July 15, 2007

Recycled Slipper Tutorial

You will need woolen fabric, i have used an old woolen blanket from the thrift store. Fleece to line the sole. Bias binding.

I use a 1cm seam allowance throughout this how-to.

The pattern:


I am going to show you one slipper. Once finished you will make the other by reversing the pattern pieces, we don't want two of the same do we?

From the woolen blanket cut out one sole and one of each top piece. From the fleece cut out one sole:

Baste the fleece and woolen soles together:

Sew the top pieces together as in the photo, trim the seam and press open:

Sew the top pieces together at the heel, trim the seam allowance and press open:

Pin the top to the sole and sew around the edge, trim the seam allowance:

Turn it right side out and press the seams. Trim the opening as desired making sure that your foot will fit:

Make your binding by cutting strips from your chosen fabric on the bias. Mine is 3cm wide but you can make it wider if you wish:

Fold your binding in half and press. Open out and fold top towards the middle crease. Press:

Pin the binding around the outside of the opening. sew in place with a 5mm seam allowance. Trim the seam allowance of the woolen blanket fabric:

Fold the binding to the inside and pin in place. Slip stitch into place making sore to fold under the end of the binding for a neat finish:


Make the other slipper and now you can have toasty warm toes!

Enjoy.

Cross posted on Burda Style and Instructibles.

38 comments:

f. pea said...

Those are adorable! An excellent recycling project for the Christmas craft list... thanks for helping me plan early! (I can tell it's winter where you live...)

Samantha said...

You make sewing look so incredibly easy!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the clear instructions and photos. I look forward to trying these.

Tracy said...

ack! so so good! thanks nichola!

this single spark said...

Wonderful! Have old slippers with holes in the bottom and have refused to buy new ones because I know I could make some. Have been to lazy. Now I have no excuse!

Anonymous said...

So, so sweet... and just what I need on my feet on such a chilly day!

Great tutorial... makes even I think I could make a pair with seeming ease.

see you, g

jessica said...

this is great.
thank you for the tutorial.
will definitely make these.

Deb G said...

Thanks for sharing this! It's great.

Stefanie said...

Great tutorial. I wanna do that!

Anonymous said...

What a good idea! Thanks for sharing and posting helpful photos, too.

Alice said...

great idea - for those of us who are allergic to wool the seams can be irritsting so an alternative is to put them to the outside... the body of the shoe should not be irritating due to the felting process. Thanks for the tutorial!

E.B. said...

If you were ever interested in selling them, there is a site etsy.com that allows anyone to sell anything AS LONG AS IT'S HANDMADE. Even if you don't want to sell them, check out the site, I love it! :)... Almost as much as I love reading y'all's site!
Can't wait to try the slippers!!

zannestar said...

These are aweseome. I really need new slippers, and I have an old wool skirt I've been waiting to recycle - so I'm going to try to make these. What do you suggest for making them non-slip? I have wood floors and that fleece would send me slipping and sliding!

nikkishell said...

zannestar-the fleece is actually on the inside but i think the wool would be equally slippy.
YOu could try puff paint on the soles, although that's not so eco friendly. I'm not sure what else.

crafty fox said...

Such a great tutorial, very clear and user friendly!
Just a quick thought but how bout a little patch of suede to cut down the slippy factor? I've been meaning to sew little booties out of an old suede jacket. Technically I don't know if this would work but in theory I'm hopeful.

Unknown said...

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GreenSpaceGoods said...

I see I'm a bit late finding this, but how awesome! We've been looking for handmade house shoes. This just might do the trick. Thank you!

Ginger said...

Your tutorial how you make the slippers look so easy thank you for showing us how .
great blog enjoyed it a lot.
hugs ginger

Anonymous said...

I would like to make some of these.
It looks like you traced a foot for the bottom pattern but I can't figure out how you make the pattern for the top, could you please explain.

Tie Dye Diva said...

I made these and they turned out great! I used all fleece, and did add elastic inside the bias binding. Making the pattern was kind of tricky. I traced my foot for the bottom, then measured from the mid point of the toe to the mid point of the heel, then enlarged Nikkishell's photo of her pattern until the bottom measured the same as my measurement. It took a little tweaking even then, but the results are great. They have been through the wash several times and have held up wonderfully. Thanks for the great tute!

Kim said...

I just made these as well. I used wool felt-only needed 1/2 yard. I lined the sole with fleece. The only thing i would suggest is to sew the front and sides to the sole first before the back. I found that i needed to cut excess fabric off of heal before sewing to the sole. Since this was a christmas gift for my boyfriend, i cut and sewed a moose head to the top of each one-i'll get around to posting them on craftster soon with credit to this site. Thanks!

hkmc said...

this is a great tutorial! do you have a pdf or other image of the pattern shapes and sizing that would be easier to adapt/cut out? Thank you!

AMIT said...

Great work done.Just love the pictures and the method.

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Anonymous said...

Wonderful and inspiring! I am about to put down my computer and make a pair out of thick old sweaters right now! I love the fleece lining idea... hadn't thought of that. Thank you.

Becca

Miss Kait said...

I'm a newcomer at this stuff, and I was just curious as to how you make the sides... how do you measure how big they need to be? I get the bottom part, just not the sides...

Anonymous said...

Your slippers are just what I need to make for my married daughter. What is not clear to me is how to draw a pattern for the top of the slipper. The bottom part and sole is understood, the top part I do not understand. Please let me know. Samantha

Anonymous said...

My daughter and I made the slippers with stump socks (my husband has a leg prosthesis). We made them higher, more like socks and solved the slippery problem by sewing the rubbery shelf material that's used in trailer cabinets onto the sole before sewing the slipper together.

Unknown said...

You can buy no-slip fabric, exactly like what is on feety pajamas, at the fabric store and add a patch at the heel and ball of the sole. I've done this with crocheted slippers and it works perfectly.

Lymphoma said...

What an amazing and innovative idea! Why buy if you can make your own? This is just great! Thanks for sharing this.

Warcraft 3 Cheats said...

Beatifull shoeses, I want them! :)

b cell lymphoma said...

Who knew it was so easy to make shoes. Great post!

jomodad said...

Very cute. Not to be picky or a jerk but you say being sore and I think you want being sure. I misspell all the time and I like it when people help me with errors on my page. I hope you are the same. Unless your sore about your choice of words ;0)

Dress Fabrics said...

I just made these this afternoon, and I love them. Your tutorial is great. Thank you!

Babajeza said...

Cool! This is my Sunday project of today. Thanks a lot. Regula

basit said...

highly recommended heated slippers for elderly

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Sharon said...

I tried to do them and I succeeded