Baby Shoes

Baby shoes (for those little enough that walking isn't an issue, let alone a possibility) are probably the most useless things a baby can wear.  The biggest problem with baby shoes, however, is that they are adorable.  I found a pattern for a set of baby accessories in my new favorite book, the newest volume in the One Yard Wonders series (see the first book here).  The pattern includes a pair of Mary Janes made from flannel that are so sweet.  I liked that the shoes were only made of soft fabric and were a simple style.  I cut mine out from a fat quarter and I have enough fabric left over to make another pair. 

The shoes can be made in four sizes (XS thru L) and go by the length of baby's foot.  I transferred the pattern onto a piece of tissue paper because Charlotte's feet are teeny and I used the XS.  I wanted to save the original pattern to make more sizes as she grows.  

I apologize in advance for the terrible picture quality of some of these.  The good camera was charging and I had no natural light.  I was too impatient to wait for either of those things to change...

I sewed tiny Velcro pieces onto the uppers.  This would later prove to be a problem, as I attached the straps to the wrong pieces (not accounting correctly for left and right).  It was an easy fix, thankfully.

The exterior upper:

The interior sewn on top of the exterior, with the strap sandwiched in between:

I skipped a few photos after that last step.  I kept making mistakes (like sewing a Velcro piece in the wrong spot twice in a row and having to rip out.  Twice.), my sewing machine was acting up, and Howard got himself wound up in the cord that ran from the machine to the power strip.  As you can imagine, if you've read anything about Howard, this was unpleasant for all parties involved.  Anyhow, here is the second to last step:

And the finished shoes!  Aren't they cute?

The pattern calls for you to line the interior with the same fabric, but I left this step out.  Since the entire shoe is nothing but flannel and it's not like she's going to be wearing them for any use other than cuteness, I figured it was OK to skip.  Besides, at this point the shoes looked good on the outside and I didn't want to risk screwing anything else up and ruining them!


I didn't get any shots of her wearing them...I tried, but in the time it took me to grab my camera a shoe was off and getting stuffed into her mouth.  Another good reason they're soft and didn't cost me a dime :)


~Stacy