These baby shoes are a gift for my soon-to-be-born nephew. I used the Make Them Yourself pattern from Misty Marquardt. This is the only pattern of hers that I have, but I would really like to try the soft sole boots and Mary Janes – especially after going to the Robeez site and seeing their new spring shoes!
The pattern is written for use with real leather. I used Ultrasuede. The top of the shoe is lined with fabric and the sole is made with two layers of Ultrasuede. These are the third and fourth pairs of shoes that I have made and I had more trouble with these than the first two pairs. The appliqués were a little more involved on these than the first two, so that may be the issue. Even with a new Microtex Sharp needle I did get a few skipped stitches.
I found the elephant via a Google Image search. I should have scaled it down a little more. I also should have added a tail! Elephants have tails! Somehow I missed that detail until the shoes were all done. I guess these are mutant elephants. Nice that they found their mates, I guess….(they do look affectionate in the picture, don’t they?)
The puppy appliqué is an exact copy of one of the Robeez shoe designs. I printed the picture from the website, traced it and then cut out the shapes. I drew the face on the puppy with a fine-tip permanent marker. Embroidery probably would look nicer, but I wasn’t optimistic about that working well. I’d have to do it by hand and I didn’t have access to the stuff to do it. (We’re temporarily displaced while our home is being renovated).
I highly recommend this pattern. It is drafted well with good instructions, comes in a pretty good range of sizes and results in a shoe that stays on a baby’s foot. The pattern is reasonably priced and takes so little fabric that a few scraps will make several pairs of shoes. Hey, I think I just talked myself into buying that Mary Jane pattern. Seriously, did you see those spring shoes from Robeez? My daughter NEEDS those!
The pattern is written for use with real leather. I used Ultrasuede. The top of the shoe is lined with fabric and the sole is made with two layers of Ultrasuede. These are the third and fourth pairs of shoes that I have made and I had more trouble with these than the first two pairs. The appliqués were a little more involved on these than the first two, so that may be the issue. Even with a new Microtex Sharp needle I did get a few skipped stitches.I found the elephant via a Google Image search. I should have scaled it down a little more. I also should have added a tail! Elephants have tails! Somehow I missed that detail until the shoes were all done. I guess these are mutant elephants. Nice that they found their mates, I guess….(they do look affectionate in the picture, don’t they?)The puppy appliqué is an exact copy of one of the Robeez shoe designs. I printed the picture from the website, traced it and then cut out the shapes. I drew the face on the puppy with a fine-tip permanent marker. Embroidery probably would look nicer, but I wasn’t optimistic about that working well. I’d have to do it by hand and I didn’t have access to the stuff to do it. (We’re temporarily displaced while our home is being renovated).I highly recommend this pattern. It is drafted well with good instructions, comes in a pretty good range of sizes and results in a shoe that stays on a baby’s foot. The pattern is reasonably priced and takes so little fabric that a few scraps will make several pairs of shoes. Hey, I think I just talked myself into buying that Mary Jane pattern. Seriously, did you see those spring shoes from Robeez? My daughter NEEDS those!
My son wore nothing but these and the Chloe Toes leather shoes until just this summer (when he turned 3) - they're great!
ReplyDelete