Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Bohemian Booties

There is nothing I like more than a pair of soft, cozy slippers (unless it's a tall, cold glass of ice water or a pair of new socks). I used this cute pattern to make a pair of slippers for a sweet friend.



The pattern is by Amanda Herring from The Quilted Fish and sadly, I learned as I was writing this post that the pattern doesn't appear to be available any more. (Hopefully there are a few copies floating around the Ebay or Etsy universe.) There are similar patterns out there though, and some of them are free. Yay!

The construction was a little tricky with some curves and tight spaces, but they turned out so cute!




The soles are a soft suede. After a lot of easing and clipping, it all worked out in the end, but the sole pattern seemed a little small for the bootie pattern since there's not much (or any) give to the suede. So, if I were you, I would wait to cut the sole pattern until you have the slipper top constructed. You will thank me later when you get a better fit and don't break out in a sweat trying to make it work! I used paper clips to hold everything together since I didn't want to stick pins in the suede. I'm sure there are better methods out there, but they worked and I had them around the house. Also, my sewing machine and the suede didn't really get along. You might want to think twice about using suede if you make them. I like it because it is more durable than the usual slipper bottom fabric.

You can't see it from the photo, but there is an elastic and button detail on the side of the slippers. I didn't see the elastic measurement in the pattern, so I emailed the designer and she told me that she used a coated hair elastic (like these) AdorableI used the thinner type since I was already sewing through soooo many layers. 

I love the cotton print I used, but unless you are only going to wear your slippers while sitting in your lounge chair, eating bon-bons and watching a romantic comedy, I would recommend using a darker fabric than I did!