How to do it: Slipper Soles
Have you ever worn felted slippers? If you haven’t, you’re missing out. Felted slippers are the bomb. I’ve made a bunch of pairs and I wear them all the time: In the winter because it’s cold, and in the summer because the AC makes it cold. I had to make a new pair for myself recently because my old ones had developed their own bad case of air conditioning.
I know you can buy ready made slipper soles, but I had trouble finding the right size for my slippers. There are also many different ideas and tutorials on how to make the slipper bottoms slip-free (in Ravelry forums, just search “slipper soles”).
But I thought it would be fun to do a tutorial here on the old blog. A change of pace for me, and a bit of a treat for you. If you are a visual learner like I am, just scroll through the pictures — you’ll get the idea. Now, let’s get started!
How To Make Your Very Own, Custom Fitted, Slipper Soles
What you’ll need:
- A pair of newly felted, dry slippers.
- Paper for making a template.
- Scissors.
- Marking pen. I used an extra-fine tip Sharpie.
- One sheet of suede. I got mine at the craft store for $5.99.
- Leather punch, size 5/64″. I got this at the craft store, too, as part of the Mini Punch Set. It was $8.99, and I’m already scheming to use it for more projects.
- Tape measure or ruler (but “eyeballing it” works for this project).
- Block of scrap wood.
- Hammer or heavy mallet.
- Sharp sewing needle.
- Embroidery thread in a color to match your slipper. **UDATE 1/30/08: My embroidery thread is not wearing well, and one of the heel pieces has come off. I am going to try using leather thread, if I can find that at the craft store, and I’ll let you know how it goes.**
Here’s some of the supplies ready to go.
The first thing you need to do is make a template. Trace around the bottom of your slipper onto your template paper. For the toe piece, draw the template piece about 1/2″ in from the edge that you traced and long enough to cover the ball of your foot, curving the corners. Do the same for the heel piece. Cut out your templates, and lay them on your slipper to make sure they reach just to the edges, but not over the edge. Here’s my templates on my old slipper, checking to see that the problem areas will be covered.
Next, use your marker to trace around your templates onto the wrong side of the suede.
Then cut them out.
With your marker, on the wrong side of the suede, mark where you will punch the holes. My dots are 1/8″ from the edge, and 3/8″ apart. I did not measure the marks until after I made them; it’s really easy just to eyeball this part.
I keep talking about the wrong side of the suede, and in the picture above you can clearly see the difference. The piece on the right is the smooth, even, front side of the suede. The one with the marks on the left is uneven and more rough to the touch.
Alrighty. Now on to the fun part, in which you get to hammer really loudly and aggressively! I did this step outside for some reason, but I suppose you could do it anywhere suitable for hammering. First, practice with the punch set on a scrap of the suede.
Once you get the hang of it, you’re ready to start punching the holes. Place the puncher directly over the first dot, and hammer it through the suede.
At first it took me seven or eight hammers to make the hole. After a few holes, though, I got into a good rhythm and the job went faster than I expected.
With your holes punched, you’re ready to sew them on your slippers. Using embriodery thread (all 6 strands) and a sharp needle, sew through all the holes around each piece.
In that picture it looks like the needle goes into the fabric below the hole, but it doesn’t. Put the needle into the fabric next to the hole you just pulled it through, and bring it out through the next hole. Because the fabric (the felted wool) is thick it takes a little muscle to make sure the thread goes into the fabric, not just into some fuzzies. (If anyone can tell me the name of this type of stitch, I’ll add it. What can I say? I’m self-taught.)
That’s the job! You’re done!
Phew, that was fun. Since this is my first tutorial please let me know if something isn’t clear. I’ll let you know how these babies hold up to my rigorous wear.
How cool! Nicely done tutorial!
Such a smart crafty girl. You rock! Good job with the tutorial too!
Wow!
That’s a super great tutorial! I just chucked a pair o’ Fuzzy Feet because of the “air conditioning”. Wish I had known about this! But I guess I can knit myself a new pair of Fuzzy Feet. Thanks for working so hard on this.
Well done, and great photos. Thanks for the inspiration!!!
Dude. Is that a sequin on the bottom of the old purple slipper? Sweet.
Thanks for this! I was just about to start a pair of felted slippers for one of my brothers and was wondering about soles, you must be a mind-reader!!
Very helpful, since I plan to knit myself some snugs very very soon. Thanks a bunch!
Nice! Can I ask a question? Or two? Why wouldn’t one cover the entire bottom of the slipper? Also, I have held on to an old leather coat just for this purpose, but I see I need suede. Argh. Any suggestions about what to do with this leather coat that I was planning to cut up for slipper soles someday?
Suede is the underside of leather, or a split-thickness of leather. If you look at the underside of the leather, you’ll see suede! btw, you could use the leather side too, it just wouldn’t be as ‘non-slip’ as the suede side would be.
Great tute! I think I need some felted slippers!
This is an excellent tutorial. Thanks for sharing.
I have used a hole puncher (small one) in the past for punching leather. Like the idea of making two smaller patches instead of a whole sole. Suede is the “backside” of leather so you can use pieces of leather that were leftover from other project or are part of something scratched and worn you wish to recycle.
totally excellent!
I love the green fuzzies!
the tutorial is great and maybe i should make some slippers as the girl living under me is complaining about how much noise my shoes make. the look great. and great for kids too i suspect.
Oh yeah! You can do this to socks for sock slippers, the trick is to stuff them the same size as the feet while sewing on the suede. Recommend not stuffing them with the actual feet, as this might sting a little. And Jen, no reason not to do the whole foot, but it uses bigger pieces of suede, and has less flexibility for walking. Ballet shoes usually have split soles like this.
You’re so clever! I’m going to have to star this in Google Reader so I don’t forget it when I finally get around to making clogs for myself (instead of everyone else).
Okay, I just realized that the above sentence made it clear that I am only planning to put soles on my own clogs, and didn’t bother doing it with gifted ones. Oh well. Let them put soles on their own clogs!
You are a genius. I just made 2 pairs of these guys, and didn’t really want to pay Fiber Trends $36 + $10 shipping for some stupid suede soles. Plus, I’ve had a request for more from my family, so this way I can sole my slippers on the cheap!
wow how great I have not seen anything like this for years .I had seen hand made shoes and slippers in the 70′s , and made then too. I had all but forgotten the methods. My deepest thanks for these reminding instructions. They are about the best I have ever seen., by the way you are very syraight forward and dierect in them thanks agaIn and keep up your creative spirit.
I have just worn out my first pair of felted slippers (gutted!) They now look very similar to your purple ones so to find your web page is a excellent as the next pair I make will last twice as long.
I love the shape of your green slippers, would you be able to let me know where I can find the pattern?
I make slippers out of fabric and after walking thru the Jiffy grip soles several times I changed to using denim for soles. I then “decorate” with puff paint to give it gripablility, but the leather makes a nice sole, just never thought of it! Thanks for the idea!
This is brilliant – jsut what I wanted – I have just just made a new pair of felted slippers – I have previously knitted and felted slippers and now I have hand felted some but my old ones have worn through quite quickly and I am definately going to use your idea for soles – Thanks – have the green slippers in the picture been knitted first or are they hand felted – they look lovely and chunky !
Great Tutorial. Now lets see if I do the clogs and remember where this tut is !
Also, I have these elbow patches for sweaters in my craft closet that have the holes already punched in. I may be able to use them. So, folks look for elbow patches. Think thrift stores.
I believe your stitches are one of the following:
buttohole/blanket stitch, big applique stitch or just a plain overcasting stitch.
Try going to a thrift store and buying an old leather purse or old leather jacket.
What a great idea! I just got a pattern for Felt Clogs. I can’t wait to knit those. I am going to sew this sole on them when I’ve finished them. I’ll cover the whole sole. A much cheaper way of avoiding holes. Love your website. Thank you.
Very Clever!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great tutorial! I LOVE crafts that use unusual objects where the genius just looks at & solves the problem differently. But you didn’t tell us how the leather laces worked out
Again, great tutorial, very clear. Now I’m off to the thrift store for an abused leather jacket to cut up!
Excellent, presentation and teaching skills. I was left with no questions from you. The pics make all the difference. good job!
So basic and easy! Great idea, thanks for sharing. I make a lot of slippers.
I have knitted maybe 25 pairs of the felted slippers or clogs shown in your tutorial. Now I find I have lost the pattern. Can any one help me. I have goat and rabbit furs that were tanned for us years ago, and I’m wondering if I could use pieces of them to repair all the slippers that have holes worn in them. I have knitted additional soles, felted them and sewed them on, which works fine, but there is a limit to how many soles you can have on a pair of slippers, right?
The pattern I use is on Knitty.com – just knit a giant pair of socks, felt them and turn down the cuff. Now they’ll last way longer with leather soles!
Thanks for the tutorial! Also just read your sock darning tutorial – probably use it much sooner than this one since I don’t own any slippers of this sort. Wanted to say that you write excellent tutorials – clear and concise with great pictures.
By the way, it’s called a whip stitch.
Thank you.
Now my husband won’t slip, fall and break is A**
Thanks a million – this is just what I was looking for! Greetings from Germany
Just got a hole in my slippers (R heel). Thanks for the info. I’ll be making soles this week.