon on the bottom) I crossed them one over another near the toe, glued them (see pic) and then added a loop on the back and cut a small piece to go around the ankle (that goes in the loop) and then instead of wrapping the sole in foam, I wrapped it in the satin ribbon.

Now I was pleased with how this shoe turned out as far as construction – meaning, I was satisfied that I figured out how to make a great sandal. However, the actual shoe itself was only double-sided taped together because I was only testing the construction, plus the 6mm foam apparently needs to be cut in a special way because mine sucked!!

It was slanted – I tried to cut it straight but for some reason, it kept cutting slanty. L boooo

So because this was only a test piece (and only taped together, not hot glued) I only made one. Because I was so satisfied with it, I will definitely come back and make a set – but probably only after I figure out how to cut my 6mm foam straight.

I also decided, while gazing at its loveliness J that I wanted to embellish it. I picked a tiny white ribbon and cinched in the crossed ribbons. I actually prefer it without the white, but I tied it so tight, I couldn’t get it undone… eh… it looks okay J

 

 

 

Thennnnn…if that weren’t enough… you know what happens when I get my confidence all up = I’m like “look at me I’m super seamstress!!” ha ha ha

So I decided to do a simple slip-on ballerina style (with no ribbons though) and added a sole. The pattern I used was from the original shoe pattern I used (remember the ballet outfit? The shoe that didn’t go with it? That one J) merged with the sole of the Liberty Jane pattern.

I am pretty satisfied with how it turned out, but to be perfectly honest, I think the sewing is kind of cruddy. L You can’t really tell because the shoe is black, the sewing is all erratic. All in all, I think it turned out okay, but this last shoe definitely taught me that maybe I should go back to clothes for a while and maybe a career in shoemaking is not in my future J