Felt Baby Shoes
I think it’s lovely to welcome a little one into the world surrounded by thoughtful handmade gifts, and these itty-bitty boots are just the ticket for such a reception. Brimming over with the “awww” factor, everyone who sees these Felt Baby Shoes wants to pick them up and coo, almost as if they contained a chubby little baby foot already!
Sometimes when I get on a roll with a fun and easy project like this, it’s hard to stop. In this case, I ended up with a pile of eight pairs of shoes, all from one Purl Soho Wool Felt Bundle! Our gorgeous Autumn Bundle covers a beautiful spectrum of warm earth tones, just right for boys or girls. And a bright red, hand–embroidered edge finishes the color story with a zing, while adding a sweet handmade, rustic charm.
I love the idea of sewing up a big bunch of booties to have on hand for baby showers and welcome-to-the-world gifts. A pair would also look so cute peeking out of a baby’s Christmas stocking!
Designed by Purl Soho designer, Molly Schnick. Click here to see even more of Molly’s work!
Materials
To make eight pairs of 3 month sized baby shoes:
- An Autumn Felt Bundle
- DMC pearl cotton in color 666
- A package of 1/4-inch wide elastic
- An erasable fabric marker
- A Felt Baby Shoes template, available for free download here, printed and cut out.
Pattern
Cutting and Pinning
Cut the templates from one of the felt pieces. Using the erasable fabric marker mark the felt corresponding to dashes and Xs on the template. You don’t need to make the full X markings, just mark a dot corresponding to the center of each X.
Cut two 1-inch lengths from the elastic.
Pin one sole piece and one upper piece together at their back center marked dashes.
Arrange the sole so it’s laying flat. Wrap the right side of the upper piece across the front so that the front curves of both pieces match up.
Then wrap the left side across the sole and match up its curve with the sole’s front curve. Pin the three layers (the sole, the left right side, and the left side) together at the front of the sole.
For the opposite shoe wrap the left side first, and then the right and pin them together in the same manner.
Pin the upper section all the way around the perimeter of the sole, keeping the sole flat, on both of the shoes.
Sewing
Arrange one of the shoes so it’s facing forward. Thread a hand sewing need with a 46-inch length of the pearl cotton. Do not tie a knot in the thread. Pull the needle from the sole section through to the upper section at the back marking dash, 1/4-inch from the edge, leaving a 4-inch tail. Lay the tail over the working thread and arrange the working thread to point towards the right
Take a stitch, 1/4-inch from the edge and 1/4-inch to the right of the previous stitch, entering from the upper piece. Pull the needle out through the sole keeping the needle on top of the thread coming from the previous stitch, as shown above. This is a buttonhole stitch.
Use this buttonhole stitch to sew around the entire perimeter of the shoe, making sure to sew through all three layers at the toe section.
When you get all the way around to where you started tie a knot with your tail and working yarn.
Pull the working yarn through the seam for a few inches.
Snip off the thread right at its exit point to make it disappear.
Thread the needle with the tail and repeat the same process to hide it.
Here is the first shoe, all stitched up.
Repeat all of these steps for the second shoe.
Adding the Elastic
On the first shoe, sew the left side of one of the elastic pieces to the left hand dot marked on the upper section with a doubled cross stitch.
Tuck the right hand side of the elastic inside the shoe and stitch it to the marked right hand dot with a double cross stitch. You might have to pull the left and right sides apart a bit in order to do this. This will help the shoe to stand up.
Attach the elastic to the second shoe in the same manner, only this time sew it the the right side first and then to the left side.
You’re all done!
how can i downsize these for premmie babies, i am making clothes and knitting for premmies at the moment and these would be lovely for them too
Hi Margaret,
What a lovely and inspiring idea! The template for these slippers shouldn’t be too hard to adjust for the sole of the shoe. I would recommend cutting down the sole template to the desired size and then cutting down the upper section after to be sure it still fits on the already adjusted sole when its wrapped around the circumference. It might also help to have extra or scrap material to experiment when adjusting patterns.
I hope this helps!
Carly
Adjust your printer settings. Many printers have an option for scale. I scaled down to make them for a doll.
Hi, J! I would like to scale this pattern down for an 18″ doll, also. What percentage did you print the pattern on, in order to scale down? Thanks!
Hi,
Please tell me what kind of needle are you using?
Thanks
Hi Ioana,
Thanks for writing in! I like the embroidery needles from Clover for projects like this one!
Best,
Cassy
please submit baby slipper template to my email. I could not get it to show up on screen.. thank you. patty
Hi Patty,
Thanks for reaching out! You can access our Felt Baby Shoes template by clicking here, but if you are still having difficulties, please contact us at customerservice@purlsoho.com!
Best,
Julianna
I recommend you add the clover gold needles to the items needed for the project because the pictures show the needle.
Hello Melissa,
Thank you for reaching out and for this great suggestion! I will be sure to pass it along.
Happy crafting!
-Marilla
I made one of these using sheepskin shearling for my Grand-daughter. I can send you a picture if you are interested.
Hi Martin,
We’re so glad you enjoyed our pattern! We always love to see our customers’ projects, so please do send us a picture at customerservice@purlsoho.com.
Best,
Julianna
I would like to know the measurements for the pattern.
Hi Kaleena,
Thanks for writing in! Have you been able to download the template for this pattern yet? If not, I’d recommend printing that from here, but you can also find that in the last bullet point listed in the Materials section.
We don’t list measurements since you’re cutting out round pieces that aren’t straight edges from the template. The template for this pattern is for a 3 month size, which is 4-inches long. If you’re trying to modify it for another size I’d recommend checking out this resource to help.
Please let us know if you still have any questions!
All the best,
Zha Zha
These slippers are really pretty and easy to make! Thank you for this nice tutorial.
I made them in a yellow ocher felt, with a light turquoise blue blanket stitch, it’s very nice!
I still had some difficulty positioning the rubber band correctly, I did it a bit blindly.
But by sewing it before assembling the top with the sole (taking the right marks and pinning the crossover), so having the wrong side facing you, I think it could be easier!? I will try for the next pair.
Hi Agnès!
Thank you for your comment. We are so happy to hear you enjoyed making these baby shoes, and it sounds like your ideas for the next pair are a wonderful solution!
Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any questions arise on the next pair, and happy sewing!
All the best,
Margaret
I just finished this adorable project, and I love the outcome! I did want to mention that it was a wee bit fiddly to add the elastic at the end, so with the second shoe, I tried Agnes’ idea of adding it prior to sewing the upper section to the sole. That was definitely easier, however it didn’t yield the best result. The elastic ended up sort of on its edge, and not smooth against the throat of the shoe as would be most comfortable. So I’ll go clip it out now, and do it again. Easy enough to do. I’m so excited to gift these little treasures!