Well I got voted out this week on Project run and play. I had a lot of fun sewing along and competing, but I can’t tell you how I relived I am that I got the boot this week, (even if I was sad more people didn’t like the outfit I loved) We flew home yesterday after taking a 2 week “vacation” and it was a cross country flight with my son who we were told had bronchitis. (he was on meds) only to come home take him back into the dr. today to find out he has Pneumonia and my little miss has influenza. It was a long flight and with needing to take care of my two little sweethearts and get back adjusted after the trip I am doubting I would have been able to make something this week, not to mention it somehow being something the judges and public would like. So being that I am way behind on some tutorials, I will try to get them posted this week and I will leave all the denim creating to the wonderfully talented contestants this week. So let’s start with the Sandals shall we? They were a last min, creation since we left on vacation and the only shoes I brought with me did not “go” with the outfit at all so I needed to put something together to complete the look I was going for. I LOVED the way they turned out! So you want to make your own pair? They are super easy to make, although I will tell you up front they probably best for non-walkers or kids who are not super rough on their shoes, so not play shoes. Unless you can find a way to put some rubber soles on them but so far I am out of ideas. My daughter has worn them several times with very little sign of wear but she wasn’t just out playing in them. That being said they are so cute, they seem so comfy, and they are so easy to make. (so worth it) 
I thought about having a downloadable pattern, which I may do here when I get the time but since every kid has a different size foot, it seems easier to show you how to make your own pattern/shoe in any size you want. Start with a shoe that fits. Then I used a heavy duty pleather but you could use leather, moleskin, or any other tough material, remember they will be walked on. Trace the shoe just a little larger so you have a seam allowance. 

Then cut out 4 soles.
 (they are all the same even though they don’t look like it in the picture)

This part takes a little guess work, but it is what makes it custom per child.
The rectangles are for the heel. I took a measuring tape and measured from my daughters heel to her ankle. then I doubled the length and that was the length of the rectangle (it will be folded) I made it about 1.5 inches wide. Cut two. Then I measured from the point where her big toe connects to her foot, to her ankle. The shape is a little hard to explain so hopefully you can tell by the picture but it is almost like a triangle but it doesn’t go to a point and then the  top edge (bottom in the picture) gets folded under so include that in the length of the piece. Hopefully this will all make sense as the explanation goes on
Now for the sewing. Start by folding the heel piece in half and sewing up to about a half inch from the top (it makes the “casing” for the tie) 

Then you will line the heel part up with the right side of the heel of the sole. (this may be a little tricky since there is a curve on the heel but not the heel piece, but you can make it curve)

Before you sew the pieces together you will add the other sole right side down so that it sandwiches in the heel piece. 

Then sew around the edge leaving an opening along the side so you can turn it right side out. Clip the curves so your piece will lay nice and smooth.
Also I forgot a picture of this but turn it right side out and then topstitch around the edge tucking in the opening. (you will see it later)

Next fold under the top edge of the “triangle like” piece and sew in place. This also creates a casing for the tie.

For this next part you could do this a million different ways, and some would look better then what I did but it goes between the toes and you can’t see it anyway so for me I just folded the tip in half and sewed it together to pinch the bottom. You could turn both edges in and sew them nicely, what ever goes you just want it to be narrow enough for between the toes.
This is another case of “no one will see it so who cares” Remember when I said I made them on a whim? SO I just sewed the pinched end down to the sandal right about where the point where the big toe connects to the foot would be. You could sew this down fancy so it doesn’t show, but once the foot is in there you can’t see any of that anyway, and you really just want it to hold.
Next I made some felt rosettes, much like the ones I made for the hair piece, I actually took the pictures from that tutorial to show you, I will post that tutorial next.
You start with a circle cut from felt the bigger the circle the bigger the rosette.
Then spiral cut the circle the thicker your spiral cut is the taller the rosette will be. I cut mine really narrow so my rosettes are almost flat.
Then start on the inside of the spiral and start rolling it up like you would roll up a straight rectangle.

Then I hot glue the end of the rosette down so it won’t unravel. Then I glued a few rosettes and some feathers and a few berries I cut off a garland on to the top of the shoe. 

Run a ribbon through the casing (or you can do elastic and sew the elastic so it makes a loop and then they just slip on and off instead of tying. That’s it! So stylish new sandals for the stylista in your life. (please ignore the skewampus sew line remember they were made in a bit of a hurry)

Enjoy!
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