Wrap Over Felt Shoe

Using varicolour wool gives an interesting look

 I have been sewing some felt baby shoes. 

I love this thick felt, although 3mm thick was just about on the limit of what my sewing machine can handle.

I made the first pair as part of the process of designing my wrap over baby shoe knitting pattern. This is not the way I normally work when knitting. Usually I have an idea in my head, and just sort of go for it, adapting and altering as I go along. But for the wrap around on the knitted shoes to work, I knew the shape had to be precise. The best way to get this right was to make a pair, first out of paper and then out of felt.

This green pair was my first go, and they are completely stitched by hand. The button is just sewn on through all the felt layers without a buttonhole, as I was just checking the shape. But they turned out so cute, I thought I would have a go at making a few more. 

To make these a bit more hardwearing and practical I have machine sewn the seam, and just oversewn around the edges by hand with wool. The buttons are functional, and really useful when putting them on a baby's feet. On some I have handsewn around the buttonholes, though explain on the pattern how you could machine sew them if you have this available on your sewing machine.
 
The pattern for these shoes is available to download on Etsy. It comes in two sizes - 0-3 months and 3-6 months. It is very good value (that is to say cheap). The little shoes are very easy to make, and I think the wrap around makes them quite different to other felt shoes I have seen. It would be really fun to customise them with a bit of embroidery, but for the photos I wanted the shape of the wrap around to stand out. I suggest you use the best quality felt you can find. 

If you don't have a baby to make some for, I think with a ribbon attached they could make a really nice Christmas decoration, perhaps with some sweets popped inside. I know I shouldn't even be talking about Christmas at this time of year, but I may have a go at giving some of them the Christmas makeover.

I am sure than there must be software that is useful for creating sewing patterns (I would really welcome any advice with this), but the only way that I know is to very carefully draw the pattern pieces by hand, and then scan them on my printer. So this pattern has the same rustic charm as these little shoes. 

As you can see, I just can't stop making them.

If buttonholes are really not your thing you could us a little velcro.