Tuesday, November 24, 2015

DIY Shoes

Broken Shoes


We were walking into church when I felt a thunk, thunk, thunk against the bottom of my foot as I walked. I stopped, looking around and then looking down to see what was hitting my foot.  The sole of my shoe was hanging on only at the toes.  I thought this was hilarious, it had been one of those mornings where one more thing going awry was not surprising, I expected it.

There was no good way for me to walk with it hanging on like that so I slide my shoes on the carpet like I was ice skating till we could sit down in the chapel. I then took my shoes off and asked my husband to ripe the sole the rest of the way off and to make the other shoe match.  He looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, are you sure?  I nodded for him to go ahead and rip them off.

 

For the rest of church I walked around in my new flats smiling to myself. I was so excited that my shoes broke.  I have been aching to try making a pair of shoes for myself but I couldn’t justify the time because I had shoes that still worked.

I have wanted to make shoes for myself for a couple of reasons. I can’t normally find shoes that fit right. I usually have to buy shoes that are too long to get shoes that are wide enough. So sometimes I wear shoes that make me feel like I am child walking around in my mother’s high heels. My toes are shoved to the front of the shoe. I am gripping with my toes to keep my feet inside of the shoes while my heels pop out of the back of the shoes. It’s not fun. 2. Wide shoes are not wide enough for my feet. I have seen people wear out the toe of their shoes. Not me, I wear out the sides where my toes and edges of my feet have been rolled up the sides.

 
See how my toes and sides of my feet don't fit.

This was my chance to make shoes that were actually wide enough for my feet.  I was not going for cute shoes this time; I hope to try to make cute sandals for myself this next summer. I wanted to make warm shoes that were comfortable so my feet would not freeze this winter when I went to church.

Side note: my little sister, I have more than one I will call her ”Pinkie Pie” bought me cute strappy shoes that would be great for church. IF I was not chasing my youngest in the hallways at church or sometimes other little kids.  In my opinion if you work with little kids cute shoes are not going to let you catch the six year olds.

So I started thinking practical; I needed to be able to run and be warm because I get cold easily in winter.  Leather outsides and velvet lining was the result. 

Velvet lining
Leather outside
 
Lining inside the outside. It is nice and soft.

 After I finished them I tested them on the snow when I took out the trash and my feet stayed dry.  I am not sure how long my feet would stay dry but it was fun to try them out.

No, they are not cute. Ha ha 
but they don't squish my toes or fall off my heels.

I am looking forward to trying out some ideas I saw on line, some people have cut out rubber soles from old bike tires. Others have used jeans, old button up shirts, silk and old workout mats.  It should be fun to see what really works. I am eagerly waiting for my everyday shoes to wear out the rest of the way so I can experiment again.

Materials                          Cost

Leather- left over from a couch I tore apart       0.00
Velvet-left over from another project           0.00
Upholstery thread-left over from another project 0.00
Jeans- for interfacing out grown jeans           0.00
Thread- left over from another project          0.00
Buttons- from a torn shirt                 0.00
Elastic- left over from another project          0.00

Total Cost
                                    0.00

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