make shoes!

when the first issue of craft magazine came out last fall, i got super inspired by their knitted boots. but… damn, they looked like a lot of hard work, with the drilling and the multitudes of double pointed needles sticking out everywhere; plus, i don’t wear heels, and didn’t have any shoes that seemed like they’d work for the project. so, i grabbed a pair of dollar store flip-flops, cut the plastic top parts off, and got to work.

for my first attempt, i stitched through the rubber around the base and picked those stitches up onto double pointed needles, much like the craft boots. knitting around into stitches attached to the bottoms was a bigger pain than i’d ever imagined – i had to keep only 3-5 stitches on each double pointed needle, moving stitches from the other side onto a circular needle, because i didn’t have enough dpns. i never wanted to go though that again, so i tried out a new method for the second in the pair. i knitted the shoe first, then stitched it onto the rubber base. so much easier!!

i made another pair similar to the first (both pairs to add to my leethal inventory), and then i experimented with a new style for myself. i was just catching up on old projects and realized i never photographed these shoes, so i’m using this blog to share the idea with any crafters out there who might be into it, since the weather is getting warm and mary janes are soon to be practical.

shoesboth.jpg
(my first pair on the left, second pair on the right, and below are the ones i made for myself.)

oh yeah, all that knit boot inspiration also helped me create these boots, for cold weather only. (i did a tutorial for those on the second page of replies.)

15 thoughts on “make shoes!

  1. Hey, just wanted to say thanks so much for the article and Mary Janes pattern, I’ve been looking for a cool and useful gift to send to a friend who is travelling and I think some lightweight knitted shoes would be perfect, and won’t put much weight into the care package! Excellent, thanks again! xx

    Like

  2. Hey, just wanted to say thanks so much for the article and Mary Janes pattern, I’ve been looking for a cool and useful gift to send to a friend who is travelling and I think some lightweight knitted shoes would be perfect, and won’t put much weight into the care package! Excellent, thanks again! xx

    Like

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