pond_ripple's Fabric Blog

This pair of suede boots was one of the major projects that made up my renaissance faire outfit. It was my first time making shoes of any kind, but they still turned out fabulous and warm! I had a lot of inspiration that went into the final design and I put it all together in a pinterest board  that is still growing.  The main sources that influenced the final design: This pattern was the initial pair of boots that I was going to make, but I have very short legs and wide width feet. That would have basically meant distorting the pattern and doing a load of trial and error to get them to fit, but the simple turnshoe and tongue style were something I did want to incorporate in my finished shoe. So I looked around online to see how to make a boot that actually fit an individual person's foot. This tape mold method was the way that sounded the best to me to get a custom fit while still hanging on to the style of the first boot pattern I liked. And I pick...

This was a pretty straightforward project. I took out the insoles and traced them onto a piece of paper and added a 1/2 inch seam allowance all the way around to make a template. I cut out my fabric and basted it onto the insole being sure to keep the fabric tight enough to prevent any wrinkles or bunching that might make the shoes uncomfortable. Then I sewed all the way around the edge of the insole with the smallest stitch length on my machine to help keep the seam secure, and then inserted them into the shoes. (The bottom was still sticky enough that it didn't really need anything else to keep them in place.) Cities of the Crystal Planet Cities of the Crystal Planet Cities of the Crystal Planet Cities of the Crystal Planet

After Before I finally got my swatches in the mail, and I decided to spruce up my old worn shoes with some new insoles. I used my own fabric Lotus-Monster to make the insoles, and it looks like a miracle hit these shoes. They're still worn around the edges, but now it's in a good way :D The swatch is not long enough to cover the whole insole, but the toe covered the short front end well enough that you can't really tell. Trying this with small shoes would eliminate this problem. I've included a short photo tutorial: Swatch used in project Trace sole onto paper and cut out to use as a template. Turn the fabric wrong-side-up and determine placement. Use a pencil to trace the template onto the back of the fabric. Cut out fabric along the lines. Pour glue into an open container or paint pallet. Be sure to have water handy to make sure you rinse all the glue out of your brush before it dries. Use a paintbrush to coat the pre-existing in...